tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80109293223726432022024-03-13T11:08:34.671-07:00GROW, Inc.GROW, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04155729788910879083noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010929322372643202.post-65120803397989110312011-08-13T16:49:00.000-07:002011-08-13T16:52:46.806-07:00A wonderful look back<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWTfwKkeSDd1T4q3R46MmD9PJwLbVV2p9d3CvXbn2V0OxrTZt8rsN9Vkqaa3sz2tKbFI8ybJVTdtAyhN3LfKKQ0YOsUNOZ54pghb489n-oB8Yz3j_xgyV9GsBvw5Y5TufV9dEIVaWg8JM/s1600/Alex+and+Evelyn.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWTfwKkeSDd1T4q3R46MmD9PJwLbVV2p9d3CvXbn2V0OxrTZt8rsN9Vkqaa3sz2tKbFI8ybJVTdtAyhN3LfKKQ0YOsUNOZ54pghb489n-oB8Yz3j_xgyV9GsBvw5Y5TufV9dEIVaWg8JM/s320/Alex+and+Evelyn.jpeg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5640492741225886514" border="0" /></a>
<br />We have found our successor for writing this blog! Read the link below for a beautiful, insightful, thoughtful reflection about our team's service trip to Ecuador last month. Alex is truly a gifted writer! http://astockwell.com/2011/08/for-ecuador/
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<br />GROW, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04155729788910879083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010929322372643202.post-49893490618815154262011-07-11T19:27:00.000-07:002011-07-11T20:08:37.362-07:00The Best for Last???Our drive Friday night to Otavalo was smooth, fog-free (thank goodness!), and completed in under two hours. The innkeeper here greeted our bus as we pulled into the driveway and personally took us to our large, comfortable rooms. This hotel, we are convinced, was a former monastery; not that we have any proof of that, but the Spanish architecture and layout of the gardens reminded us of such surroundings.<br /><br />We arrived after ten o'clock, but one of our main focuses throughout the trip has been making sure all of us have plenty of bottled drinking water and with all of the traveling in the past two days, we didn't have much time to find a small market to replenish our supply. Once we put our suitcases into our rooms and met as a team to make a shopping plan in the market for Saturday morning, eight of us went in search of a late night market to buy water and snacks. We found one several blocks away, made our vital purchases (which of course included the sugar waffle cookies we are all addicted to on this trip!), and head back to the hotel for a comfortable night's sleep.<br /><br />Morning showers allowed all of us to discover that the hot and cold faucets were reversed in this hotel, but once we found the hot water, it was tough to get out of the warm shower; Otavalo at 10,000 feet above sea level was quite cool in the morning and as far as I could find, the room had no actual heater so it was a bit chilly for a while.<br /><br />We all met for breakfast together in the dining room at 8:30 and it was the same standard meal we'd enjoyed all week--fresh tropical fruit, eggs cooked to our preference, bread, and juice and/or coffee with milk. Once we had checked out and stored our luggage in the bus, we walked to the HUGE market set up in the town, spread out for blocks. Hundreds and hundreds of vendors sold clothing, jewelry, food, spices, paintings, sculptures, you name it. I am sure we walked by only a fraction of the market in the two and a half hours we wandered and shopped. After finishing most of our shopping, we met in a pie shop that other volunteers at the clinic had raved about; most of us ordered their trademark blackberry pie with ice cream, but A.J. ordered apple and Alex ordered chocolate. Needless to say, most of us had to exchange bites! (And we wonder why germs flew through the team!!! Between that and sharing water bottles! I guess Grow will have to prohibit future teams from being so close and generous! LOL!)<br /><br />Several wanted to buy soccer shirts as souvenirs, so on the way back to the hotel we all stopped at that booth and bartered until everyone was satisfied with the price. However, once we turned to continue our walk back and had gone about a block, we realized Adam and Olivia were not with us! After we checked at the hotel to make sure they weren't already there, we made a plan orchestrated by Alex, fanned out over several streets, and found them quickly!<br /><br />The bus made short work of the drive back to Quito; I think we arrived at our hotel for the night (the same as our first night) in under two hours. We dropped off luggage, ordered a taxi to take us to Old Quito, and enjoyed a wonderful couple of hours with a personable driver who acted as tour guide rather than just drop us off and leave us to our own devices. He even took us to a gorgeous restaurant that overlooked much of Quito; it was a stunning view of the city that we just couldn't get enough of as we ordered and ate our dinner and celebrated an incredible week together.<br /><br />Our final team meeting reinforced for all of us just how much a highlight this trip to Ecuador has been in each of our lives and how close we grew as a team. While meetings are definitely NOT a highlight for any of us in our working lives, in some ways these team meetings are as inspirational as the actual work we do during the week; I guess any kind of reflection can provide that kind of emotional support. But a very early (three a.m.!) wake-up call was in most of our futures (except maybe for some of the guys who can leap out of bed 10 minutes before leaving on the bus at 4 a.m.), so we retired early (well, by Grow standards, since everyone was in their rooms packing by 10:30). The flights home were comfortable, and the day was a long one, but we fit in more card games of Hearts, more heart-to-heart discussions, and a few last jokes at each others' expense. A final team dinner in Phoenix at Fajitas with our family members was just one more great time to add to our memory boxes.<br /><br />Needless to say, we can't wait for the opportunity to contribute in some way again next summer!GROW, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04155729788910879083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010929322372643202.post-13012604467796035162011-07-11T11:01:00.000-07:002011-07-11T11:02:01.296-07:00Tranquilo<style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} @font-face {font-family:"\0027\.Helvetica NeueUI\0027"; panose-1:0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-alt:Cambria; mso-font-charset:77; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:auto; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"\0027\.Helvetica NeueUI\0027"; color:black">And our adventures continue. Grow always builds in a day or two of R&R at the end of the week to help bridge the transition between the service we do and the cultural changes we experience and the fast pace of our normal routines. This week Dr. Zambrano, the leader of the project we worked with, built two full days into the schedule for us. For him, it made figuring out the logistics of transportation for two large teams easier. For us, it meant seeing more of one country than we've seen on any trip in the past-a fantastic benefit!