Yes, I am alive.

I can't believe our first spike project is almost over. Although this was the shortest project round, and it has gone by quickly, I have learned so much and gotten closer to everyone on my team. We have come together as a group really quickly, which has been wonderful. This project was probably the best we could have asked for in terms of team bonding, since we live in very close quarters and work together every day. The trailers have been an adventure. I can now say that I've learned how to sleep in a bed surrounded by all my belongings and that I can change a propane tank in the cold at 6 o'clock in the morning when we run out and have trouble getting out of bed. We wake up every day at 5:30 in order to be outside by 6:15 to help load the truck with the other members of the trail crew. We leave by about 6:45 and, after an extremely bumpy ride along dirt roads through cow pastures, we arrive at the trail by 7:15 or 7:30. First, we locate our tool cache from the day before (when we're finished our work for the day, we bury our tools in the woods so we don't have to bring them back and forth everyday), then bring them to the section of trail we're working on. Since our day starts so early, we take our lunch break at about 10:30, and then work until 1:45, when we bury the tools and head back to the van.

This was our schedule for the first 2 weeks of the project. One rainy morning during the third week, Jim took us down to a section of the trail that crossed a creek and taught us how to sight for a bridge. The next day and ever since, we've been working on two bridges along our trail. They're definitely the most visually satisfying part of trailbuilding so far, aside from seeing our progress on the trail itself, and we've now practically completed both of them.

Jim has been the best project sponsor we could have asked for! Every day he finds new things to teach us, but never makes us feel like we did anything wrong. He starts every morning by saying "It looks like it's going to be a beautiful day!" no matter the weather. Every time we do good work on the trail, he makes sure that we know he's proud of our progress.

This past week, on our way to work one day, he stopped the truck, jumped out with a chainsaw, and cut down our Christmas tree. When we got home that afternoon we dug a hole outside one of the trailers and stuck the tree in the ground. For decorations, we used old chainsaw chains, bolts, tape measure, and the brightly colored tape we use to mark the path of the trail through the woods. Jim and his dog Windy came out dressed for the occasion, Jim in his reindeer hat and Windy in her Santa cap. It's definitely made Trailsville more cheery when you can see Christmas lights out your window.

There are definitely more highlights to mention, but I have to go do the food shopping for the team. I could write a whole entry about shopping at Wal Mart, and what it's like to live here, but that will probably come later on. I'm sorry this entry is so discombobulated, but I didn't have too much time today. I just wanted to get something up about this project.

Home in less than a week and in Spain two days after that! Can't wait!