Laundry Report

As I sit here, nursing my sore muscles and writing this email, Tim, Jordan, Cynthia, Olivia, Sue, and our new friend Steven (a local 16-year old boy working with us on the construction crew) are playing a tense and competitive game of hearts. Every so often, in the middle of a sentence, I hear a raucous bout of laugher, and I can't help but smile. Even though we are all sore and physically exhausted, evenings here at Jaguar Creek are relaxed and time is well-spent in the company of our fellow church members.

Today gave us all good reason to be tired. The laundry crew, of which I have been a proud part the past two days, worked our tails off today. Although we had a slightly easier day than yesterday, and let me stress the word slightly, we worked hard from roughly 8:30 AM to 3:30 in the 96-degree afternoon. After a delicious breakfast of fresh banana bread and sweet yogurt, we drove the four beautiful miles to the work site, Jordan, Tim, Mateo (the night guard here at Jaguar Creek and a wonderfully pleasant man), and I riding in the back of the pickup truck. Without pausing, we hopped out of the truck and began working. While Tim, Chuck, Dan, Doug and Antonio were busy building forms for the cement pillars we would be putting up, the real strength of the team (being Jordan, Daniel, Sid and me) was busy transporting concrete blocks onto our already built cement base. Let me tell you, it's harder than it looks.

After building the wood forms for the cement pillars, we went through the tedious, hot, and arduous task of propping them up, supporting them, and making sure they were as level as we could make them. Given that there were six pillars, it took quite a while to put them up and make them stable. After doing this, we moved some wheelbarrows worth of gravel in preparation for concrete-mixin', but since our stomachs were rumbling louder than the 18-wheelers transporting citrus fruit nearby, we decided to break until lunch arrived.

Lunch was eaten in wonderful leisure. Lunch consisted of the most delicious potato concoction I have ever eaten (don't tell my mother), some of the best tomatoes I have ever eaten, arguably the freshest homemade bread I have ever eaten, and some juicy (but not the best) watermelon. We all made sure to enjoy it, for we knew that the hard work of concrete-mixing would follow. After a wonderful lunch, we mixed the concrete (my arms are still sore) and watched in awe as Lazarus poured it into the forms from the top of a teetering ladder. When we had finished pouring the six pillars, we gratefully began packing up the tools, preparing to head back to Jaguar Creek for a luxurious dip in the crisp water of the creek.

Hi Mom! I love you!

Sarah Terpstra