Orange, Texas

I don't know where to begin. I haven't written in over a month and there is much more to catch up on than I want to write. We finished up our project in Arkansas in very good graces with Jim and the rest of the trail crew. In the end we built nearly a mile of trail, which exceeded Jim's expectations so that was really pleasing.

At the end of every project we make a portfolio filled with lots of different information about the project, but it also includes a personal reflection from all of us. I decided to write a really corny poem:

When I first saw
Where I would be living
I could not wait
To leave for Thanksgiving
The showers were cold
The sewage was smelly
The trailers were cramped
And there was no telly
I was not excited
To have to reside there
But I soon realized
This opportunity is rare
How many people
Can actually remark
That they built a trail
In the Cossatot River State Park
I am very proud of
The work we completed
Even when it was raining
We never retreated
In spite of the conditions
You’d be impressed to see
How much butt gets kicked
By Water Three

After we left, we drove back to Denver and stayed there for about a day and a half before flying home for a two week winter vacation. It was a nice break from all the craziness of AmeriCorps, but it was really good to get back. We had a week long transition week where we debriefed the staff about our project, briefed about our new project, checked out all the tools we were going to need for the round, sat through yet another training, and actually just goofed around a lot. I feel like everything could have been squished into about three days, but oh well. Exactly a week ago, we departed for our new project which is working for the Fuller Center Disaster Rebuilders in Orange, Texas. Basically we are fixing up houses that sustained considerable damage from Hurricane Ike. The drive down took 3 days this time, but we had some fun along the way. Here's the boys posing as cowboys:

Here in Texas, we are staying in the Orange First Church of the Nazarene. We have an extremely small bunk room on the stage in the gymnasium (I will post pictures soon), but at least we have a place to play sports and a really big kitchen :)

Before we arrived, we were under the impression that we were all going to have a week of construction training, but our first day on Tuesday was basically, "here are some tools, and here's what your going to do with them." It's been really great though. The first day I went to 1 of 3 (or possibly 4?) house sites with Ashley and Nicole, and this is what we did on our first day:

Looks good huh? We're practically pros now :)

Anyway, there is probably a lot more I could write. I definitely gave you the condensed version, but I promise to write more often from now on so the details wont be lost.

Ya'll come back now, ya hear?