Last Day Of Work- By: Tiffany, Iman, Speel and Johnny O

Today we woke up and went to the same house we started at. We sanded the inside and outside and got to paint the entire house salmon pink. It was a really good experience to see how the house started and how it looked after we were done. When we were about finished we were greeted by the mayor of San Juan. She took pictures with us and she was very gracious. After we got back to the hotel and showered the mayor's entourage took us for a tour of the city, starting with the local iglesia (church) and ending with the local university. We hopped back into their Chevy Suburban and went to Jarra's (pronounced yar-ah…our engineer) house for a celebration for our week and the four houses we finished. The party started off a bit slow because of the language barrier, but our hosts were so genuinely kind and eager to please that it ended up being a great time. To cap off the night we went to the same chicken spot that Ryan and John raved about… they weren't joking when they said it was the best chicken they ever had! We said our goodbyes to the people we met (especially Bam Bam, our wonderful driver)… we were awful sad to leave them. Tomorrow we're getting up early to leave for the beach, so we're going to head off to bed now. It's been a long, hard week, but we've learned a lot about ourselves and the importance of service in the process and these are lessons that we'll keep with us for the rest of our lives.

Day 4 Ryan & Johnny O

Today was yet again another day of sanding and painting. On the bright side, we only had a half day today so after lunch we decided to go home instead of going to see the dam that powers the island. We were pretty dirty and tired so most of us just took showers and napped until dinner, which was spaghetti with meat sauce. It was good, but the main attraction was the fried chicken stand with double fried chicken, a little habanero sauce, and it was a burst of flavor with every bite. It was the only fried chicken ever to rival Popeye's, and Garey even thinks it was a million times better. We're in the lobby right now getting ready for our last day of work tomorrow. It's been a long week and I think everyone's ready for our beach day on Saturday. Yeah buddy <(")

Day 3:Iman, Ryan and Johnny O

Today was very similar to yesterday. We painted and sanded an entire house inside and out. The owner of the house, Fabio, was very helpful with building the house. He was stirring the cement and watching us paint the walls. After sanding everything, we painted the outside mint green and the inside yellow. There were some mad large cockroaches and some creepy looking spiders around, but they were dealt with pronto. There was a thunder and lightning storm again at the same time as usual (around 3) but luckily we managed to finish painting the outside right as it began.  By the time we got to the hotel we were all whupped. We had a few hours to take siestas and had a nice Mexican style dinner afterwards. Right now we're at the hotel, maxing and relaxing.

Day 2 by Sam and Dr. Bryja

Our adventure today was filled with sanding concrete and painting.  We began the day with breakfast and then boarded the van to ride to the work site.  The home we worked on was newly completed and was ready to be painted.  However, prior to painting, we had to sand each wall.  Our sanding tool was a small block (4" long x 2" wide x 1" deep) and looked like it was made from the tar used to pave roads.  Hard to believe that we only had four blocks and managed to sand the entire house inside and outside.  Several of us lost the tips of nails in the process!  The project took most of our morning and into the early afternoon.  In between, we had our morning snack and then lunch around 1:30 p.m.  Several students painted the house with the primer and then the outside color and trim.  Ryan, John, and Sam ventured to the roof to paint the top layer.  The ladders we used were very primitive - one was a few pieces of board attached to two longer pieces of wood.  The other, was very narrow metal rods connected to longer metal pieces.  Unstable is an understatement!!  When we finished, the house looked nice but the inside was not fully completed.  Although this didn't seem like a hard day's work, we were all exhausted as we boarded our van.  Next, we rode to a local orphanage to play with the children.  They were all adorable and excited to see us; especially our digital cameras.  They enjoyed posing numerous times!  The Bullis boys, Iman, and Mr. Waugh took on the older boys in a challenging game of basketball.   Unfortunately our team lost in a very tough game.  We did tour the orphanage and grounds.  We took a photo of the Boston Red Sox logo painted by a boy in Mr. Delinsky's honor!  Once back to the hotel, we showered and had some rest before our 8:00 pm dinner.  It was a delicious meal of grilled chicken, vegetables, plantains, and potatoes.  We look forward to what Wednesday will bring.  Most likely, we will finished today's house and work at another home.

First Full Day of Work! By: Tiffany&Samuel

HI EVERYONE! Sam and I are sitting in the lobby trying to get as much internet as possible. Dr. Bryja, Iman, and John are chillin' too. Today was very tiring but rewarding. We started the day with grilled cheese and ham sandwiches for breakfast and then had orientation so we would know what to expect for the week to come. When we arrived at the work site we had to carry 13 bags of 94 lb concrete mix to the site and then shovel 15 wheelbarrows of rocks and 20 wheelbarrows of sand. Iman suffered from fatigue and she and I were the "dumb laborers" as we had the important task of counting each wheelbarrow that was filled and dumped. After everything was dumped we created a little dam and then added water. We spent several hours mixing the concrete. A nice gentleman named Edward was not wearing any shoes but happily carried each wheelbarrow full of concrete into the house. They then patted down the concrete into thick layers and smoothed it out. I went to pick up lunch with Marie-Pier and our driver, Bam Bam (yes, like the flintstones). The lunch was delicious. It was steamed rice with a bean soup, vegetables, and chicken. After lunch we kept working until it started to rain and we all took shelter in the house. Scotty Peel got his first blister and we were all very proud of our little boy. It was a long day but we finally got to come back to the hotel and shower off our grossness. We had time to relax and then went to play ping pong in a rec center. Then Johnny-O found a rusty gym and of course, showed off his weight lifting skills. We went to dinner and were served yummy steak, mashed potatoes, and carrots. After dinner was over we were treated to delicious ice-cream from Bons. The cap off the night we returned to our hotel to take a picture with the security guard with his sawed off shotgun, what a treat.

First Full Day:By Tiffany&Iman

HII!!!!! It's Tiffany and Iman. Today we woke up late and had an amazing breakfast. There was a buffet set out for us with eggs bacon, fruit, cereal, and so much more. We had more time to relax until we went to lunch at an Italian restaurant. Everyone ordered pizzas except John who got grilled chicken because we all know he needs his daily protein. After we were done eating, a cake with fireworks on top appeared out of nowhere for Scotty Peel's birthday. It was a strawberry chocolate cake and it was delicious! :) When we were done eating we went on a walking tour of the city of Santo Domingo with our host, Marie-Piere. She showed us the old battle grounds, the outside of some museums, some nice houses, and some stray dogs! We were also attacked by pigeons (no big deal). It was finally time to go back to the hotel and pack our bags for our four hour car ride to San Juan. We checked into the Hotel El Libano and got to our rooms which were actually very nice. There were people guarding the hotel with guns but.....we made it alive. We walked to dinner where we enjoyed burrito's and quesadilla's and of course, bottled water. Now it's time to go to sleep and prepare for our first day of work tomorrow. BYE!

Habitat For Humanity ®