Another day has come to an end here in Mississippi and I have to say a lot was accomplished. I'm proud of our group as a whole, we really came together in the past few days. We have had our issues but I think we've done a pretty good job of working most of them out. Last night we did our reflection at the pier. It proved to be a lot colder that anyone really anticipated.
I do have to say though, it was pretty good exercise. The beach is about a mile from the camp we're staying at so we walked about 2 miles last night. The pier was amazing and I'm sure if it weren't so windy and cold it would have been a lot nicer.
For our reflection we did the Human Knot exercise. It was fairly successful, however we kind of messed it up because Antoine, Shelly and I ended up in one mini circle while the others were in another mini circle. Obviously I did not explain the rules properly because people were holding hands with their neighbors, which wasn't supposed to happen. I was happy though because after the conflict situation we were able to use the exercise to emphasize the importance of communication within the group. I think that has been a big issue with us since Antoine is the only guy he is fairly separated from the group. As frustrating as this must be, I am proud that we came together as a group to talk about it and theoretically we over came it. In practice though this has yet to be seen. I guess we'll see in the next few days we have together whether this reflection and exercise really worked.
After the reflection we came back to the camp and pretty much fell asleep. Some of the group went their way and played some phase 10. I definitely was tired from the day, the walk to and from the beach, and all the discussion we did. Sometimes I feel like half the time goes by in simply discussing things. Obviously it's important for groups like ours to discuss things together as a group but sometimes it really feels tedious and time consuming. These are the times when I'd rather be doing something instead of talking about doing something.
This morning we all woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed ready to work. We got to breakfast on time, packed our lunches, and were ready to start another day of work on the houses. It's impressive how we've really began to take pride in our work and look forward to each day. Sadly we didn't start work until a quarter till 10 because of the weather. The previous night it was raining non-stop so we had to postpone the start of the work day until the wood on the houses were dry enough to work with. While we were waiting, Antoine and I decided we were going to start on our mural rather than go back to sleep like the others.
I'm really excited about the mural. It is an image of the state of Florida with the USF Bulls logo where Tampa would be geographically. Then we are going to all sign within the state of Florida and have the words "Bull pride travels nationwide" written where the Gulf of Mexico would be geographically. Shelly and I decided we're going to put our hand prints in the state and sign them. I feel like that makes the mural even more personal. We've been working on it a decent portion of the day and it's turning out really nicely. I can't wait to have the finished product and show these camp-mates what we're made of!
When we finally made it to the work site we did the usual. Well, not really since we were a tad bit late. We missed devotional and prayer but we got started as soon as we got there. My mini-team worked inside the house this time. I was really happy about this. We put up kitchen blocking for when the kitchen cabinets are to be placed in the kitchen. At one point Brittney called me out to do some work on the scaffold which I really tried to do with all my heart, however the Fear got hold of me and I couldn't do it for too long. It's ok, I am proud of the fact that I was standing on top of that scaffold for as long as I was (even if it was only for 5 minutes). Most of the day we were in the kitchen working. At one point Spikes called us out to hoist up a wall. Yes, I said it. We hoisted up a wall! I am so proud of my team!
We came together and really did some manual labor. Not that it should be assumed that any previous work was not manual labor, but I really feel this was more visible. We could really see the work that we did. I mean, we put up a freaking wall! I don't know how many people can really say that they put up a wall. I don't know, I am just really excited about the idea that I can say that I helped put up a wall for a house that a family is going to live in one day. Maybe next time I'm in the area I'll drive by and see how the house is doing. I hope that wouldn't be stalkerish?!
The craziest part about putting up a wall is when the wind catches the wall there is nothing you can really do but either hold on or let go! Thank goodness the wind wasn't too strong to pull the wall too much. There were definitely a couple of points where I thought I was going to loose the wall. I already made a plan that if I thought the wall was going to fall I wasn't even going to try and hold on. I was going to let it go. I figured, the wall could be rebuilt but my bones could not. I know technically my bones could have been fixed up and I would have been fine, but if I had fallen off an 8 foot high platform I am pretty sure I would not have been completely back to normal. I don't even want to think about the pain I would have been in either.
After the wall was raised there wasn't really much to do but clean up. That was definitely the high point of the work day. While we were cleaning up the girls decided to ask some of our coworkers if they'd want to come and eat dinner with us. It brought up some more drama but in the end we all agreed that it would be fun to get to know some of our coworkers outside of the job site. We went and ate at Mellow Mushroom, one of my favorite pizza places EVER! We had a good time getting to know some of the coworkers. Specifically I got to know this man, Mike. He is slightly awkward but he is amazingly smart. A real genius. He wants to pursue medicine and get his PhD in biochemistry. We were talking and Steph was asking about biochemistry and he definitely almost drew out Glycolosis for us! I don't really know that many people who can do that, in fact I know only one other person who could do that and I don't even think he really would. He was telling us about the research he wanted to do and I have no doubt in my mind that this man is going to one day cure cancer. He seems so very passionate about what he wants to do in life, there is no way anything or anyone is going to stop him. He is really smart too, with an amazing MCAT score with barely any studying, I was just plain dumbfounded. I guess with people like him in the world, there is hope for us yet!
