Day 3 - Monday - Leah on a hot tin roof!

Hello all!

On Monday, we got up at 6am, breakfast at 6:30, group devotions at 7, in the truck at 7:20 to be at work by 8am. Now, before all of you think there is NO POSSIBLE WAY that Rob would get up at that hour, keep in mind that Belize is 2 hours behind Columbus. The team leader, Carl, had to explain to him, "don't think about it as getting up at 6, think of it as getting up at 8!" Well, since that is Rob's normal wake-up time, he cheerfully replied, HEY I can do that!!

Off we went, down the 7 miles of dusty, bumpy, gravel roads, to arrive at the main highway, also bumpy, but paved. That would be the Hummingbird Highway. We took that straight into Dangriga (about 15 minutes), around the traffic circle, turned right at the canal, down 2 "blocks" to the church at Dangriga. We had just been there for church the day before, so it was interesting to now know the people who would be enjoying the fruits of the labor. We knew who we were doing this all for - it makes a difference!

We arrived, and the jobs were handed out. I volunteered to paint the roof. Don't ASK me what I was thinking when I raised my hand. I must have been already crazed from the heat, or slightly sleep deprived. Maybe I wanted a nice view, or a breeze, or maybe I thought it would be a lot of fun to use a saw on a roof to cut down a mango tree. Again, I am not sure why I volunteered for this!

Up on the roof I went, with my helper, Tony. Tony is 10, and here with his grandmother from New Jersey. His grandmother, Carol, was here on my first trip to Belize when we built Ray and Becki's house. Tony loved using a hacksaw almost as much as I did, and I think for a minute we fought over who got to do the cutting. Naturally, as the adult, I won! No, not really. We each took an end, like those old fashioned logging saws, and cut away branches of the mango tree so that we could actually get to the roof to paint it.

Now that I think about it, I think i only volunteered to cut down the tree (that meant I would be in the shade, right???), but then kind of got talked into painting by extension.

I've been a little disappointed that I haven't seen any scorpions yet on this trip, but I think the NEST OF TERMITES in the rotted mango pits that i swept off the roof somehow made up for this. I have never seen anything quite like it, except for when you occasionally find a swarm of ants on the sidewalk in the spring.

The next little surprise lasted about three days - something climbed UP the tree that I was pruning back! It shimmied up the tree in about two seconds, white teeth showing against the dark brown skin, and bright eyes smiling at me. Her name is Kayla, and Kayla said "this is my mango tree!" We talked about climbing trees, and how she likes to come over and hide on the roof of the church. It was funny, because Tony had told me the same thing - how one of his favorite places to hang out was on the roof. Don't these children have adult supervision??? Kidding - I told Kayla that my favorite place to be when I was her age was a tree house that we had built in the woods about a half mile down the street. That was MY place! I loved it! I still want a treehouse - just ask Rob.

Anyway, Kayla wanted to help paint the roof, but I wouldn't allow that, but she did make herself useful in several ways throughout the remainder of our time at the church in Dangriga. I have NEVER seen anyone wring out a washcloth the way she did - i can barely get the boys in our house to SQUEEZE it, let alone wring it til it's twisted in knots and almost dry! I was very impressed. But here, if you don't squeeze it out, it may take awhile to dry, and then it will smell musty, like when you forget about a load of towels in the washer for a day.

Kayla worked alongside us for the three days, always ready to do the next task we assigned. She stuck with it, did everything asked, and then some. My favorite was when she went to help out with the roof while we were having lunch. We think she might have taken a couple of turns with the roller, because I slipped a couple of times, and once went all the way down - falling on my side, sliding about three feet on my backside, and praying I stop before I hit the edge. Luckily, I did!

Keep in mind that it was about 95 degrees, and the same for humidity. I thought i was going to die. Actually, I thought I was going to pass out. For me to quit and take a break is a BIG DEAL. Ask Rob about the landscaping I did in July. I took LONG breaks in front of a fan, with a big bottle of water about every 45 minutes. On one trip down the ladder, I was just shaking. I took a longer break, and ate a cookie.

We finally called it a day around 5pm, and headed back home. Day 4 was pretty much the same, except hotter, if you can believe that.

I have never been so exhausted in my life! But we made a lot of progress, things inside the church were getting prepped for the drop ceiling, and I was moving my way out to the portico of the church for painting.

More on that tomorrow! Have a good night everyone!