Sooo Tired

Hello friends, family, loved ones, wife… My name is Ben Swihart and I’m the leader of this group of crazy hooligans. I graduated from Sterling in April with a degree in History with a Religion and Philosophy minor, and am excited about the fall when I begin my new job as the Resident Director of Campbell Hall (one of the guy’s dorms on campus). I just got married, so most of my recent adventures have been things like moving (which is when girls get to buy all new furniture and guys have to throw away all their relics of bachelorhood) and learning how to live with another person (sleeping without covers and getting elbowed in the middle of the night). I enjoy playing baseball (on PlayStation) and eating buffalo wings, while spending time with my darling bride. The best moments in my day are when I can do all three at the same time.

We set out on our journey yesterday morning, leaving behind our world of comfort and arrived this morning in Reque, Peru after a five-hour layover in the Lima airport in the middle of the night. I was lucky enough to fall asleep in the plane from Houston, and on the tile floor of the Lima food court, and the floor of the terminal gate, and on the plane to Chiclayo, and in the van to the school here in Reque. After we had a chance to move in, the kids started showing up, lining up according to their classes. One hundred and twenty “damo-cincos” (high fives) and “Buenos dias” (good morning) later, breakfast was served. After our main course of oatmeal and cereal, we were given the “Peruvian Right-of-Passage” by trying some granadia (similar to passion fruit) affectionately known by American work-crews as “snot-fruit” (which gets its nomenclature from its texture, not its taste, thankfully).

The missionary here, Ken, was kind enough to give us all the morning off, which immediately led to all of us (except Jean) getting some serious REM cycles in until lunch time. Jean was brave (or foolish, time will tell) enough to stay awake and join the others working at the school site. Coincidently (or maybe not) she was the only one to fall asleep during church this evening.

We spent the afternoon doing some pretty tedious labor. We dug holes. We moved piles of dirt from one spot to another. We used a 16 pound sledge hammer to smash a rebar/cement wall. We were exhausted. After a mere three hours of work.

With 25 people sharing three showers and only one small hot water heater, we did showers in shifts, taking us well over 2 hours. Dinner was amazing though. That made up for it. Terrance Volden, our alumni contact here, heretofore known as T-Bone, waxed poetic when he said “Nobody ever starves here”. Obviously, he was referring to people in the camp and not the starving homeless people.

After dinner, there was a Wednesday night bible study at the local church, and a rousing game of “Mafia” before our debriefing time. As team leader I feel like it is important to utilize everyone’s strengths while on the trip. So we had Ashley lead us in a stretching routine before devotions. She teaches a kickboxing class a couple of times a week, so not only is she in the best shape of anyone on the trip, she is also the best pound for pound fighter on the team. Especially since she is the smallest person on the team.

Tomorrow we go to Villa de Milagro, which is Spanish for Village of the Miracle. It is T-Bone’s pet project, and I know he is excited to take us there. We are exited to go.

But more on that tomorrow…

Thanks so much to everyone who has made this trip possible, and to Karin for letting me come. I love you.