I guess I'd have to say the only think I was really bummed about today was the fact that I left my leftover pizza at Mellow Mushroom! It sucks because I always seem to do that with leftovers. I get so freaking excited about it, that I'll have food for the next day, but somehow I always forget it. Ugh!
I do have to say though, it was pretty good exercise. The beach is about a mile from the camp we're staying at so we walked about 2 miles last night. The pier was amazing and I'm sure if it weren't so windy and cold it would have been a lot nicer. 
For our reflection we did the Human Knot exercise. It was fairly successful, however we kind of messed it up because Antoine, Shelly and I ended up in one mini circle while the others were in another mini circle. Obviously I did not explain the rules properly because people were holding hands with their neighbors, which wasn't supposed to happen. I was happy though because after the conflict situation we were able to use the exercise to emphasize the importance of communication within the group. I think that has been a big issue with us since Antoine is the only guy he is fairly separated from the group. As frustrating as this must be, I am proud that we came together as a group to talk about it and theoretically we over came it. In practice though this has yet to be seen. I guess we'll see in the next few days we have together whether this reflection and exercise really worked.
After the reflection we came back to the camp and pretty much fell asleep. Some of the group went their way and played some phase 10. I definitely was tired from the day, the walk to and from the beach, and all the discussion we did. Sometimes I feel like half the time goes by in simply discussing things. Obviously it's important for groups like ours to discuss things together as a group but sometimes it really feels tedious and time consuming. These are the times when I'd rather be doing something instead of talking about doing something. 
This morning we all woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed ready to work. We got to breakfast on time, packed our lunches, and were ready to start another day of work on the houses. It's impressive how we've really began to take pride in our work and look forward to each day. Sadly we didn't start work until a quarter till 10 because of the weather. The previous night it was raining non-stop so we had to postpone the start of the work day until the wood on the houses were dry enough to work with. While we were waiting, Antoine and I decided we were going to start on our mural rather than go back to sleep like the others. 
I'm really excited about the mural. It is an image of the state of Florida with the USF Bulls logo where Tampa would be geographically. Then we are going to all sign within the state of Florida and have the words "Bull pride travels nationwide" written where the Gulf of Mexico would be geographically. Shelly and I decided we're going to put our hand prints in the state and sign them. I feel like that makes the mural even more personal. We've been working on it a decent portion of the day and it's turning out really nicely. I can't wait to have the finished product and show these camp-mates what we're made of! 
When we finally made it to the work site we did the usual. Well, not really since we were a tad bit late. We missed devotional and prayer but we got started as soon as we got there. My mini-team worked inside the house this time. I was really happy about this. We put up kitchen blocking for when the kitchen cabinets are to be placed in the kitchen. At one point Brittney called me out to do some work on the scaffold which I really tried to do with all my heart, however the Fear got hold of me and I couldn't do it for too long. It's ok, I am proud of the fact that I was standing on top of that scaffold for as long as I was (even if it was only for 5 minutes). Most of the day we were in the kitchen working. At one point Spikes called us out to hoist up a wall. Yes, I said it. We hoisted up a wall! I am so proud of my team! 
We came together and really did some manual labor. Not that it should be assumed that any previous work was not manual labor, but I really feel this was more visible. We could really see the work that we did. I mean, we put up a freaking wall! I don't know how many people can really say that they put up a wall. I don't know, I am just really excited about the idea that I can say that I helped put up a wall for a house that a family is going to live in one day. Maybe next time I'm in the area I'll drive by and see how the house is doing. I hope that wouldn't be stalkerish?! 
The craziest part about putting up a wall is when the wind catches the wall there is nothing you can really do but either hold on or let go! Thank goodness the wind wasn't too strong to pull the wall too much. There were definitely a couple of points where I thought I was going to loose the wall. I already made a plan that if I thought the wall was going to fall I wasn't even going to try and hold on. I was going to let it go. I figured, the wall could be rebuilt but my bones could not. I know technically my bones could have been fixed up and I would have been fine, but if I had fallen off an 8 foot high platform I am pretty sure I would not have been completely back to normal. I don't even want to think about the pain I would have been in either.
After the wall was raised there wasn't really much to do but clean up. That was definitely the high point of the work day. While we were cleaning up the girls decided to ask some of our coworkers if they'd want to come and eat dinner with us. It brought up some more drama but in the end we all agreed that it would be fun to get to know some of our coworkers outside of the job site. We went and ate at Mellow Mushroom, one of my favorite pizza places EVER! We had a good time getting to know some of the coworkers. Specifically I got to know this man, Mike. He is slightly awkward but he is amazingly smart. A real genius. He wants to pursue medicine and get his PhD in biochemistry. We were talking and Steph was asking about biochemistry and he definitely almost drew out Glycolosis for us! I don't really know that many people who can do that, in fact I know only one other person who could do that and I don't even think he really would. He was telling us about the research he wanted to do and I have no doubt in my mind that this man is going to one day cure cancer. He seems so very passionate about what he wants to do in life, there is no way anything or anyone is going to stop him. He is really smart too, with an amazing MCAT score with barely any studying, I was just plain dumbfounded. I guess with people like him in the world, there is hope for us yet! 
I guess I'd have to say the only think I was really bummed about today was the fact that I left my leftover pizza at Mellow Mushroom! It sucks because I always seem to do that with leftovers. I get so freaking excited about it, that I'll have food for the next day, but somehow I always forget it. Ugh!
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