<br /><br />Friday morning we woke up to beautifully lush tropical surroundings-and the news that Thursday night had been Bob's turn with the bug plaguing our team this week and that Adam was not feeling 100% either. Bob needed the day to rest but Adam was determined to ignore it and hopefully feel better. So we began our day of nonstop adrenaline rushes.<br /><br />A large taxi and tour guide came and gave us several choices on what we could do with our day in Mindo, a town in a cloud forest. We settled on going to a butterfly sanctuary first and loved it. Then the 10 of us all went ziplining, a first for many of us! It was exhilarating and utterly stunning views! The guides even taught us tricks like the superman and the butterfly across the lines! Pictures will be coming soon!<br /><br />Next 8 of us-everyone but me and Olivia-decided to go rappelling down a waterfall! All of us hiked to a cable bridge and then the rest of them had a ridiculously difficult cling up to a waterfall while Olivia and I sat for an hour or so at the riverside and solved world problems (sadly, we couldn't see the waterfall from where we were at so we have no pictures). Definitely a scarier experience but some of them loved it while other said they were glad they did it but probably wouldn't do it again. All of these activities in about 5 hours of time. We know how to live!<br /><br />The team was wet and sweaty after that and we needed to check out of our little paradise even though the kind innkeeper had extended our time to 3:30. So we drove back to the inn so people could shower and change, stored our luggage, then walked a half mile to the delicious cafe we had eaten in the night before. It was equally delightful the second time around! And while we were there, the innkeeper called the cafe to see if we were there (we had forgotten to tell her where we were going but there aren't too many places to eat in Mindo!) to tell us our taxi was coming in 20 minutes to get us to take us to the top of the hills to meet our bus. Dr. Z had arranged for the bus that was taking the doctors and dentists back to Quito to pick us up along the way. So our taxi took us up to the highway to meet the bus and we waited about 45 minutes along the side of the road at a bus stop for the big bus to pick us up. It arrived around 6 pm and we drove the next two hours in the dark and the fog along the windy roads until we reached the beautiful city of Quito. We dropped the medical team off at various points in the city, made a longer pit stop at Charity Anywhere's offices, and then began our two hour drive to the even higher city of Otavalo...</span></p>GROW, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04155729788910879083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010929322372643202.post-22864023263206568032011-07-09T20:31:00.000-07:002011-07-09T20:34:21.578-07:00A crazy few days!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); line-height: 20px; ">The past three days have been ACTION-PACKED. We have traveled from the coastline to the cloud forest to the Andes Highlands and back to the capital city of Quito in those three days, experiencing four very different environments. And we packed those days as full as possible! And we are tired but exhilarated!<div><br /></div><div>Thursday morning saw us finishing our work in Esmeraldas-working in the clinic, painting, helping with dental education, and connecting with many local people. We played a terrific game of soccer with many of the people we've been privileged to work with, and Juana, our homeowner, and other family members fixed a delicious lunch for us all. Afterwards there was dancing and many thanks all around. It's always tough to say good-bye to new friends. </div><div><br /></div><div>After we checked out of the hotel, we began the long, slow drive to Mindo. A two lane road and many trucks and buses and winding mountain roads turned a 2 and a half hour drive into a 4 and a half hour drive. So it was dark and foggy when we arrived at our home for the night. We quickly checked in, drove to a nearby cafe for dinner, and then called it a night. Everybody was tired from a packed day. </div><div><br /></div><div>I don't mean to tease you with this glimpse, but as I type this, we face our drive to the airport in a little over 5 hours. So I am going to say good-night and continue this message at the airport sometime tomorrow. Buenos noches!</div></span>GROW, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04155729788910879083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010929322372643202.post-51883486627927735312011-07-06T21:42:00.000-07:002011-07-06T21:44:24.381-07:00Wednesday-the ugly, the bad, and the good!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); line-height: 20px; ">A bit of a change In our normal routine today...mid-trip illness has made its nasty appearance. :((. As we all gathered for our usual delicious breakfast, A.J.arrived and told us Alex wasn't going with us; he was feeling pretty sick, but he would try to taxi out to Esmeraldas at noon. I went up to see if I could bring him anything-he had already started the precautionary antibiotics the night before-and it was clear he was pretty well out for the day. After I went to my room to get him some ibuprofen for the fever he had, A.J.came in with 2 of the doctors who heard he was sick and wanted to check on him. I guess the lesson here is always plan your service trips in tandem with a medical trip because when we all returned to the hotel this afternoon and went to check on Alex, he said his room had been visited all day-dentists who came back to the hotel at lunch stopped by his room to check on him and a couple doctors who got back to the hotel about an hour before us stopped in as well. It was pretty clear as the day went on that he's got a nasty flu bug, but with the round-the-clock medical house calls, we're hoping he's well enough to go with us tomorrow!<div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile, Alexandria was also a bit under the weather but much more mild, fortunately! She was able to hang with us all day despite some stomach distress. Olivia, however, has had her turn with the medical team tonight. :((. She missed dinner and our team meeting after a rough afternoon, so we're hoping she's back to her smiley self again tomorrow morning too. </div><div><br /></div><div>Fortunately, the day had many upsides! About half our team worked in the clinic all day with the dentists, doctors, and pharmacists. Bob and Todd wired our new house for electricity so Juana and her children could have lights and a refrigerator! Annie and I volunteered to go with 2 of the dentists to an elementary school to help teach oral hygiene and help give them all fluoride treatments-possibly the most fun we've had all week! While we were gone, Adam and Becca started painting the outside of the clinic, and I helped them with that when Annie and I returned while she went to help A.J.and Olivia sterilize the never-ending pile of dental instruments. So lots and lots of random things going on today!