Day 2: Monday
It's 7:45 -- time to get up!! (Actually, I think that it's time to lay
back down... personally.)
Just as I started to doze off again, though, I heard, "THERE'S A FROG
IN THE TOILET!!" Hahaha, what a way to wake up!!
Next, it was time for breakfast. I really appreciated what these ladies (whom Sergio hired to cook for us) are doing, but I can't help but think, "Are eggs supposed to be brown?" (I later found out that they just cooked sausage in with them, the norm for Puerto Ricans) I went straight for the pancakes, which turned out to be really good!!
Remember that really really steep hill? Well, now we got to walk UP
it!! I think I got my workout for today!! We saw all the beautiful scenery
on the way up, and while we waited for instructions. Finally, we found out that we were to paint the parsonage, and tear down some "cat pen". (The lady
that lived there before had kept cats in a pen in the back yard.)
While some supplies were being picked up, I got the pleasure of picking up trash!! It took a long time to get to the nearest store. Even for the speed demons, it took 20-30 minutes. (People don't care about the speed limit there, on those windy roads. You just have to make sure you're out of the way, because everyone goes so fast!) There were lots of funny encounters while we worked, such as a guy who drove by about 6 times, with a horn that sounded like a car alarm!! Also, a horse ran away from a nearby house, and a boy ran barefoot into the tall grass/woods to get him. Soon, he had to have his friends help him.
By lunch time, we had nothing else to do, plus it was time for lunch!!
Those ladies were so nice, they were doing everything possible to make us feel
at home!! They made us spaghetti!! (I wouldn't recommend the watery orange
juice though, everyone I talked to said, "Don't drink the water!!") After
lunch, we had a little time to rest, and I took advantage of it to write in
my journal.
Afterwards, it was time for paint!! We powerwashed the 'porch' until the
hose broke. Everyone inside tried their best not to get wet, but the
shutters/blinds didn't work very well. The house consisted of a kitchen,
bathroom, and 3 bedrooms, not too bad!! Afterwards, I thought what we'd done so far looked pretty good!
No one in either youth group knew enough Spanish to keep up a
conversation, except one counselor, so the language barrier WAS a problem!! It
was scary, one guy walking by came up to our work site and kept saying
"water", "grandfather", and "grandmother" over and over. (In Spanish, of
course.) We tried talking to him, but he kept saying those words, so we gave
him some water. Actually, we gave him tons of water!! He must have really
been thirsty!! He stayed until Sergio came, and until then, he hadn't had a
conversation with anyone except for one like this:
Him- "AGUA!"
Us- "Si!"
When everyone was covered in paint, we headed back. (That hill was SO
not fun!!) A few fortunate people (like me!) had a chance to shower
before dinner. The water was actually semi-warm!!
We headed back up to a huge
tree, and waited a little bit. Finally, a car brought tables and chairs. We
set them up on a cement "clearing", which gave us a beautiful view of the
mountains. Dinner was fruit cocktail (SCORE!!), beans & rice, chicken and
salad stuff. Too bad we didn't understand Spanish -- the kids coming to the
camp just arrived!!
During dinner, my friend looked around, and then said, "Um, I'm not
so sure I want to eat the chicken, after I just saw some walking around."
(Yep, there are chickens, roosters, cats, lizards, horses, SPIDERS, and
flies everywhere!!)
We headed back to the cabin and I ate my Cheerios! Then, it was time for
devotions. We went back under the big tree and talked for a little while. The
other church even made journals for everyone!! No more notebook paper for
me!!
Afterwards, it was time for bed. I had a good day, and I hoped tomorrow would be even better!! Good night!!
Be sure to read Day 1 if you missed it last week!
