Honduras Mission Trip 2004

Andrew Blasetti	Senior Civil Engineer	Hi everyone. Today was interesting. Lots of digging and soccer and more digging. I wish I had never talked them into building an in-ground pool. Time flies, I'll see you soon.
Carolyn Conlee	Senior Civil Engineer	Today was the hardest day of physical labor I have ever experienced in my life. We were digging all morning from 8:00 till 12:00, took a break for lunch, then continued digging from 2:00 till 5:00. My body is aching all over. Despite the pain, I'm really proud of myself and my group for what we have accomplished. I love you all and miss you much. Hope everyone back home is well. P.S. Everything's fine and no, mom, i'm not getting eaten up by the bugs...the deet is working perfectly
Liza Dhamer	Senior Civil Engineer	Today was a tough day...i officially hate dirt. We dug and dug and dug. Without a doubt, I'm gonna be sore tomorrow. The day was fun nonetheless. After working all day, we had the infamous US vs Honduras soccer game. Shocker - we won! It was a great game... and to top it all off, we had a water balloon fight afterwards. The day was great... i can't believe tomorrow is thursday already-time is really flying by! Thank you everyone for your support while we are on this trip and for all your messages. Love you!
Sarah Banas	Senior Mechanical Engineer	After a day of hard labor (I was a wheelbarrow dumping machine), singing with the boys returned. They asked Liz and me to sing "Konky-konk"--I think they are actually learning the lyrics! It is great. We actually had salad today which was lovely :-) I was the photographer for the water balloon toss (to avoid getting wet) but ended up soaked, anyway. The boys like to get a reaction from me. I'm absolutely beat, but looking forward to what the next 3 days will hold. Love you much.
John Boring	Senior Mechanical Engineer	Jess, i think it was yesterday but thanks for the message. Joe you too. It was another wonderfully HOT day today. We moved probably about 10-15 tons, at least, of dirt today and we're about ready to start the wall we're building tomorrow. After working I got to sleep up on the hill at the cross. It was amazing. After dinner we had another rousing game of futbal. USA 1 Honduras 1 in our competitions. We got to play with Luis tonight, he played on the Honduran national team. It was so much fun, but not half as much fun as the water balloon fight after the game. Now we're all soaked, exhausted, fighting mosquitos and in a deliriously happy mood. Another great day. I also got two gifts from two of the boys. They are beyond precious and gifts from God. There are no words to express the love and community these boys share here. We are blessed to be here.
Jeffrey Cook	Junior Civil Engineer	Hey Everyone. Today, Wednesday, we worked most of the day (got up at 6:30 and worked through about 4:30), but also got a chance to spend a lot of time with the boys. We all had a water balloon fight, which the boy really enjoyed. See you all soon. Jeff.
Elizabeth Kenyon	Junior Civil Engineer	Thanks for the messages! I love you guys!! Today was a pretty tough day filled with more shoveling and physical work. Working is fun in the beginning but definitely wears you down and it's real hard to keep going when it doesn't feel like your progressing any. I'm feeling pretty worn down and tired today. Tonight during the soccer game I had 3 kids asleep laying on me... and I'm not going to lie- I was practically asleep too.
Dennis Stefanski	Junior Civil Engineer	Hey everyone, its good to hear from all of you. Today was just a killer with work, but the good thing is were banging out most of the dirt part. We're not digging the foundation of a school like I thought, but digging out a patio/grotto thing, I don't know. Everyone here rocks and were definitely having a really good time. Tonight, after winning our soccer game, we introduced the boys to water balloon fight which was a really good time. Other then that everything's kinda chill. I definitely miss you Mom, Dad, Mike, and Christa, hope everything is going well, and don't worry about the long messages, you should see the other ones haha. Liz keep having fun in Miami, and don't worry the beard is shaved and bug bites are going away (sort of)
James Sutton	Junior Civil Engineer	Hey everybody, thank you for all the messages...I miss you all. Today we basically finished digging. It was a lot hotter today than Monday so it was pretty rough. Then tonight it was my turn to help with dinner prep. I cooked fried bologna for all of the boys (and when I say fried, I mean it is actually fried in about an inch of grease). I also made salsa, although Rita (who cooks all the meals) kept laughing at me because they don't think men belong in the kitchen here. Later we played soccer again...won this time and afterwards had a water balloon fight. We're getting up to work early again tomorrow so I'm headed off to bed...talk to you tomorrow...
James Troise	Junior Civil Engineer	T it is great to hear from you and I am beyond shocked that you survived Chicago. I thought for sure I would have a new roommate when I got back from this trip. HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY!!! Awesome man. Sorry you cant get FFXI to work but maybe this will help you catch up on all the work you still need to do. And dude, I did not fall down the hill, I wiped out ridiculously. I am feeling much better tonight as I write this. I hope tomorrow to return to 100%. I got some exercise tonight playing soccer and scored 3 goals. It was good times. Love you Mom and Dad. This has been another episode of Jim's Adventures... Jim signing off
Robert Guinivan	Sophomore Civil Engineer	Hey everyone, today as usual was a long, hard and tiring day. We dug God knows how many pounds of dirt. It's just long and hard days here. Lisa, you will appreciate this newfound revelation....every where I go, there is at least one person I want to hit in the head with a ball-peen hammer. Otherwise, the kids are still great, and it is a lot of fun here. We had Senorita Rita's first ever pizza, it was awesome. The USA finally beat Honduras in a soccer match...it was glorious. Alright, time to pass out...miss and love you all.
David Dinehart	Faculty Advisor	Lance Corporal Spunkmeyer has been called up to active duty, (get it trip alumni?), he reports tomorrow morning. Thanks for the message Julie, say hi to your gang from me. Doc P., if Griff gets traded to the Braves he may be worth a first round pick to trade him to Gross. I realized as I was shoveling, wheelbarrowing, picking, and then playing soccer that the students I bring to Honduras stay the same age, but I keep getting older, and boy do I feel old today. Shell, Matt, and Abby, I miss you guys tons. I hope all is well at work Shell. Give me an update if you can. Matt and Abby check the second drawer in the guest room for your last surprise. Have fun, I lover you. Daddy.
Shawn Gross	Faculty Advisor	Another day with the pick axe. We managed to just about finish the digging. (As you'll see from the 15 web site pics of people digging!). We're definitely more tired tonight, but fortunately we had Willy Wonka to get us through the evening. I actually got high on Gobstoppers, I think. Anyhow, we did manage to beat the Hondurans tonight in soccer, 5-4. Our secret weapon (JT) had a hat trick. We also hauled 500 balloons down to Honduras for a great water balloon fight. Next time, we probably shouldn't fill the balloons before we leave the US, though. Jen, hope you're feeling better. Love you all, Shawn.