Arrival

24 hours later and we've finally arrived to campus safely. It's been a long journey with some pretty amazing people. I would love to do another Habitat build in the near future; we'll see what my next experience will be. As I sit and reflect back on this build, it has been filled with friendships and memories I will never forget. I enjoyed the people I spent time with and the people I was building for. I don't think I could've asked for anything better than that. 

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others" -Gandi

Final Build Day

Today was much like the other days. We got up for breakfast and headed to the build site, but this time I got to help out at the Habitat Restore in Taos. I organized some of their appliances and also repurposed some of their books. It's easier for them to sell old books if they're repurposed in a creative way. We folded the pages in some of the books to make letters and words; other books were made into birdhouses. I only stayed at the restore for about two hours until I went back to the build site. I did various tasks there, as we were adding final touches to the house. I helped put up the gutters and drill them to the roof. We also finished up the kitchen. All the cabinets were finished and it was ready for the last few appliances to be put in. The Mares family will soon be able to move in! Before we left for the day, we all signed a block of wood and wrote messages for the family. We left it on the kitchen counter for them to find when they move in. I'm glad I was able to be a part of such a great experience like this. The best part about this build trip was not only meeting the family, but also being able to finish the house for them. My experience in the Philippines was much different than this, actually quite the opposite because we were just beginning the foundation of the house and here we're ready to hand over the keys. Once we were all done building for the day we stopped by the local community center. They had several different things we could do there; swimming, sauna, ice rink, game room - but I ended up skating around on the hockey rink for almost three hours. It felt great to get out on the ice! After that we had dinner made for us by a church group in Taos. They wanted to thank us for everything we've done in the building process of the Habitat house. We were served the frito pie dish again and so many tempting desserts. I finished my dinner pretty quickly so I went out to the main room and played some air hockey before we had to head back to the church. Once we got back there wasn't much going on it was still early so we all talked and hungout. I spent some time writing in each person's gratitude book - a small booklet of blank pages to be filled with random thoughts and positive comments about each of us on the trip. I wrote in every single book something that struck me about each person or a memory I have of them from this week. It's really a great way spread positivity and also to think back on the great experiences we've shared together on this build. Unfortunately we'll be leaving Taos tomorrow morning, so it's our last night together if you don't count the bus ride. Now we're all about to sit around and talk so I'm going to go be sociable! Overall it's been such a memorable experience with these people and I hope I see them all around campus sometime, although I do feel like I'll see some of them more often than that. I think I've made some truly genuine friends. 

Day 4: Recreational Day

Today was recreational day. We had the entire day to spend doing activities as a group as well as some individual time to do whatever we wanted. We started the day off with a delicious breakfast. It was especially delicious because I helped cooked it! They were breakfast burritos served with sides of meat, eggs, cheese, salsa, green onions, and sour cream. I just had my basic egg and cheese burrito, but it was still very good! I made most of the scrambled eggs because I was up really early today and decided to head over and help cook. After breakfast we took the bus to San Francísco Asís Church. It was the center of the Ranchos de Taos Plaza and used as protection against Comanche attackers. It also became known as a National Historic Landmark. We weren't able to take any pictures inside because the church is considered sacred, but we were able to take some outside. Once we went inside we weren't able to talk, just admire. We stayed for a bit and looked at different paintings in the church then headed back on the bus. We arrived at the Rio Grande Grorge Bridge around 11am and had an hour to explore. I hiked down the trail, which was over 800ft of elevation. The view was breathtaking from top to bottom. Once I hiked back up to the top I was able to stand out on a rock over the ledge and take a few beautiful pictures. I wish we would've had a little more time there but it was almost lunchtime. We went back to the church and everyone was able to do what they wanted until supper, which wasn't until 4:30pm. It was already 1pm so I went out to seek for food. I didn't have to walk too far until I found a cute local diner in Taos. After I ate my burger with a side of fries I was ready to go out and explore. I went to a few different shops and bought a t-shirt in one. It's based off Wheeler Peak, which is the highest mountain here in Taos. It's elevation is at 13,161ft. I'm currently at around 7,000ft above sea level. That must be why people around here get out of breath so quickly; there's a lot less oxygen up here. Either way, I've walked several miles the last few days because there's a lot more to do in the outskirts of town. Once I arrived back at the church I took a quick power nap and skipped dinner because I was still full from my late lunch. Then around 5 pm our group loaded on the bus and traveled to Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs & Spa Resort about an hour and a half away from Taos. It was incredible there. They had several different natural hot springs that we could sit in and also a couple saunas. We stayed for almost three hours before we all had to get back on the bus and head back to Taos. I'm currently on the bus right now feeling totally relaxed and ready for bed. Those hot springs did wonders for me. It was really peaceful there and we weren't allowed to talk or take pictures, so I just simply enjoyed the moment and the experience. Tomorrow we'll be back to work and hopefully finishing up the house. I saw Adriana, the future homeowner, working at Albertson's grocery store today and she said she's very excited and blessed to finally have a place to call home. Her kids have been waiting for this day as long as they've been living in a trailer - nearly eight years. It's going to be so nice for them to have a yard to play in and a safe roof over their heads. Hopefully they will all be at the build site when we finish up so I can say my farewells and good lucks. That would certainly be a moment for me to cherish and remember forever.  

