Free Time

How you all doing.

So I dont know if you have been following up on news, but... During my free time I have decided to hunt and apprehen the barefoot bandit. Yes it was me that caught him. While police are getting most of the credit I am the silent hero. Where his getaway boat slowed is where I saw the stingray. I mean come on brown water equals bogging down motor which leads to apprehention. OK OK all kidding aside the Barefoot Bandit was captured about an hour north of where I am right now. He was on a boat between Eleutheras main island and the city of Spanish Wells which is connected by road...it is located on an island. Pretty exciting stuff. Maybe someday they will make a movie about him and I can be in it.

The site was great today for work. We continued to work in the pit. There was zero clouds today which made it very hot. The temp outside is about 90 and the temp in the pit is about 110 to 120. I went in there with a thin pillow of fat on my body and came out needing a needle and thread because I was ripped. It was so hot donald trumps hair would have falled off. It was so hot Micheal Jacksons nose would have melted. It was so hot if dads truck was in the pit we would have to where astronaut gear to get anywhere near the thing. I love working out when its hot which is probably a good thing seeing as that im in the bahamers.

The survey is great. It is coming to a close however and if you have an entry that has not been submitted please do so now. We will chose the best and have a vote. Seeing as that there are about 2 people that comment on this thing if you recieve one vote your name will prolly be the winner. Tommorrow we will post the top three and procede from there.

gnite yall. Why read this at night when you can do so at work. Damn thats so catchy

love

Matt

Interesting Fact: My streak of swimming in the ocean is up to 10 days.

Interesting Fact: Ill prolly get at least 2 motherly comments making sure I drink more water because of this blog entry.

Quick

Ok real quick everyone. It is tuesday morning and im about to go to the site. Im sorry I have not wrote in awhile but its been a little tricky finding time to write when we have moved houses and the 40 trippers have got here at the same time. I will fo sure write tonight as I have not forgot my computer this time and am looking forward to talking at all of you.

UPDATE: The Survey for the Machete name is moving along but there are only a couple entries. Aunt Holly is killing it so far. The rest of you are sadly lacking. Im thinking I may get her engraved with her new name as well.

Thanks for briefely reading. Have a great day at work because I know I will.

Love

Matt

Colossus of Clout...The Colossus of Clout. (if you dont understand watch Sandlot)

Warning: Good Blog post below. Extreme happiness upon reading is normal.

Today was a good day. It started off very well with a wonderful breakfast in a hammock on my second level porch. The weather was not to warm today which made it even more pleasant to be outside all day. STOP. Fastforward to the end. Today ended very well with a wonderful nighttime session in the hammock taking pictures of a beautiful sunset. STOP. Rewind...PLAY

The breakfast was good and is a pretty typical breakfast down here seeing is that a gallon of milk if 7 dollars. Cereal is about the same price but the milk is so expensive it is rediculous. What is iven worse is that the milk tastes like water what has about 2 tablespoons of whole milk in it. I mean I think you can see clear through it. If you poored it in a glass half full. Then poured water in the other half. Im pretty sure the water would sink to the bottom and the milk would stay seperate at the top. Good Grief Charlie Brown.

After I ate we headed out to the sites for more prep. We laid some tile in the cabins so that when the kids laid their tile it wouldnt start out all wonky. This way they can go off of what we have already perfectly laid. We also got all of our materials on site today for concrete forms, as well as thinset for the tiles.

The Touch The World kids are still working here and they were hard at work again today on the site. By hard at work I mean they were looking for hermit crabs and asking their supervisors if they could use the machete...probably to cut the hermit crabs in half. BUT SUDDENLY...out of the middle of nowhere. A girl had found a Prang Mantis (I have NOOOO idea on the correct spelling). Now alot of people think this is cool. But I.. MYSELF... know never to mess with a Prang Mantis. Here is a little background (specifically gentlemen). Before a female mantis can do the hippity dippity with a male mantis the female needs to cut off the head of the male so that he becomes fertile. Dont ask me how I know. But its the truth. Now...just think. Myself being a very attractive young man. I was a little leary of a Prang Mantis being anywhere near me for the sake of keeping my noggin on its perch. So I sprang into action. Kicked the kids over that were trying to get the machete. Stole the knife myself from the counsler and sliced the mantis in half while accidentally cutting off the tip of the girls fingure. Just because they cant use the machete to cut hermit crabs doesnt mean I cant use it to kill Prang Mantis.

