Day 4

I am writing in pencil today because I gave all my pens away to the kids.* (*Online journal may vary from hard copy) Pens here are very prized and it is a huge previlage to own a pen. I just looked at the date, and I realize that we are already halfway through the year!! Wow, already…and now on to the important stuff.

Today I got up at 7:00 AM and to a long needed shower. It was the most awesome shower I have ever had. At 8 we were going to leave for the skill center, but we soon found that we had no transportation to get up there. We waited for awhile, and got some money exchanged while we waited. Soon we all got on the bus and traveled to what they call the mission house (COTN headquarters). The computer team boarded this huge flatbed truck while the rest of the team went into the villages. Five of us (Corey, Adam, Kevin, Alex and I) Went and picked up all the computers that we bought from the Issaquah School District. On the way up to the skill center I stood up on the back of the truck the whole way, just for fun. I had to dodge low hanging electrical wires and tree branches. It was a fun adrenaline rush!

The road was very bumpy on the way up. We finally got to the skill center and it was a lot different than what I expected. We unloaded the computers from the well packed suitcases and began to set up the computers. We set up about 15 computers, but today we were only able to configure one of them. This was because we only had one UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) and surge protector. Around here, the power goes out a lot (pretty much every day), and it surges all the time. The computers would be destroyed if we don’t protect them from surging power. So tomorrow we are going to but 9 more UPS’s and get all the computers set up and running.

After we set the computers up we went back for a very late lunch/almost dinner, and then went straight back to the skill center. Today was the building dedication. It has been 4 years since they started construction of the center. This was a very big deal, and I am glad I was here to witness it. The mayor of the city was here, and a lot of other important officials.

I am excited for tomorrow because the director of the skill center, Angel, speaks very good English and is very excited to learn from us. He is a VERY cool guy! Tonight I took a break and swam in the pool after a very yummy dinner. Tomorrow morning I am doing a devotional for the team so I am going to plan it now on the next page in this journal. Goodnight!