Work, Children, a little bit of Salsa, & a lot of love! (Trabajo, ninos, un poco de Salsa, y mucho amor!)

Hola de PUERTO RICO y tus favoritas: Gracie y Becca! 

Today started bright and early with a walk on the trail for Becca and Karen.  When coming back to the camp, they had a little follower...an adorable little puppy.  Landon decided to name it “Mini Karen,” and the name stuck.  It followed us around all day long!  After this we went to devos and breakfast before heading out for another work day.  

Team 1 (Papa Shaw, Stephanie, and Mary) was in charge of grinding and leveling tile.  They spent the day hard at work with local Puerto Ricans.  The team had a nice meal of cement dust as well as a entertaining dancing and singing session with some attractive headphone like ear plugs.  

Team 2 (Gracie, Breanne, Sarah F., Sarah B., Keegan, Landon, Ty, Emily, and Carrie) continued the cement work from yesterday.  They continued to whip up some great cement and pour it into the wall out front. Gracie and Emily decided cement work was like baking a cake.  You make the batter in a giant mixer, pour it into the cake pan (the form), and bake it in the oven (the hot Puerto Rican sun). The team was quite the impressive assembly line operation.  

Team 3 (Becca, Karen) worked with Jon.  The two began the day using an compactor to flatten out the rocky road.  Let’s just say they quickly realized that “two is better than one,” as it was a job neither one of them could have done on her own.  After, they measured and cut planks, boards, and panels using various types of saws.  These were then taken to create walls that the cement group would later pour into.  

All teams had a successful day working together to complete all of the various tasks that needed to be accomplished.  After the work was done, we traveled to the Barrio to play with the kids at the after school program.  A few of the girls were fighting over doing Breanne’s hair and Ty finally got to play duck duck goose.  We had an amazing time playing with the kids, and it was so difficult to leave them.  

As we were loading the van, Karen stepped on something that went through her flip flop and punctured her foot.  She was a trooper and didn’t say anything until we got back to the camp.  Carrie, Papa Shaw, and Mary played doctors.  We are praying for a quick recovery and release of pain! 

After dinner we headed to the city to go Salsa dancing.  It wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but everyone was a good sport and tried it out!  We all decided that Sarah B. is the Salsa master.  We will all be sure to share our moves when we get back.  Then we got to go get ice cream and walk around town.  We drove by a mansion on the top of the mountain and looked out all over the city.  It was absolutely beautiful.  

On our way back, Carrie had the spontaneous idea of having a chinese fire drill.  For those of you who are unaware: a chinese fire drill occurs when a car is stopped at a red light and all passengers jump out of the car, race around, and then find a new seat in the vehicle.  It must have been an interesting sight watching 16 people jump out of a van, start running around, and then dive back in.  

We got back to camp and had a great night of laughs and fun together at team time!  The Lord sure is alive and working through our group here in Puerto Rico.  We are all continuing to lean on him for strength and support as we begin to feel the effects of hard, physical labor.  Thank you for all your prayers!  

-- Hey Family, Friends, and Others! I hope you are all doing well.  Puerto Rico is amazing.  Is it okay if I don’t come back?  I’ve sure learned a lot being down here.  I’ve gotten over my fear of messing up when speaking Spanish.  I talk to anyone and everyone who gives me a minute! Also, I’m learning so much about construction work.  Now, now...don’t get too excited...this doesn’t mean free construction work around the house :) Love you all very much! <3 becca="" blessings="" god="" s="" span="">

 

~Hello family and friends!  I have been having a fantastic week in Puerto Rico and yes I am still alive!  Also, for all who are curious I have not gotten burned yet! (win for the ginger on the trip and knock on wood)  I have loved getting to know everyone on this trip and am so excited to see what the rest of the week has in store.  Yes, Spencer I did learn to salsa dance and no I’m not horrible at it ;) I hope you all are having a fantastic week, love you all! ~Gracie