Thursday FUN Day!

Our Thursday FUN DAY began earlier than usual as we left for the beach at 7 30 a.m. The group grabbed a quick breakfast and headed off for our hour and a half drive to Playa Santa Beach in Ponce. Theresa, who directs the camp with her husband Jon, brought her two kids Eli and Logan to kept us entertained throughout the day. Most of us slept the entire way after being tired from the week's hard work. We arrived at the b-e-a-utiful beach which was the ideal "postcard" view. There were only a few people there so it felt as if the beach was our own.

One of our first adventures was snorkeling, where we saw some of God's beautiful creation. Anna got attacked by a little fish when she picked up its home and Hannah got a little scratched up as she swam through the coral--but all ended up okay. We continued to lay on the beach, have wars with the sand/mud, bury the kids in the sand, look for jellyfish and crabs, and mostly we continued to burn! Despite applying layers of sunscreen, the Puerto Rico sun was far different from what we're used to in Michigan.

We left the beach a little after lunch so that we could shower and get ready to shop at Ponce! However before we shopped, the girls decided to make a little stop at a tattoo shop-but don't worry, no tattoos! We simply added a few extra piercings to our body :) We anxiously waited to get them done, contemplating whether or not we should. Each girl followed through and got a super cute addition to their ears/face--and they look great, no worries! After that excitement, the boys and girls all met to shop at Ponce and then headed back to dinner at the camp.

On the way home, the boys decided to have a little fun and do a "chinese fire drill"--they all got out of the van at the stoplight and ran around the car while it was red. It just so happened to be a pretty long light, so the boys got their exercise for the day. The Puerto Rican's seemed to appreciate this as they cheered for our boys after they drove off. This was definitely a "high point" for our day!

The night continued with dinner, and then a wonderful night of worship with teams from Texas, Alabama and Mississippi. We had a local Puerto Rican lead us and together we worshiped the God we're serving--it was such a great experience!

For most of the night we stayed at John and Theresa's house and played our new favorite game "signs." I have a feeling we will be taking this game back to SAU and making it a new favorite there as well. And while we were having fun, our leaders Carrie and Anna gave us a break from working the Kiosko, and took over the business. :) They sold food/drink to all the other campers and learned that a Milky Way was actually supposed to be called the Three Musketeers. Crazy!

The night continued with devo's and closed with an early night since the morning will come all too soon. Even fun days can be tiring. :)

Continue to pray for our team as we have one and a half more days of work (sad). There is still much to do- and we are glad and willing to do it! See you soon!

-Liz Hess