Improving Spanish Skills

Today was a great day! We woke up nice and early and most of us went to the Ranch while others stayed and prepared for VBS. I went to the Ranch where we continued our work from Saturday. My group has been tasked as landscapers and we have done a lot of clearing of brush, dead trees, stumps, and branchs. To do this we use axes, pickaxes, and machettes! (don't worry I haven't chopped mine or anyone elses limbs off yet!)  I can speak for the team when I say that we are getting work done faster than expected. After coming home for lunch we had time to relax shower and hit the pool and the trampoline! We headed out for Marcus de Leon to do the VBS at around 6:00 and ended at 8:40. This was an instresting and incredible expirince! I did really well in Spanish in school both years but at the first words they said I totally forgot even the basic first year spanish phrases, but even still I was able to (painstakenly) communicate with the children and play soccer with them as well. Going into the VBS I thought two things: 1, that I was good at spanish and 2, that I was good at soccer. None of those turned out to be true but hey, I got a whole week to practice! I have had a great expirience so far and am looking foreward to the rest of the week as well as to the possibility of interning here next year!
Hasta luego,
Josh Granger

After a wondeful 6 AM wakeup, we headed off to the Ranch where our team began our mission to dig out a 5,000 litre water tank. It was a slow, strenous process to take something out of the the ground that wasn't meant to be dug up. Layers of cement and dirt soon fell to our pickaxes and shovels. We didn't manage to completely dig it up and take it out though, hopefully tomorrow we'll see that big blue tank lifted and moved. 

While eating dinner at a restaurant, Katerina got a nice surprise for her birthday. A mariachi band serenaded us for a while, one even took Hannah Halleckson's water bottle and used it as a guitar slide! After a several hour break, we left for VBS at Marcus de Leon. There we played futbol, listened to Mama Jane capture the kids with her Bible stories, and made some crafts. They also loved us pushing them on this spinny-playground thingy which never got old, even after two and a half hours! We can't wait to have some more fun times and spread the gospel with the kids again tomorrow.
Nos Vemos!
Tommy Mallow and Tyler Gabriele