Things have been busy, allowing very limited time to escape the base and access the internet. The following is a brief run down of my life over the p-ast week and a half.
It began at 4:30am on the 12th when we left for the airport to get the first batch of children and hasn't quite stopped. We picked them up, gathered all their cellphones so they didn't call home, and brought them to the base. We then split everyone up into groups.
The day before, I issued a challenge to the rest of the staff. I declared that my group, without having met them, would beat all other groups in a game of ultimate frisbee. Arrival morning, three of my group and myself played against Phil, another staff member, and two of his kids. My girls dominated without being competitive. It was awesome. While on the topic of my group, they are awesome. There are 5 girls (there were 6--one went home) and they don't complain, work hard, and have bonded well together. After emerging from a school last Friday to discover our car battery was dead, they were great sports about giving the van a push so I could pop-start it. In the rain.
Food has gotten much better. Our chef, Lesi, is one of the best people I've ever met. He lives to please and seems to enjoy it all. He told me that he sleeps only two hours per night. Lesi's lunches still leave a bit to be desired, but his dinners are awesome. Last week, for one dinner, I had baked potato, tuna steaks, chicken, and steak. All done on the grill. I hugged him.
That night was cut a bit short for me, though, so I had to leave after merely two plates. One of the many students who was ill approached our table obviously very dehydrated. He had been throwing up all day. I left with another staff member to take him to the hospital. He was given an injection of anti-vomiting meds and told to drink powerade. While at the hospital I got antibiotics for my throat. It had been hurting for a while and is only now feeling better. I told the woman that my throat hurt and she wrote me the prescription without ever looking at it. Interesting.
Later on in the week, I brought a group to Koropita, a village created for homeless people. They pay a dollar a day for rent. We dug trenches for piping and taught computer skills. While we were there, it began to rain--in torrents. We left soon after, fearing flooding. As it turns out, the fears were justified. The dirt road up to the house was flooded in two places. It made for an exciting drive. The first crossing made us wait for a little while for the water to go down, and the second I just went through at a slow pace as to not flood the intake and stall out.
More kids got here on Thursday, adding to the fun. It should be interesting.
It began at 4:30am on the 12th when we left for the airport to get the first batch of children and hasn't quite stopped. We picked them up, gathered all their cellphones so they didn't call home, and brought them to the base. We then split everyone up into groups.
The day before, I issued a challenge to the rest of the staff. I declared that my group, without having met them, would beat all other groups in a game of ultimate frisbee. Arrival morning, three of my group and myself played against Phil, another staff member, and two of his kids. My girls dominated without being competitive. It was awesome. While on the topic of my group, they are awesome. There are 5 girls (there were 6--one went home) and they don't complain, work hard, and have bonded well together. After emerging from a school last Friday to discover our car battery was dead, they were great sports about giving the van a push so I could pop-start it. In the rain.
Food has gotten much better. Our chef, Lesi, is one of the best people I've ever met. He lives to please and seems to enjoy it all. He told me that he sleeps only two hours per night. Lesi's lunches still leave a bit to be desired, but his dinners are awesome. Last week, for one dinner, I had baked potato, tuna steaks, chicken, and steak. All done on the grill. I hugged him.
That night was cut a bit short for me, though, so I had to leave after merely two plates. One of the many students who was ill approached our table obviously very dehydrated. He had been throwing up all day. I left with another staff member to take him to the hospital. He was given an injection of anti-vomiting meds and told to drink powerade. While at the hospital I got antibiotics for my throat. It had been hurting for a while and is only now feeling better. I told the woman that my throat hurt and she wrote me the prescription without ever looking at it. Interesting.
Later on in the week, I brought a group to Koropita, a village created for homeless people. They pay a dollar a day for rent. We dug trenches for piping and taught computer skills. While we were there, it began to rain--in torrents. We left soon after, fearing flooding. As it turns out, the fears were justified. The dirt road up to the house was flooded in two places. It made for an exciting drive. The first crossing made us wait for a little while for the water to go down, and the second I just went through at a slow pace as to not flood the intake and stall out.
More kids got here on Thursday, adding to the fun. It should be interesting.
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