*Quick disclaimer - the photo above is actually from my trip to the Bahamas a year ago. There are palm trees here, I just haven't snapped a good photo of them yet.

Well we've been in Freeport for 3 days now, been in the state of Texas since friday afternoon. This place is interesting.

Freeport is an old, run down town. There are efforts to revitalize it, the most significant of which is the introduction of a new chemical plant (there are already a few big plants here). The nearby town of Lake Jackson is where most amenities are. We are about 10 minutes from several beaches. I realize that the water is the Gulf of Mexico but I was still surprised at how warm it was. We haven't had an opportunity to go swimming yet but just putting my feet in I was pleasantly surprised.

Our accommodations are better than I expected. I don't want to divulge specifics in this format but we have a large kitchen, a living area with tv, vcr and xbox and access to showers, a gym, small track and fields. So far we've only explored the surrounding area a little bit (mostly on our morning runs, which I'm glad to say I initiated) but we're going to find out more this afternoon as part of our orientation.

We're going to be working in a bunch of schools as part of the Boys and Girls Club - we'll get our specific sites and subjects tomorrow afternoon. Later this week and next week we'll get orientations at the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory and True To Life Ministries. It'll be nice to be doing different things each day.

The weather has been strange so far. When we first got here it was 70s and super humid - it honestly felt, and looked like Florida. The next day was a little colder, not as humid but super windy. Today that weather has continued. We learned this morning that this is what they consider a cold front. In the next few days it's supposed to get up to the 70s or 80s again so it'll be nice to enjoy that weather over the weekend.

Overall the team seems to be getting along so far. If any conflicts arise they are quickly laughed off.

This weekend we are going to a local football game, possibly a Festival of Lights (in November - weird), maybe a day trip to Houston and hopefully the beach.

We're settling in here and things seem cool. Since we're in a small town it'll be really easy to see the impact our work has on the community. Plus, since there isn't as much to do here as there is in a big city we'll hopefully get a lot of our independent service project hours done before we return to Denver.