</div><div><br /></div><div>Tomorrow we are working in the morning and afterwards we are playing soccer with members of the neighborhood. Then we are being treated to a thank you fiesta by our homeowner Juana and her extended family. Hospitality is a tremendous matter of pride and kindness here, so we know that will be a special event. </div><div><br /></div><div>After we clean up, we are checking out of our lovely hotel here and Dr. Zambrano and his wife are driving us to Mindo, a lovely little town in a cloud forest between here and Quito to allow us to see this wonderful place and hopefully do some hiking. I have no idea what Internet will be available; if you don't hear from us for a couple days you'll know why. :). Send us good thoughts that all of us are healthy and ready to enjoy the sights of Ecuador the next couple of days!</div></span>GROW, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04155729788910879083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010929322372643202.post-66803622149124107462011-07-05T21:05:00.000-07:002011-07-05T21:07:16.964-07:00Working hard in Esmeraldas!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); line-height: 20px; ">Tuesday, we were all over the place! The organization we are working with is giving us so many opportunities. First, breakfast is always delicious-lots of fresh fruit, freshly squeezed tropical juices, eggs, and rolls with jelly. Then today, the big bus was here to drive us the 25 minutes to Esmeraldas since it arrived yesterday with the medical team- so no more cramming 13 bodies into a minivan and pickup truck as we've done for the past two days--including the loooooong drive from Quito to here. On the way to the job site, Kathryn entertained us with tales that exemplify her passion for all things Red Wings. I'm quite sure the medical team didn't know what to make of this rowdy group in the back of the bus!<div><br /></div><div>Once we arrived at the house site, Kathryn went to work in the clinic while the rest of us went to begin building a house and made a wonderful discover: all 9 two feet deep holes for the beams that would hold up the house were dug by the men helping us yesterday!!! This is no small accomplishment since we had worked for at least an hour and a half at the end of the day with a chisel and hammer and an empty coconut shell to empty the dirt once the chisel did it's work-and got 2 holes dug! Needless to say, helpful big tools were scarce! But the men had some tall tool that they could use to knock the dirt right out, so they finished all the holes after we left. </div><div><br /></div><div>The morning was filled with leveling the floor posts about 3 feet off the ground, adding some beams, and then hammering the floor boards into place. Before we went to lunch, we had the prefab walls in place and by the time we got back, the 3 neighbors had the roof started. Bob and Adam decided to build a staircase out of scrap wood to help the family get into their home, so after they did the math, the two of them and Becca and I all did an awful lot of sawing. All by hand-not a power tool in sight!</div><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile in the afternoon, Annie, Alexandria, A.J., and Alex all went to help at the clinic. Good thing ,too, because the dentist's office alone saw 150 patients-the doctor's office even more! Our Facebook page has a picture of them all in their scrubs! Kathryn helped fill prescriptions, a job that terrified her at first, but by lunch she was a pro, even though everything was in Spanish! Alex was an oral surgeon's assistant-really and truly! He held spit cups, rinsing tools, whatever she needed him to do while she filled cavities and pulled teeth! Pretty high level jobs they would never have been able to experience back home!</div><div><br /></div><div>It was a long work day-we didn't get back to the hotel until nearly 6:30!! It had drizzled on and off all afternoon, but we easily finished the house (thanks to our neighborhood friends!) and gave a lot of help at the clinic! </div><div><br /></div><div>We talked a lot about the sense of community and looking out for each other that we've observed here. I think that's one of the powerful reminders of what we could have if we slowed down our lives some that motivates me and Todd to plan these trips each year. We always see vividly how much more people matter than anything else we might want. Why else would family members and neighbors help to build a house that has plenty of volunteers to do it? Why else would doctors and dentists give up multiple weeks of vacation to provide free dental and medical care to the poor throughout the summer? I'm always humbled by how people in every nation show their love for each other.</div></span>GROW, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04155729788910879083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010929322372643202.post-84122129600191600932011-07-04T21:56:00.000-07:002011-07-04T21:59:43.959-07:00Our 4th of July<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); line-height: 20px; ">We had a fantastic day today! Descriptions ranging from teamwork to productive to perfection were all words used by team members tonight to sum up the day. First, the weather was wonderful for working outside. Overcast nearly all day with a tiny sprinkle a couple of times and welcome ocean breezes at just the right time. We still sweat buckets, but the temperatures were balmy. Pray for that kind of weather every day! Next, we began our workday at the refinery to load trucks with medical supplies, dental chairs, and all kinds of equipment they were storing for the team of 30 doctors and dentists arriving today. We followed that with trips to a couple of stores to order the supplies for the house we're building. That driving around took a while, so then it was time for lunch. <div><br /></div><div>After lunch was the best time of all. In less than 2 hours, our team, with the outstanding help of two neighbors, demolished the old, termite-ridden house standing on the site the new house will occupy. We enjoyed this crazy adventure very much despite close encounters with dangerous moments-like Annie's scratch from a nail (don't worry, Mom, she's completely fine, the handy-dandy antiseptic wipes, antibiotic cream, and bandaid were probably all overkill as far as she was concerned but I need to justify my huge first aid kit once in a while!)