Blogging: Amanda, Corie, Tricia

Amanda Vargo:

Friday I was sick, but managed to get better. Saturday when we pulled into the resort it was amazing, just a breath-taking view. Trish and I still managed to have ants in the room, I guess it was because of the beautiful waterfall view we had outside our window. I went to the beach and collected a lot of seashells. But what amazed me the most is how outside of the walls of what we called paradise were shacks, little boys trying to make money, and people risking their lives just for another day of food.
But on this trip I learned that we can´t change the world. It is like I heard last night... How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. It takes time and this trip was not only about building a home, friendship, trust, and teamwork.

Corie Hordijk:

Hola everyone! Long time, no talk :) It was an awesome weekend of relaxation and sun. Although it also have me a great sense of appreciation. Our Ranch was beautiful, a tropical paradise. We enjoyed swimming, tanning and exploring. We got to go over to the ocean. I have never been to the Pacific Ocean before, so that was really cool. The waves were way too ginormous so I did not get a chance to do any body surfing :( We got a lot of swimming in the pool though. Saturday night we did karaoke and it was so much fun! Tricia and I did "Walking on Sunshine." The whole weekend was a great getaway! When leaving, we saw a bunch of beach shacks. It really showed us how much of a gated paradise we were in. A lot of El Salvadorans do not live in fair living conditions and we are SO lucky for everything we have. We cannot solve it all at once but one person at a time, we can spread the word and take action! If everyone does something beneficial in their community, we can spread the change

Tricia Angle:

Hola! I cannot believe the amount of work we have done on the house. The R&R was definitely a nice break! It was a little bittersweet to stay in a place where right outside your door there are monkeys and pools, while right outside of the gate there are shacks and people trying to hard to make a dollar. I will not ever complain about working a non-life threatning job with a minimum wage ever again. Everything at home has a much greater place in my heart at this point, and every little worry seems so insignificant. Just having a day to relax in the hammocks and read made me realize how much I actually do need to take some time to myself to unwind and watching the waves crashing in the ocean and being so content made me realize how I need to start to appreciate the nature around me, because it is so beautiful.
I miss you all and I will see you on Wednesday!
Trish