Thursday June19

Yesterday A lot more low key than Wednesday. We spent the majority of the day at El Refugio, working on a variety of projects. I love seeing our team love on and play with the kids at the shelter. The joy that they share is incredible.  We added a little bit of motivation to get our projects done quickly, when we learned there was a paintball course next door to CAG (the school where Mark is principal), and that Thursday was half price day. But I've said too much. I'll let kassidy tell you about our day through her eyes. 

Hello everyone,

   Well today was full of lots of things. We spent the whole day at the women's shelter, El Rafugio. Everyone was put in a group, and each group was given a task to get done that day. My group had the some what overwhelming job of painting a house. It took most of the day, even with 4 or so of us working on it. Painting included scraping off the loose old paint, sweeping away spiders and dirt, and putting on a new coat of salmon pink paint. Others were working on painting the inside of the house, preping a play room for paint, playing with the kids, and making a cover for their new sandbox. Of course we never had more a few solid hours of work in a row, because there are always the little ones who come around and beg to help, or sit there and watch and just beg for attention. It's been a lot of fun to learn Spanish while speaking to them, they are very forgiving, and good at figuring out what we are trying to say. Then there is also lunch at about 1:00 everyday. Today one of the ladies, Marie, made us a meal that comes from her area of Guatemala. It was a full fish, head, eyeballs and all fried and set on our plate, with a few side dishes. 

Even through all of the fun we had today working and doing all that we did, my favorite part of the day was at the end of the day (4 pm) after we were done with work when we got to go paint balling!! It was a lot of fun, and was the first time that several of us had ever been. There was an amazing course, cool even in the standards of America. And the coolest thing about it was that EVERYONE in our group participated. All of the adults. Then we came home and finished our evening. It was a lot of fun, and a great way to unwind after a busy day. We are thankful that Kim and Mark were willing to take us, and be late for their dinner date just to let us have some fun. I'm looking forward to a lot more fun in the coming days, and some more great and life changing experiences. I hope everyone at home is all well.

Kassidy

Scrapping paint to make a place for the kids to play. (Notice the little guys helping out)

Yes all 18 of us...plus Mark and Kim Played.  It might have taken Peggy three games before she pulled the trigger, but whose counting.