-- or the hammer that flew out of A.J.'s hands right into Alex's chest ( he's fine too once although a bruise may show up)--or the perfectly executed roll Adam did off the house's platform backwards to avoid falling badly as he pulled a section of the wall off to dispose of it. See, completely safe work we do! Once we racked and threw away the debris under the old house platform-and marveled at the size of the bugs we saw!-we began digging holes for the posts for the new house. Tomorrow we will finish that and begin building the house. Kathryn and Alexandria will put in some time in the clinic with the medical teams. </div><div><br /></div><div>We returned to our hotel, had some beach time or pool time, showers, dinner, then had a meeting with the entire group of volunteers so we could all meet each other. We followed that with our regular daily team meeting, then walked to the store to buy more water and snacks. Finally we ended the evening with a rowdy card game of "31" with a couple of the doctors we've gotten to know. Thanks to Dr. Albeirto's suggestion, the loser of each hand had to sing and dance! The Hokey Pokey, Teapot Song, and YMCA were all featured tonight. </div><div><br /></div><div>All in all, a pretty fabulous way to celebrate the 4th of July!</div></span>GROW, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04155729788910879083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010929322372643202.post-13977810340209882042011-07-03T21:53:00.000-07:002011-07-03T21:54:33.378-07:00A second day of traveling...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: '.Helvetica NeueUI'; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); line-height: 20px; ">Full day of exploring Ecuador today! First we drove over to the local office for Charity Anywhere, our nonprofit partners this year for our project. Very nice office space with the usual Quito views of mountains everywhere! Then we were off to the equator-first, the original one and then the new one identified by GPS technology. They're not vey far apart, but they made for some great photo ops and some fascinating learning for all of us! <div><br /></div><div>Then, it was a drive through the Andes mountains to the coastal town of Esmeraldas. We had lunch at a roadside inn and arrived at Es. Just before dark. We went to see the site of a house we are going to demolish tomorrow and rebuild with a prefab house kit for a single mother and her 6 children! We can't wait to start! Finally, we drove to our hotel in Atacames, about 20 min from Esmeraldas to eat dinner, have our team meeting, go shop for water, and take a quick walk in the dark on the beach here. </div><div><br /></div><div>Esmeraldas is a town whose ecosystem and whose citizens's health has suffered tremendously as a result of the petroleum company that is based there. The poverty is tremendous. Those reasons are why Charity Anywhere has made such a commitment to this town. They have established a permanent health clinic in the town and have additional teams of doctors and dentists come in for a week or two every month. A team of 30 is coming tomorrow and some of us will rotate in every day this week to help them with their work. So it should be a busy week!</div></span>GROW, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04155729788910879083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010929322372643202.post-18602705524682125302011-07-02T22:48:00.000-07:002011-07-02T22:57:26.065-07:00Travel to QuitoToday was a long day of travel. 4 and a half hours to Miami, then another 4 hours to Quito. But everything went very smoothly. We sailed through customs, everyone´s luggage arrived safely, and Dr. Zambrano was waiting for us with a large bus to take us to our hotel, a very nice place called the Finlandia. We arrived to find more changes waiting for us here. We leave tomorrow morning for Esmeraldas to decide what type of project we want to work on there; they have several in the schools there ongoing. We will also get a chance to work with a medical team that arrives Monday, so that was exciting news.<br /><br />On our way to Esmeraldas tomorrow, we will be stopping at the Equator site, so right off the bat we can all cross that trip off our bucket lists! Hopefully we will have internet access at tomorrow´s hotel so that we can continue to keep you updated. My favorite sight tonight-driving through the spotless streets of Quito and looking UP at city lights on the mountain sides circling the area we are in. It´s the opposite of Phoenix where we drive up to a high spot to look down at lights-and it´s a pretty cool difference!GROW, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04155729788910879083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010929322372643202.post-70282397635135404712011-07-01T19:31:00.000-07:002011-07-01T19:39:27.961-07:00Getting ready for EcuadorA last minute phone call from our nonprofit partner this year let us know that we will be traveling to Esmeraldas, Ecuador instead of Tena, Ecuador to work. Good thing flexibility is our middle name!!! Of course, the switch is made easier because Esmeraldas is a coastal town which means we will get to see the ocean off the South American coast!!! So excited about this opportunity to help give a couple of families a new "stilt" home!!!<br /><br />We will update you as we can find a computer available in the town. Don't know how often that will be. If you decide to "subscribe" to our blog here, it will notify you automatically when we update so you don't have to check and be disappointed if we haven't had a chance to update. Meanwhile, wish Team Ecuador, which includes Julie and Todd (the fearless leaders), bravely accompanied by Bob, Olivia, Adam, Kathryn, Annie, Alex, Becca, Alexandria, and A.J., much luck! We want to come home with the score of Grow 11, mosquitoes 0!!!GROW, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04155729788910879083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010929322372643202.post-77513250339102402032009-07-28T16:21:00.001-07:002009-07-28T16:24:14.432-07:00Bahamas Slideshow<img style="visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;" border="0" width="0" height="0" src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bHQ9MTI*ODgyMzI*ODU4OSZwdD*xMjQ4ODIzMjgzODc2JnA9Mzg2MzYxJmQ9Jm49YmxvZ2dlciZnPTEmbz*zZjE3M2RjYzY2NmM*NzQxODQzYzlkODA1OTFjZTc3YiZvZj*w.gif" /><embed width="480" height="360" src="http://static.photobucket.com/flash/rss_slideshow.swf?rssFeed=http%3A%2F%2Ffeed982.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fae307%2Fjnsteach%2FJulie%2Ffeed.rss" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"></embed>GROW, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04155729788910879083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010929322372643202.post-45922888070627891542009-07-05T01:36:00.000-07:002009-07-05T01:53:30.303-07:00July 5thMornin' family and friends. Happy belated 4th of July! The computers were ALWAYS busy yesterday--everyone catching up on holiday greetings, maybe--so I jumped on for a quick note this morning before I finish packing and we head off to the airport for an early flight.