The fun-filled first day

Hola,
Things are going great around here!!! This is the first chance I have had to get on to update the blog. We arrived yesterday at 2:30pm and all the luggage arrived safely. We then drove to the camp and arrived at 6pm. The staff was ready for us for supper and had delicious pork chops and mashed potatoes. After dinner we went out to WalMart for some items that were not brought down with us. It was hilarious watching me try to communicate with someone asking them where the OFF was. We finally found it and let me tell you....YOU NEED BUGSPRAY!!!!! The mosquitos come out around dusk and will literally swam you and could carry you away. I honestly have never seen so many of them. Needless to say, I have some pretty sweet looking welts on my legs.

Justin and I are sleeping in separate sleeping quarters. This is because Michael is not down here yet and in case he needs me I am right there. It was hilarious last night laying there in our beds and Justin spotting a gecko on the wall. He freaked out and I calmed him down and we went to sleep. Well, guess he didn't calm down because he crawled into my bed and was shaking like a leaf. I decided to let him sleep with me instead of making a big deal about it a 2 in the morning.

We got up about 7 this morning and had breakfast at 8. We have had delicious food so far!! Most meals I have gotten seconds. Breakfast is served at 8, lunch at noon and supper at 6pm.

The first day of work was great!! We had work crews doing it all.....powerwashing, weeding, screen repairs, dumpster dancing, painting roofs, digging holes, watering grass, mending fences. I was on the powerwashing team. Lauren mended fences and Justin was with the camp directors kids today. Jon (camp director) needed Justin to just hang out with his kids (age 10, 7, 5). Of course, Justin was happy with that work detail. I know that y'all are probably wondering what dumpster dancing is. Well, the camp tries to get as much garbage into the dumpster as possible, so they have people take cardboard boxes and jump on the garbage to pack it down. Pretty disgusting job and smelly too. High 5 goes out to Lisa and Amber for tackling that job today. I am wondering when it will be my turn. We had one heat related injury today. It is extremely hot down here. We are encouraged to lather up with sunscreen and take plenty of water breaks. Even with that Dave got overheated (he was powerwashing the roof for the afternoon). He is doing well now (9:30pm). So I may have lost my powerwashing partner for the week. So we will see. Please pray for the team as we need to pace ourselves with the heat.

After the work day (4:00) we headed out to the beach to cool off. The waves were crashing all around and it was quite refreshing. By the way, when we are in the dining hall at night we can hear the waves crashing. So cool!! Another cool thing is that they don't have many lights on at night, so you can see TONS of stars. Pray that the mosquitos will subside and we can spend more time outside enjoying God's creation at night.

Tonight while we were in our debriefing meeting, I stood up and screamed. A RAT came through a hole in the screen and scurried off. If that wasn't bad enough....another rat was found in the women's dorm. The ladies are NOT happy campers. Justin is now concerned that one will come into our room, so I have a feeling that he will find his way into my bed tonight.

Well, that is it for our first day. As I type this we have a group of people playing Uno in the dining hall that is a balmy 90 degrees (I am maybe exagerating by about 5 degrees). But for the most part, heat has not been an issue. We are having a wonderful time and so excited to see what the Lord will have us do for tomorrow.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for praying for us. We really appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Lauren and Justin (and me too) are really looking forward to Friday when Michael arrives. It will be great for us to be a family again and serving the Lord down here. I am trying to get on to update the blog daily, but sometimes the internet just doesn't cooperate. I will blog as much as I can.

Talk to y'all again real soon!! Amy