Fire Ants and Turpentine

This morning, I woke up with a smile. Usually when I wake up at 6:00 am, there is no smile in sight. Usually when I wake up at 6:00 am I am not going to do something very meaningful. But today was different – not just because I wasn’t whining about anything and everything to anyone and everyone who would listen. Today was different because I woke up with a purpose. And who wouldn’t want to smile with that thought?

I came on this trip knowing a few people, but I wasn’t sure how helpful I could be. That doubt was only increased by the countless times people laughed in my face as I told them I was going to build houses in Texas. But when people tell me I can’t, I will work twice as hard to prove that I can. And that’s what I love most about this trip and this group of people; they all believe that everyone here can do the things we’re being asked to. To find twenty-two people who believe in you is a very special opportunity that I wish everyone can experience at least once.

That leads me to my day. Today, Alex T. and I finished tiling the bathroom floor at our work site. Yesterday the site leader Sam L. and his wife Ethel told us how difficult, tedious, and important our job was. I volunteered nervously, but it was like pulling teeth trying to get someone else to volunteer. Thankfully Alex stepped up and Sam set to work teaching us the skill. I was very nervous, having never tiled anything before. This was someone’s bathroom, where they would step every day. To mess it up would leave a lasting impression that would be unflattering at the very least. However, we got the hang of it and plowed through despite our Spiderman-worthy sticky fingers and the turpentine smell that was anything but pleasant. After putting in that last little strip of tile, Sam, Ethel, Danielle, Jill, and Sarah came to see the finished product. Their exclamations of praise and excitement were all that I needed to know that I could, in fact, be helpful. And to top it off, we got to meet the original owner of the house, eat lunch on the pier AND watch Ethel play with the fire ants in the yard. Watching a 70-something year old woman march around a yard with a stick in her hand stirring up trouble is a site worth seeing! With the prospect of setting a large fire, finishing up the painting, and visiting Galveston in my view for tomorrow, I think I won’t mind waking up at 6:00am again.

~ Alex B.