<br /><br />As I write, there is a major lightning show going on out there with thunder I can hear even inside this huge hotel with the background music loud as it always seems to be in the lobby here. I've seen more lightning here in the Bahamas in the past 9 days than I think we see all year in Phoenix. I got up early to watch the sunrise on the beach yesterday and lightning accompanied that, as well, but it was much farther out to sea than today. Right now it's directly overhead, but as fast as most of the storms seem to move here, it should move out before our plane takes off in three hours.<br /><br />I will post pictures after I get home. Uploading them will use up time I don't have this morning.<br /><br />Okay, I know I am probably the last woman in the world to finally experience snorkeling, but it is definitely my new, very favorite thing in the world to do!! 8 of our team went out on a catamaran yesterday morning and were in the water checking out the fish for nearly an hour. I hung back on the boat at first to capture pictures, and from that vantage point, it looks odd--lots of bodies just floating in the water, occasionally kicking their fins. Once I put on my mask and got in the water, I was completely hooked. The tropical environment was stunning. One woman in another party who was with us said she's snorkeled lots of places and this was the best ever. So I am sure that once again, we were blessed with a PEAK experience.<br /><br />The afternoon was devoted to shopping for souvenirs--for some of us--and beach time afterwards. We had dinner as a team together, decided that our community dinners together were far superior (really and truly! the food at this resort has been disappointing, but if that's the only complaint besides the mosquitoes, pretty darn good week!), and then had a box seat on the beach for an absolutely incredible fireworks show! None of us had ever seen anything like it, and the 4th of July isn't even the Bahamas holiday. Yet another example of wonderful hospitality from a generous people.<br /><br />I'll give an update or two once we are back home. We have lots of pictures and once we collectively upload those, I'll let you know where to find them. Let us know what you thought of our blog and our daily adventures. We've missed you.GROW, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04155729788910879083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010929322372643202.post-63088457508071757352009-07-03T13:26:00.000-07:002009-07-03T14:14:08.298-07:00Friday, July 3rd<a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3594/3684666067_991a5623bd_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3594/3684666067_991a5623bd_m.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Dick, Craig, Todd building the gate<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2525/3684667809_4d50928d53_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2525/3684667809_4d50928d53_m.jpg" border="0" /></a> Our entire group, with Lyn, her son Vincent, and teacher Gary, in front of the school<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3548/3684670677_32c48a0a52_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3548/3684670677_32c48a0a52_m.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Emily, Alisa, Kathryn sanding<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2490/3684672797_6ae7cf64a7_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 180px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2490/3684672797_6ae7cf64a7_m.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Dick and Ellen in front of the school<br /><br /><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3574/3685483734_bd754e8829_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3574/3685483734_bd754e8829_m.jpg" border="0" /></a> A.J. with the coconut he finally cracked open showing the group.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Hi from Nassau, everyone!<br /><br />The past two days have been a fantastic blur of activity! And all of us have pretty much loved nearly every minute.<br /><br />Wednesday afternoon, Ellen and I left the rest of the crew early, around 3 pm, to take the 20 minute ferry ride with Lyn, the school director, over to Elbow Cay, where Hopetown is located. She went home with her boys, and Ellen and I walked the quiet, sleepy residential town, enjoying all the pastel Cape Cod style homes there. Shops closed at 4 and 5 pm, so walking was about all we got to do until we caught the 6:30 ferry back to Marsh Harbour where Todd and Dick figured out where to find it after a couple misturns. :)<br /><br />Meanwhile, the others had returned to our church home, and after the hot, sticky day, none of them could wait to jump into the water just outside. However, this time while they were all taking turns snorkeling again with Craig and Emily's equipment, with the snorkelers swimming off to some rocks to see amazing fish, and the rest staying close to the rocky coast of our church, Alisa, who was right in the middle of 4 or 5 others, was stung by jellyfish on both of her arms. Somehow, the others who were a foot away from her, fortunately escaped. She had a rough hour or so, and when Todd picked us up from the ferry, his first words after I buckled my seatbelt were, "I need to tell you something about Alisa, but first you need to know that she is going to be fine." All of you parents out there know exactly how quick those words stopped my heart! And she is fine. We heard later that jellyfish (and these were little ones, because the snorkelers had seen them where they were, right up against their goggles) tend to come out after storms. I wish we had known that Wednesday.<br /><br />Anyway, by the time we got back to the church, the A-squad of Kathryn, Derek, and A.J., with back-up from Emily and Alisa, had "brinner" almost done--what a feast! French toast, bacon, sausage, fresh fruit salad. We ate and ate and ate. After they cleaned up, we had our nightly meeting to recap Wednesday and plan Thursday, and then broke out the snacks and cards.