June 12th
Patate, Ecuador
With the M-Fuge group arriving late Friday night in Quito and to the camp Saturday morning, there was a lot left to be done. Cleaning the four dormitories and six cabins as well as the coliseum and cafeteria was no easy task. I spent a good part of the day dusting the fans in the cafeteria (they seem to attract all kinds of dirt when you build something next to a volcano) and helping take down the extra bunks that were in place for the maximum capacity crowd we had last weekend.
The to-do list was long, but with so many interns and people on staff, many of the tasks were quickly completed. As with most work days, you get to know those you work with pretty well. Today I got to learn a lot about Freddy, one of the full-time camp staffers here at Camp Chacauco. Freddy is from Peru, just south of Ecuador, but came here about two years ago to start working with Steve full-time. He’s a very talented musician and can really pick up anything after hearing it just once. Our conversations were quite interesting, given the fact that he knows little English and that I’m still picking up on my Spanish. Lots of hand gestures, sound effects, and acting out of words were used, but other than that the conversation went pretty smoothly.
While we were working hard, we noticed a change in the activity of the volcano. More smoke and ash drifted into the atmosphere as the day continued, starkly contrasting itself against the blue sky and many white clouds. Although there is a little more activity out of Tungurahua this week, it’s not considered a bad thing. Letting off some smoke and ash prevents the volcano from building up to a big explosion like the one they had here two years ago.
Volcanoes aside, seeing the entire staff prepare for this group to come in was really something else to see though. I have a new appreciation for the way Steve partitions the work load to his engineer, electrical staff, camp interns, kitchen staff, and general handymen. While preaching and speaking to people are certainly two of his gifts, I also think God gave him the gift of organization. With that said, I’m going back to work.
Patate, Ecuador
With the M-Fuge group arriving late Friday night in Quito and to the camp Saturday morning, there was a lot left to be done. Cleaning the four dormitories and six cabins as well as the coliseum and cafeteria was no easy task. I spent a good part of the day dusting the fans in the cafeteria (they seem to attract all kinds of dirt when you build something next to a volcano) and helping take down the extra bunks that were in place for the maximum capacity crowd we had last weekend.
The to-do list was long, but with so many interns and people on staff, many of the tasks were quickly completed. As with most work days, you get to know those you work with pretty well. Today I got to learn a lot about Freddy, one of the full-time camp staffers here at Camp Chacauco. Freddy is from Peru, just south of Ecuador, but came here about two years ago to start working with Steve full-time. He’s a very talented musician and can really pick up anything after hearing it just once. Our conversations were quite interesting, given the fact that he knows little English and that I’m still picking up on my Spanish. Lots of hand gestures, sound effects, and acting out of words were used, but other than that the conversation went pretty smoothly.
While we were working hard, we noticed a change in the activity of the volcano. More smoke and ash drifted into the atmosphere as the day continued, starkly contrasting itself against the blue sky and many white clouds. Although there is a little more activity out of Tungurahua this week, it’s not considered a bad thing. Letting off some smoke and ash prevents the volcano from building up to a big explosion like the one they had here two years ago.
Volcanoes aside, seeing the entire staff prepare for this group to come in was really something else to see though. I have a new appreciation for the way Steve partitions the work load to his engineer, electrical staff, camp interns, kitchen staff, and general handymen. While preaching and speaking to people are certainly two of his gifts, I also think God gave him the gift of organization. With that said, I’m going back to work.
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