The Alex Safchuk Segment: Day 4

Wow...just plain wow. You have no idea how long i had to scrub in the shower to get that stink off me from our work. Today we got a fantastic opportunity to be able to travel over to Spruce Island as a group to do work there before the pilgrimage. The amount of time that we got to spend exploring the different parts of the uninhabited holy place made up for the fact that we spent hours clearing rotting plankton from parts of the beach, working on the float dock, and cleaning up the chapel there. The Island is a beautiful and mysterious place. Somehow I got cell phone service there and was able to call home. It makes no sense to me that i would get cell phone service in the middle of a deserted island in Alaska and I can barely get it in the middle of our nation's capital. it must have been a miracle. I felt like such a manly man running through the forest with a machete and building my own anchors out of rocks and net and wielding a blow torch in the chapel. My beard must have grown an extra millimeter today because of all the manliness. Out of all the beauties and splendors of the island, I regret to say it is lacking in one element...a good bathroom. When nature calls there...u must call nature back and ask for a tree. This fact made our subway sub picnic on the beach slightly regrettable although it was delicious. Upon returning from the island, the seminary took us out to a fresh fish and chips dinner at the Channel Side. Ive had some good fish and chips before but it is a whole different ball game when you're eating fish that could have been caught that same day. We also celebrated Daniela's birthday tonight. We got her a big delicious cake and a card. Many thanks to her on her special day for all the hard work and long hours she has spent cooking for us with Kelly. The sugar rush from the cake made us all hyper for awhile but now we're crashing for the night. Tomorrow the Bishop and the Metropolitan are coming so let the pilgrimage begin!
-Alex Safchuk