Day 3 Build

It becomes much of a routine after a few days, but also very exciting! Today was filled with different tasks for me. I started off the day by cutting plywood for the bathroom counter and 1x12s to build shelves for the five closets in the house. In the afternoon I painted the trim around the kitchen doors and around the bottom of the kitchen walls. We accomplished a lot in the kitchen already; it's nearly finished! All it needs is one more cabinet installed, another coat of paint on the walls, and the floors finished. Other than that, I cut tiles for the bathroom, which is almost finished as well. We should complete the house by the end of the week! It'll be great to look back on my before and after pictures. Tomorrow is our recreational day though, so we'll be doing some things around town for our free day and we'll return to the build site on Friday. Tonight we all went out for dinner at La Cocina de Taos so we could try authentic food. I got a Mexican fish and also tried sopapilla, which is a fried pastry served with honey. It was so good! Afterwards we all went back to the church and stayed in for the night. I'm hopefully going to get some good sleep tonight so I can wake up early and help cook! We're having breakfast burritos tomorrow so I'm already looking forward to that. 

Day 2 Build

Today was much like yesterday but with different tasks. We started the day off with breakfast and made our lunches. Shortly afterwards we headed over to the build site. Half of us worked there until noon and the other half went to the restore. I worked at the house all day doing various tasks. I sanded five closets in the house and also painted trim on the doors. We installed more cabinets in the kitchen and moved the stove and fridge in. It looks nearly finished! We've already made a lot of progress since we got here, which is easy to do with 30 people. Once we were done for the day we headed back to the church for dinner; it was taco Tuesday. Right after dinner I asked anyone if they wanted to go see a movie. I got a group of a few of us together to walk to the nearest theater. It was a two mile walk but it was definitely worth it. We ended up seeing Taken 3 at Storyteller Cinema 7. We all thought it was a fantastic movie, and the fact that they sold Dippin Dots at the theater made it even better. Now I'm finally back laying in bed ready to relax before another workday. We should be adding the final touches to some rooms and then we'll see what's left to do before we finish up the house!

Yesterday Evening & Day 1 Build

The Packer game was great yesterday! The place we were at was called KTAOS. We all ate lunch there and stayed to watch the whole game. Afterwards we went to the church we're staying at, showered, ate dinner (chicken alfredo), then explored the city. I got a few souvenirs and walked around the city center where they still have beautiful Christmas lights displayed. 

Today was our first build day. Early in the day I was moving adobe bricks to pallets, preparing for the next house to build. The house we're currently building is almost complete. We finished up a lot of the painting for it and some of the Habitat members also installed cabinets for the kitchen. Later on in the day I was sawing plywood for the cabinet countertops and moving cinder blocks. I also traveled along to Taos Middle School to pick up doghouses that were built and donated to Habitat. We delivered them to the high school where they would paint them and add the final touches. Now we just had dinner made by the woman whose house we're building. Her name is Adriana. She has two kids, Danica and Daniel, who also joined us. They made frito pie, which I've never had, but it was delicious. I'm not sure what's planned for the rest of the night, but we'll probably play a few different games as a group. So far it's been a successful build day and I'm excited to see how much we will accomplish this week!