<br /><br />Thursday we finished up our work in the morning. Dick, Todd, and Craig made a super sturdy gate to put at the top of the stairs in one of the buildings, the girls finished painting and then sanded the bookshelves from the day before, Derek continued working with the drywaller in the other building, A.J. mowed the knee-high (no exaggeration) grass in the never ending yard, and Ellen cleaned up behind all of us. We finished and said our good-byes and thank yous and exchanged contact information with all that we had made connections with--always a tough thing to do. We arrived back at the church right around noon, to inhale lunch, change into our swimsuits and sunscreen, and then hop into Pastor Campbell's bus to make the 40 minute drive to Treasure Cay. It was an unbelievably beautiful place--white fine sand going on for miles, and we literally saw only 3 other people there. If this is the 2nd most beautiful beach in the world, we can't even imagine how the first place one can beat it. None of us have ever seen anything this incredible!<br /><br />We arrived home by 5 pm, showered while Dick grilled us hotdogs and pulled out every possible leftover we had--another amazing feast. Then we spent an hour and a half or so cleaning up after ourselves to leave the church a better place, as we always try to do. We met for a while, agreed we'd made some wonderful new friendships, both in Marsh Harbour and on our team, and then played Hearts. But the morning was coming early--we needed to get up at 5 a.m. to catch our 7:20 flight to Nassau--so we ended a bit earlier than usual.<br /><br />And now I sit here at a computer kiosk in the Sheraton we're staying at for the weekend. They generously allowed all of us to check in at 9 a.m. this morning when we got here, so we dropped stuff off and then pretty much scattered to the winds after that. Some went snorkeling, some went into town to see the shops, and Alisa and I hit the beach to just veg for the afternoon. We watched a thunder and lightning storm out at sea that was incredible, but it never came into shore.<br /><br />The R&R time at the end of each GROW trip is a good transition--we all talked about how the work we've done really takes us out of our natural environment and creates something "euphoric" was Kathryn's word for it. The work we do is important, the people we've met have created something really special, and the location is unforgettable. None of us is ready to go back to our "ordinary" lives. The weekend will help get us ready. And we hope you are ready to put up with our stories over and over and look at the million pictures we've collectively taken. :) Next year you'll have to come with us!!!GROW, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04155729788910879083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010929322372643202.post-27864692548936090472009-07-01T11:23:00.000-07:002009-07-01T11:51:34.345-07:00Wednesday, July 1stThis plaque by ECC's school is why we do what we do!<br /><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2618/3679328768_f0ef799c59_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2618/3679328768_f0ef799c59_m.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>Derek and A.J. enjoy jamming<a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2629/3678481387_90006a2cc0_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2629/3678481387_90006a2cc0_m.jpg" border="0" /></a> each evening<br /><br /><div><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2621/3679302396_1575f8e709_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2621/3679302396_1575f8e709_m.jpg" border="0" /></a> The birthday girl is delighted!<br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3554/3678499135_a8a7d0b65b_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3554/3678499135_a8a7d0b65b_m.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Alisa and Emily, the cake decorators<br /><br /></div><br /><div><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2588/3678507827_62fbc2de95_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 180px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2588/3678507827_62fbc2de95_m.jpg" border="0" /></a> Todd and Dick, carpenters extraodinaire!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>The sun rose this morning!!! It was a beautiful sunrise that only Craig saw, but he took a picture to show us the rest and maybe I'll be able to send that picture later. Most of us assumed there would be more rain, so no one planned on an early morning. But with every good thing, there's a shadow--steam city here in Marsh Harbour. Our one day reprieve with the cooler temperatures the rain brought is over. Back to sweating!<br /></div><br /><div>The men made a delicious dinner last night--chicken, rice, salad, more garlic bread on the texas toast bread we all loved the night before. Even though it was sprinkling, I convinced Kathryn to go in the water with me since it was her birthday, and Derek and A.J. went right along. They brought Craig and Emily's snorkeling equipment and the three of them traded that on and off for 45 minutes or so while I tread water in perfect temperature. Meanwhile, Alisa and Emily were decorating the chocolate cake we got to sing to Kathryn after dinner--she definitely was surprised and touched. And of course we had ice cream with the cake, and had popcorn and cheese and crackers while we played Hearts later on. There is no shortage of eating around here!</div><br /><div>With the return of the sun, Craig, Ellen, and I decided to walk to the school this morning, while Todd brought the others in the van--it's only a little over 2 miles. Craig went ahead and Ellen and I stopped at the bakery to get some more of the fresh baked bread for lunch and dinner (the younger set is making "brinner" as A.J. calls it for tonight, and wanted this bread for French toast). Once again, the bread was too warm from the oven to slice! Fortunately, it was ridiculously warm in the bakery or Ellen and I would never had left because everything smelled so wonderful!</div><br /><div>Today brought more painting, sanding, fixing windows, and Todd and Dick jumped on a new big project--making 6 3-shelf bookcases for the school. As I type this, they are already almost finished even though they didn't buy the wood until mid-morning. What a crew. The kitchen and bathroom look brand new, the floors upstairs that we painted are bright and shiny, the doors and windows all close easily. I know the staff is very happy with us.</div><br /><div>I'm taking the ferry over to another island to see the little town of Hopetown where the school director, Lyn Majors, lives--she's taking me down there in a half hour or so. No one else really had the burning desire I did to see it--getting in the water on a sunny day is much more appealing to the younger set! I don't know that I'll get a chance to jump on tomorrow because we are only working half a day, and then the minister of the church at which we're staying is taking us up to Treasure Cay to see the beach there--everyone needs to pray for sun! Friday morning early we are flying back to Nassau for a couple days of R&R there, so once we are settled, I'll see if I can find a cafe somewhere there to write. I hope everyone there is not too hot! The ocean breezes here at least cool us off regularly! We miss you and wish you were here with us.