The First Day of Our Big Adventure

Today was the start to our Joplin trip. It was a five hour bus ride, including one bathroom break and one lunch break. We left the high school around 10:00 A.M. We arrived at the “Relief Spark” house at about 4:00 P.M. It was a nice log cabin hidden in the wilderness. There were many animals to provide for some entertainment such as: horses, a donkey, guinea birds, ducks, cats and some chickens. As soon as we got off the bus, we raced inside to claim our beds. As it turns out, the girls’ beds consisted of air mattresses and cots. Each room held about 4-5 people. The boys however, stayed in a bunkhouse that used to be a large dog kennel. There were many bunk beds for them to choose from. Once we were all settled in, it was time for orientation. We met this nice lady named Tammy. She is the house supervisor. She showed us around the property to where we felt at home. We then got to hear from the person in charge of operations on speakerphone because she wasn’t able to make it. We learned about the whole program and jobs. After all the informational stuff was out of the way, we just hung out for a little bit until it was supper time. In that time we played a little volleyball, petted the horses and played cards. For supper we had pulled pork sandwiches, salad, potato casserole, green beans and watermelon; compliments to the chef Mrs. Vieth. Everyone enjoyed the meal together on the deck. Afterwards, we started a mean game of hantis (game-like mix of tennis and ping-pong using the hands). We played until dark. That is when we went inside to meet our jobsite managers, Michael and Rebecca. He told us about what each jobsite group would be doing and the safety precautions each one would need to be taken. Later Mrs. Dann assigned us all to our jobsites, which included: siding, intereior/exterior painting, gardening and fencing. After discussing all the essential information, we enjoyed some cookies and milk and sat around the lounge room and hung out. Tomorrow is the first day of work to where we will be departing at 8:00 am. Hayley Stiers, Kirsten Leimkuehler, Jamie Gleeson