Wednesday

Due to the heat from the previous day's work, when you mention "the greenhouses", pretty much our whole team groans inside (a few maybe actually groan...) so when I was told I had to split the team between the greenhouses and painting at the hospital, I knew I was going to get a little "feedback" from the team. They only wanted 4-5 people on the painting so, although I dreaded doing it, it was really just easier to send the girls to paint and boys to the rocks. It was only going to be the morning so I knew the boys could do it because they weren't going back after lunch, which is when it was REALLY bad, and they were going to be outside in an open field so although the sun was out, they weren't in the hotbox covered greenhouse. I told them the plans, boys to rocks, girls to paint and I had the following responses: Graham - "Okay. I just need to change my shoes." Cody - "Any girl want to switch?" Marshall - "I'm feeling a little feminine today." They were troopers and tore through some rocks. And although they were hot, they admitted it was not THAT bad. Not that they want to go back today though... :)

The girls were taken to the hospital. The bottom two-three floors have wallboard in place to create rooms while the top floor is at a standstill until another donor steps forward. We gave some money but not enough to finish an entire floor so the crew is currently working on two houses nearby. We actually painted primer and got a lot accomplished! We got the entire main area painted, the hallway and 3 rooms inside. The only trouble was the high part. We only had one extension pole. We finally started to use ladders near the end of our work time but didn't get to finish the high stuff. When we walked down the ramp to load the bus, there sat 3 more extensions (after they told us there were no more). hahaha Welcome to Guatemala!

At lunch, we were fed the team's favorite meal (ever, says some of the return members). It's a local dish - a HUGE tortilla shell (looks grilled maybe??) and either steak or chicken to put in it and then there's a cabbage mixture and homemade salsa. They also had a mixed veggie dish salad with avocado.

After lunch, we received new jobs. The girls were going to bag food (lentils from USAid with 3 cans of random soups) while the boys were digging the trenches for a foundation for a new house that will be built next week. They definitely had the hard labor jobs! At least there was some shade at this job site. To reward them for doing the hard work, we let them go first in line for dinner and the girls also took over the dish washing. There is a group of men that have been in the dishwashing crew for almost every meal! Rick and Steve are ALWAYS there and have been joined by any combination of Zach, Cody, Sam, Jim, Angel A, Foster and Graham.

Last night's devotions were great with Rick leading us through a great prayer and talking about letting God write our life stories.

Please continue to pray for good health, always seems to be some mild stomach issues... Today we are painting, bringing all the orphans down for a pool party and having a pizza party with them. Praising God for another great day in Guatemala!