Start of Team 2

Hello again everyone,

Saturday we said goodbye to our first team. It was a busy 2 weeks, but it is always nice to have Canada and Greenville as our first teams. They are very
mature, most of the time, and flexible with what we ask them to do. I am already noticing large differences between my experience here last year and
this year. First, it definitely feels like I am doing more work. Everyday we are in charge of leading the teams in the morning, being with them in sites,
then when they have a few hours to rest, we are in staff meetings or packing coffee or preparing for something else. Then we have dinner with them and
attend whatever evening activity the team leaders have planned for their students. I pretty much am working nonstop from 7AM - 8:30PM, it's very tiring.
I definitely think it is affecting the relationship I am trying to build with my host family. It has been a little difficult, because I get home at 8:30
in the evening and I am too tired to play games or try to have conversations in Spanish. Last year, I was home and ready to play games at least 4 or 5 times
a week and I feel like I really built a good relationship with my host family last year. This past Thursday all the students and summer staff had dinner
with their host families. That was a really great night, we were able to get home around 5PM and we just played with the kids and talked to our host
parents until about 8. We had fried chicken, carrots, rice, and fried potatoes. It was a delicious meal with teasing and joking from us to kids and the
parents laughing at our mispronounced Spanish words. It was a great night and it made me sad that we hadn't had time to have these conversations before.

Yesterday morning at breakfast, the kids were late to the table, and our host mom really poured her heart out to us about her past. She told us that her
brother had died and that is why our little host brother, Roberto, spends the night with his grandma. She was taking the death really hard. It was crazy
to hear that, because my roommate and I had thought that there just wasn't enough room in the house. She went on to tell us that her brother had been an
alcoholic and abused his girlfriends and eventually killed himself. I felt bad for her, because she was crying through most of breakfast, but she just seemed
like she really wanted to share with us. She went on to talk about her family when she was growing up and how she had 5 brothers and sisters and she was
the only one to ever make it through school because her father was an alcoholic and her other siblings had to work because they didn't have food. She feels
very blessed now because her husband has a good job and her two children are sponsored, so their schooling and some of their supplies are paid for. They are
in the process of building a second story on their house and there are three rooms and another full bathroom, so for a family in Magdalena they are doing
well.

So, moving on... our last week in sites was good. We finished pouring a concrete slab for a family whose cows got really sick last year because they were
standing in the mud. Mario said he thinks there are enough chicken coops in the town, he thinks there are about 400. So the way they decide who gets a
concrete slab is about the same. Mario has both a women's and a men's bible study. The chicken coops were for the women's group and the concrete is more
for the men. Mario has a list of men who have been actively participating in his bible study and assesses their needs and decides who is next in line.
Last week I also got to castrate 3 little pigs myself and help with a bull castration. All of which went fairly smoothly. I was afraid because we only had a
few people, one of which was a pregnant woman, that we wouldn't be able to hold the bull down, but we did fine with the two people we had. It is definitely
hard work mixing and pouring concrete though, so I am glad that this week we have 7 students in our site. There are 3 boys and 4 girls. Most of the
team got in today so I haven't really met many new people. We have two girls staying in our house for these next 2 weeks. One is a leader and is a leader
and is 45 and the other is 16 year old high school student. I am already feeling my pateice stretch as I overhear conversations between high schoolers.
If you read my blogs last year you may recognize this team. The majority of the students are from Central Valley Christian High School in California and
it is full of rich kids. I ended up really enjoying the people in my site last year so I am praying for that to happen again.

The last week that the previous team was here a lot of people started getting sick, so they sent stool samples to the lab and over half of the students
had parasites, all different kinds. Some had bacterial infections on top of that and some even had digestive system infections on top of that. Three of the
seven summer staff got tested and 2 were positive for parasites and one was negative. I have felt fine since I got here, so I don't feel the need to get
a test done until I leave or if I get sick. Sadly so many of the students from last group were so focused on the fact that they had gotten parasites, it
really took their focus off of God and serving people. I don't know how they found out, but one of the first questions asked of me by the new group was,
"So I heard a lot of people got sick in the last group, is it the food they feed us?" Like I said... I'm going to need prayers for patience. I would also
ask for prayers for energy and that I can see every day as a gift from God. I have really been missing people from home and of course my precious dog. My
roommate said she has really been enjoying the kiddie pool in our backyard and I am so sad that i'm missing it. I also get to talk a lot about my family
here which makes me also miss them very much. I know this is probably the last summer for a very long time I might have this opportunity, but i'm struggling
with living in each day and seeing all the joys of being here.


Thanks for listening! I hope you all are having a fabulous week!