That first week the "big" event was a staff open house on Wednesday. We had to make sure to have our house in order so that staff on campus could come up and walk through our house. We managed to get a table up, curtains in the windows, covers over the cushions, carpet on the floor and some basic organization. We were told before jungle camp started to invite a staff family over for dinner, so we had that to look forward to as well. It was nice to see many of the staff and it also pushed us to get our house in order even quicker.
At the end of the first week we had a chicken kill. A couple donated a chicken for each household and then two people came up to jungle camp to demonstrate how to kill and prepare a chicken. We were not really looking forward to this event, but we had no choice as to whether or not we would participate. Initially we thought each house had to take care of their own chicken, but thankfully they let people who really wanted to do it step up to the challenge while those of us who wanted no part in it could stand back and watch.
For some reason, maybe pregnancy, maybe just the stress of the first week, I could not go near the chicken kill area without bursting into tears. I am not an animal lover, so it was not the fact that chickens were dying. I really can't explain it, but it was a very hard experience for me, one I hope to never repeat.
This basically sums up our first week. Here are a few more pictures from that time:
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| These barrels became our non-electrical refrigerator |
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| This is what our bed looked like under our mattress |
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| Swimming with warm water since it was not very hot out |
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| Jeff holding a chicken by the feet |
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| We charged our car battery here everyday with solar power |
