Monday was our first day put to work on the construction sites! We woke up early, ate a quick breakfast, and headed off to a job site about 2 miles away from where we're staying. Once there, the three groups were split up - so Mike, Steph, and I went with one of the contractors, Bill, to a site a few miles away from the two main sites. We were with 5 kids from Kansas University and a few of the boys from the Randolph High School.
At our site we got a lot of work done. When we arrived, there were 2 walls already finished by volunteers last week, so our first project was to ready the two other walls to be put up. We had to nail along the supporting 2 by 4's, and cut out two windows in the sides. We also had to cut out a door frame, and once all of that was finished everyone consolidated to help raise the side walls. That was my favorite part of the entire day - everyone who was working at the site had to grab hold of the wall and slowly walk it forward until it was perpendicular to the ground, and then some kids would go around and secure it with nails. Once we put up the two walls, what we were working on finally started to look like a real house!
It was really cool to interact with other kids from different parts of the country too. Our group of five had talked about accents and how each area of the country was different, so we ended up talking to a few kids from Kansas about accents and what they thought. We all traveled back to the two main sites and met with Melissa and Faith had been working, and everyone ate the lunch that was provided by Habitat. Yum!
After work, we all decided to go hiking in the Smoky Mountains :) They are so beautiful! Where we're staying is a bit away from the mountains - probably a 45 minute drive, but SO worth it. Actually, on our drive to the mountains we had to drive through what we think is "Dollyville". It was a complete strip of neon lights and mini amusement parks overwhelming a small valley in between the mountains. It was weird to see such a tourist trap nestled in between the mountains. There was a restaurant that was shaped like the Titanic (ice berg and all) and an upside-down mansion. Very weird!
Once we got to the Smoky Mountain's National Park, we headed into the visitors center to inquire about a nice, leisurely hike. A ranger told us about a short hike around 3/4 of a mile that ended in a waterfall, so we decided to pack up our sandwiches and head in that direction. The woods were BEAUTIFUL; right now it's springtime, so things are just starting to come alive. We did a much longer hike than we had intended, but the woods were gorgeous, and the waterfall was too. When we got back to the church, we all showered and hung out for the night. It was a great first day :)
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