</div></div></div></div>GROW, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04155729788910879083noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010929322372643202.post-57675391411530934302009-06-30T12:18:00.000-07:002009-06-30T12:46:22.007-07:00Tuesday, June 30th<a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2669/3676298536_a52c11163b_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 180px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2669/3676298536_a52c11163b_m.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2637/3675492415_d0c244881d_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 180px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2637/3675492415_d0c244881d_m.jpg" border="0" /></a> Plumbing by Craig and Dick,</div><div>Painting duo Kathryn and Alisa,</div><div>Painting floor Emily<br /><br /></div><div><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3627/3676313610_c1d0812225_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3627/3676313610_c1d0812225_m.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2436/3676290124_be06426062_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2436/3676290124_be06426062_m.jpg" border="0" /></a> The five amigos enjoying the ocean</div><div><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div>Hi family and friends!</div><div><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div>Today's word has to be RAIN. Several of us woke up around 5 this morning to the sounds of high winds, thunder, and torrential rain (so some of us gave up the idea of maybe actually going for a run while we're here...) and then just lay in bed readjusting our ideas of what we would get done today. It has pretty much rained all day, sometimes hard, sometimes a nice easy rain, but when that wind and heavy rain gets going, we wonder how much worse a hurricane would be. Except for flooding on the sides of the roads (and think about how that complicates our learning curve on left-side driving), the town handles all this rain just fine!<br /></div><div>Needless to say, very little outdoor work can be done--somehow, power tools and water don't mix, according to Craig and Dick! Fortunately, there's lots to be done indoors--kitchen and bathroom painting, upstairs floor painting, sanding the new wall in a classroom in preparation for sanding, and Emily pointed out a little sink problem in one of the bathrooms that necessitated a trip by three men--Craig, Dick, and Todd--to the hardware store for new faucet and plumbing stuff. Since this is the first time these three felt the need to go together, I think they were feeling a little cooped up by the weather.<br /></div><div>After work yesterday, 5 of our team walked down the little ramp the church has to the ocean and enjoyed an hour of cooling off in the warm water. Kathryn (our birthday girl today! Happy birthday, our much loved friend!), Derek, A.J., Craig, and Todd cannot wait to do that again. Ellen and I, with help from Alisa and Emily, made spaghetti for dinner and extorted promises from the 5 swimmer/snorkelers that Tuesday would be our day to swim while they made dinner. Everyone agreed, but we're making an exception for our birthday girl!<br /></div><div>We all met some wonderful people yesterday and are working on making those relationships more significant today as we talk while we work. Each day we are more amazed by the work done at ECC and how Lyn Major's dream has evolved into a school serving so many with support from different communities. All of us talked last night about how much the teachers at this school, Gary, Pam, and Margaret are the ones we've met so far, are so committed to their work and the idea of just making a difference in life that matters. That's the reason our team loves doing this work-to be a part of something so significant!</div></div>GROW, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04155729788910879083noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010929322372643202.post-47505964891144384352009-06-29T12:55:00.000-07:002009-06-30T11:50:23.777-07:00Monday, June 29th<a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3146/3672969256_368e390afb_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3146/3672969256_368e390afb_m.jpg" border="0" /></a> Approaching the Bahamas Saturday night<br /><div><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3597/3672978054_e35c606d17_m.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2444/3672998050_4e05f5f701_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2444/3672998050_4e05f5f701_m.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Dinner first night<br /> Our OFFICIAL meeting site<br /><div><a href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2482/3673012012_be9bf2f9ea_m.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 180px" alt="" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2482/3673012012_be9bf2f9ea_m.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div>Cards at the Nassau airport Sunday afternoon</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div> </div><div>It's been an amazing 24 hours!!! We spent several hours in the Nassau airport yesterday waiting for our little airplane to fly to Marsh Harbour--it ran about 45 minutes late, and the Bahamasair officials always apologized about that whenever they made an announcement. When was the last time you heard that from an airline! When we arrived after a peaceful 30 minute plane ride to the small town here, Pastor Campbell, our host at the church we are staying at, greeted us, helped us with our luggage, and drove most of us to the church. I talked to a young man behind one of the two counters inside the airport building who led me to our rental minivan, and then I drove behind the bus the pastor drove--ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE STREET!--while Todd did navigation duty in the passenger seat. The beautiful building that is the church is built right on the edge of the sea--I am temporarily a hero for having been so lucky to "find" this place--courtesy of Lyn Major's recommendation--she is the school's director. What a peaceful setting for our work this week. Some of the ladies of the church had cooked us a delicious dinner of baked chicken, a delicious rice dish, salad, vegies, and a to-die-for chocolate cake. Pastor Campbell then took us to Every Child Counts school so we would know where it was, then said goodnight. After gathering together for our nightly meeting outside at oceanside, we set up our beds in the assigned rooms and then played a particularly loud game of hearts.