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.