Getting Hammered

Today started just like yesterday: warm, sunny, and with everyone in good spirits. We packed up our lunches and headed out for our first look at the job site in Seaford, DE, where we would be working on for the week. We arrived early and the Habitat Americorps volunteers were already there getting things set up. In the place of the future home was a flat concrete slab and a pile of lumber nearby. 

We started with a prayer and got to meet the Sussex County Habitat For Humanity worksite supervisor "Bubba" and the Americorps members Hektor, Kyle, and Gary. Everyone was very welcoming and we got started quickly. Over the next hour or so, we really got rolling and by lunchtime we had 2 and a half walls up. It sprinkled on us for an hour or so but cleared up and we experienced a warm sunny day just like yesterday! After lunch, we completed all the exterior walls and several interior walls for the house. 

We all had some new experiences and learned to use tools we hadn't used before. In all, this was a perfect first day and we made incredible progress on the house. Our group, which had previously never worked together before came together to become a very efficient work team. I think we are all excited for tomorrow to see just how much more we can accomplish together!

~Brendan 

Summer in February

Seeing that we all spend at least 9 months out of ten in Erie, we were all extremely excited to wake up to 60 degree weather today!

 We began our day with a Mass at a local Catholic Church and then we set off on our free day. 

We drove to Rehoboth Beach and I can honestly tell you that we were the only people crazy enough to stick our feet in the 38 degree water! A lot of laughs were had by all and the beach was more than we could have imagined! We were able to walk the boardwalk and marvel at how many people and dogs were out; especially the dogs since most of us are going through withdrawal. We ventured into candy stores and it is safe to say that we were the oldest people in the toy stores. Jokes were made and the puns just keep on coming as we continue on this journey. 

As you can see from the photo above, none of us are wearing shoes and our pants are rolled up, so you have to know that we went in:) 

When we returned from the beach, tacos were prepared and enjoyed based off of the fact that there were no leftovers.

I guess you could say the game of the day yesterday was the "song game" and today it was sardines! We used any and all places in the church to hide and I have to say, Brendan was the best hider- we spent at least a half an hour looking for him. 

Here is a picture of me- what you can't see is the fact that I'm hiding in a storage bin in a dark closet. We go hard.

The reflection for tonight consisted of everyone thinking about their comfort zones. Think about it, how comfortable are you starting up a conversation with a stranger? How uncomfortable are you when you sleep on the floor for a week? We asked these questions with the hopes that as the week continues, we become more comfortable with the challenges and tasks we are faced with.

Wish us luck as we begin our work day in the morning, and maybe say a prayer that us accident prone kids don't get hurt :) 

Thanks for reading!

~Morgan 

A Great Time

Hello everyone!

The group had quite a great time during our first day of our ABST journey to Delaware. We left the GU admissions parking lot around 7:30am and arrived to St. Phillips Epicopal Church at 4pm. On our way, the group got to know each other more through conversation and games. A game that we played involved singing songs according to a certain topic. With the topics of run, roll, drive, and time, the group had a bonding experience singing out all the songs that we could recall. This game lasted up to 3 hours and we sure enjoyed every minute of it. 

We arrived to the church and were welcomed by some very nice people affiliated with Habitat for Humanity. We settled in and hung around for a while, continuing to build our relationships with one another. There we many laughs all around the dinner table about things that happened today. Overall, it was a great day. Everyone in the group has already connected in some kind of way, which is absolutely awesome! I am looking forward to serving, laughing, and bonding with these awesome people for the rest over the week! 

Signing off for today, but we will see what tomorrow brings us!

Anna