</div><br /><div>Today, we arrived at ECC shortly after 8:00 and talked to a couple teachers who greeted us. Once we reviewed our work list--everything from scrubbing walls to prepare them for painting tomorrow, to clearing a room and washing the floor to paint IT tomorrow, to putting up shelves in a garden shed, to fixing various doors, windows, and cabinets--Todd and I made a supply list and went shopping at the hardware store across the street with the project funds we all contribute. I brought him and the supplies back to the school, and then Ellen and I went grocery shopping for lunch and breakfast the next 4 days. When we returned, everyone else had already made a serious dent in our project chores and were ready for food and Gatorade and water. It's been a humid day--lots of rain off and on and very little sun. The breeze feels wonderful. Since lunch, we've been scrubbing walls and fixing doors.</div><br /><div>I'll upload a few pictures for you and then the teachers are ready to go home, so I will update you on our adventures more tomorrow. Take care!</div></div></div></div>GROW, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04155729788910879083noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010929322372643202.post-28160173282076198902009-06-28T11:42:00.000-07:002009-06-28T11:52:03.619-07:00June 28th<span style="font-family: georgia;">It's Sunday afternoon and I have 10 minutes to update you before we catch our taxi over to the airport for our short ride to Marsh Harbour! We've walked all over downtown today, checking out old buildings and climbing 66 steps to see the old Water Tower and Fort Fincastle, then a long walkabout over to Fort Charlotte where we were greeted by a great view of Atlantis on Paradise Island. We walked back to where the cruise ships dock to check out the shops, but no serious shopping happened today because we still have luggage weight issues to deal with! When we return at the end of the week, that's when serious shopping can begin.<br /><br />We wish you were here. The humidity is pretty ridiculous, but the ocean views and kindness of the residents are amazing. We were lightly rained on during our adventures, but it cooled us off. We had lunch at Senor Frog's where a pretty intense karaoke crowd entertained us with plenty of oldies. It's been a fun, bonding day to get us ready for the hard work of the week ahead. Once we settle in quiet Marsh Harbour, we'll probably break out the card games again! Pictures, unfortunately, will have to wait until I find a computer that will let me upload them. Just want to give you something to look forward to!<br /></span>GROW, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04155729788910879083noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010929322372643202.post-76154121521455234342009-06-27T19:51:00.000-07:002009-06-27T20:06:41.789-07:00Saturday, June 27thOur travels to Nassau today went very smoothly! I am sitting here writing you from a corner in the lobby of our hotel, the Towne Hotel, a very quaint place that is also providing seating space for about 7 other hotel patrons to work on their laptops, while a young woman and I work on the computers provided. However, the internet is running slowly, so I will try to update the blog tomorrow with pictures rather than tonight!<br /><br />The Phoenix contingent of our team arrived at Sky Harbor this morning before 5:30 a.m., breezed through check-in and security, and then left for Atlanta in an on-time flight! Once we arrived in Atlanta, Todd, Craig, and Emily quickly grabbed lunch, because they were catching the flight to Nassau before the rest of us. We waited at our gate for a few hours; meanwhile, Kathryn flew in from Michigan to round out our numbers, Derek, A.J., Ellen, and Dick played a great game of crazy rummy for an hour or so, while Alisa and I spent some very relaxing time coloring Disney pictures!<br /><br />One highlight of the trip already is our flight to Nassau. While enroute, our pilot told us NASA would be launching a rocket at Cape Canaveral (sp?) that had been delayed a bit because of weather. Sure enough, as we passed the site, the rocket was catapulted into the air! Kathryn saw it happen since she was sitting on the left side of the plane; the rest of us had to be content with seeing the spiralling plume of white smoke it left behind it! I wonder if the plane would have leaned if we had all known to rush to that side of the plane the minute before it happened!<br /><br />Once we arrived here, we collected our luggage, met up with the three who flew first, and traveled in the van they had arranged to bring us here. We quickly dropped off our luggage and then walked over to Conche Fritters for a dinner that hit the spot--conche chowder, conche burgers, and conche fritters were popular choices among our group.<br /><br />Don't know when I'll get a chance to add more--tomorrow will probably be another crazy day, and we won't have a handy hotel lobby that provides free internet at the end of the day! So I will probably report on our adventures sometime Monday. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. We will think of you all as we saunter through the turquoise waters on the beach tomorrow!GROW, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04155729788910879083noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8010929322372643202.post-83376980868645242092009-06-24T15:47:00.000-07:002009-06-24T16:04:11.492-07:00Getting Ready<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhePURK8dD1UeMq3NEkoiL2GPVyVyUg6OnHgCsHvBgQQunzq7hamIDrkK9jEN7n-AjcKjho3gr8Em6aKZpZbKxe0tuLlu1lGxMQR4RTJY0hUPhK2BQ6WHh5_WZBH_n0rI8pF4Q0ASroG7Y/s1600-h/PRJulie+%28125%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhePURK8dD1UeMq3NEkoiL2GPVyVyUg6OnHgCsHvBgQQunzq7hamIDrkK9jEN7n-AjcKjho3gr8Em6aKZpZbKxe0tuLlu1lGxMQR4RTJY0hUPhK2BQ6WHh5_WZBH_n0rI8pF4Q0ASroG7Y/s320/PRJulie+%28125%29.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351032794807129282" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Welcome to our team's record of our journey and work in Marsh Harbour, Abaco Island, Bahamas at the Every Child Counts School. If you want to see what inspired us to contribute to their progress, check out their website at <a href="http://www.everychildcountsabaco.org/">http://www.everychildcountsabaco.org/</a>.<br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br />(<span style="font-style: italic;"> above is last year's GROW team</span>)<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">We are leaving early Saturday morning, June 27th, to make our way to the Bahamas, and will actually arrive in Marsh Harbour on Sunday night. We hope you check in with our blog occasionally to see our progress. The plan is to update it at least daily while we are in Marsh Harbour, but we will see how reliable the internet connections are in that tiny town. Let us know what you think of our adventures with your comments, and we can't wait to share the entire story with you when we return home after the 4th of July weekend--we'll be spending that holiday in Nassau!<br /></span>GROW, Inc.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04155729788910879083noreply@blogger.com1