Nicaragua Missions Trip 2013 Day 2

On our Second Day in Nicaragua, our work day began bright and early at 7 A.M, to the sound of a rooster call. We began the morning with sophomore Alex Machado leading us in prayer to start off breakfast. While eating breakfast, Open Hearts Ministry's very own Chaichi, gave us the itinerary for the day and what our goal was by the end of the work day. Luckily, for us our work-site is only steps away from the Buzzbee compound. Then Manolo, Angelica, and their daughter Angelita, the family whom we are building the house for, walked into the breakfast area to greet our Nica Crew. We then all walked together to the site making small talk with the family, establishing a lifelong bond with this special family.  As soon as we walked onto the site, we grabbed our shovels, pickaxes, and hoes and began to lay out the foundation for the house. However, three brave men dared to have a go at the infamous tree stump in front of the house where the porch is going to be placed. Those men were CJ Heck, Danny Suarez and Matthew Zelhof, and after over three hours of work...... the stump was still there. A little frustrated and annoyed the men eventually gave up and moved on to other projects, and decided the tackle the tree stump later. Meanwhile, inside the rising walls of the house, Big Man Manny, Chris Bubba Gonzalez, Alex Castellanos, Sam Lola and Alex Mitchell flattened the foundation for the eventual cement floor. Just outside the girls were sifting some dirt to mix in with the never ending process of making concrete. However, there is one noise that drowned out all the animals and rooster crowing throughout the morning and that is....... our very own "Yenni" Salas. Jenni has been dubbed the surprise of the trip because she is just so funny and... well, funny to laugh at as well. But Jenni was not alone out there. Seniors Jessica Sanchez, Gaby Sanjur and Rebecca Barrios aided the young sophomores Alex Machado, Chandler Puig and Jenni Salas sifting and mixing as well. After hours of toiling and aching work, lunch time came around and we all gathered around back at the compound for our very strangely named Nicaraguan style chips and PB and J sandwiches. Our little break time was short lived because there was just so much work to be done before the end of the day. After our return from lunch our work ethic was a little less than satisfactory, our energy went away about as fast as our lunch did. Our last four hours of work were went by very slowly to say the least, but after almost nine hours of work we finished building all four walls of the house we finally ended the day. All the kids then enjoyed a little down time in the pool before dinner.  After our amazing dinner cooked by the cooks Maria and Carmen we sang Happy Birthday to Rebecca Barrios, who turned 18 today. As of right now we are starting our devotional for the night, led by Senior Danny Suarez, which was started off by Chanlder Puig who led us in prayer and will also lead us in song tonight. Well that is all for today's Nica Blog, check every night for more updates and picks.
-Alex Castellanos


P.S Thanks so much to all the parents for letting your children come on the trip. And they all say they love and miss you and appreciate this wonderful opportunity to help the people of Nicaragua.

P.P.S Please keep Michael Martinez in your prayers. He was a trooper and worked for more than half of the day, but he is feeling pretty under the weather. No worries Mory. Your son is in good hands, but everybody please pray for him nonetheless.