Ok well that isnt exactly true. I have to admit that I did not kill the mantis. But I sure didnt go anywhere near it. I mean come on. The rest of the story is true. That thing prolly had the hots for me.

Upon reaching the mission house after work. I had another construction meeting in my office. Thus making it the 6th day in a row that I have been in the ocean. Dinner was wonderful and the night was very relaxing. It has been a great day and I hope yours is as well.

night/morning(Your Fired)

love

Matt

Interesting Fact: As of the day July 10th. I Matt Natzke have been dating the same beautiful women named Katie for exactly 4 years. I am extremely happy and couldnt wish for anything more except that she were with me.

Survey: I need a damn name for my Machete. I mean who doesnt name weapons they find in the ocean?

-Sponge Bob Machete Pants

-Jack Bauer

-Mad Machete Max the Murauder

-LunchBox

-Colossus of Crab Clout

Suggestions are excepted. And will probably be used.

Day Cinco

Yesterday was pretty lame to start off with. And by lame I mean it was pretty damn boring. We didnt do much. I woke up and had breakfast. Then we went out to the work site to get some prep done for our projects. This was actually pretty important because without the prep we would be at a standstill come monday morning. Right now there is a group of kids out here from Touch The World. They all camp out for a week and learn basic construction techniques and then go on mission trips for 10 days. So right now we have them using all their new techniques to clear brush from a hillside. They work for about an hour and are completely whiped out. After working we came home for lunch. This is when my day started to pick up. We came back and ate at which time I decided that Jeff and I need to have a construction meeting in my office and ill grab the office supplies. Now when I say construction meeting I mean that we go into a different room where no one can find us so we will not be put to work. This is great becuase liz our site assistant who tries to put us to work does not know that we currently have all our projects done. Now when I say that we will be in "My Office" I mean that we are going to sneak out the back door and meet each other about 200 yards out front of the mission house which happens to be about 150 yards out into the middle of the ocean. Now when I say "Office Supplies" that means that I will go down to camp and grab the Kayak so we can go out to the island and check and see whats around. When we got out to the island we found a lot of conch shells where people dump them into the ocean to after they have the meat out of them. After we were done looking around for abotu 10 minutes we decided to come back....but just as we were about to head back I saw somthing gleaming out of the corner of my eye. what could this be....ah yes...it was an old rusty machete. Now I dont know how many of you have ever been in water and found a 2 foot long knife but believe me it is one of the coolest things in this world. I mean come on. Think about it. I got that machete which was a huge highlight of my trip and that has led to me hitting pretty much all inatimate objects with it....Which has led to about all the other highlights of my trip. I mean I was being circled by a small crab as I was exiting the water...I didnt know what to do because his scare tactics were working on me. I was so confused...but then I remembered... AH YES.. I am currently holding a 2 foot long knife. After that the crab was no longer. I know he prolly could have stayed alive but he started it. For all you readers out there I would suggest maybe filling up your tub with water tonight and placing you largest knife in the tub. Whoever walks past will undoubtly have one of the best days of their lives all because of you.

Thanks for reading.

Dont get fired for reading however....

Watch out your boss is right behind you.

Love

Matt

Interesting Fact: Here is a picture of me. This is proof that I am still alive.

Interesting Fact: Sunscreen is your friend.

Day 4

WHAT UP PARTY PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope you are all doing good this evening/morning....probably morning. Today was a very interesting day and I can not wait to talk to you about it. Sooooo here we go.

Last night there was a married couple that came in to lead a mission trip that is going to be here for the next 10 days. We spent last night doing questions and answers with them and they sound like they will be a handful to deal with. This morning we sat around for about 3 hours waiting for the happy couple to show up and finally they did. They also wasted more of our time later in the day. We wasted about 4 hours today on them so they could figure out all the small things that they couldnt listen to us for a 5 minutes to figure out everything. Like Pine Ridge, they may be looking for a Mr. Natzke butt whooping. Overall this week has been going really well and we are looking forward to having the kids arrive on Sunday.

Some of the projects we will be undertaking this month are tiling 6 cabins (384 sf ea), painting the porches, and pouring concrete box for a huge rain water systern for the Camp Bahamas complex. These projects should be awesome for our experience and the kids overall.

One thing I have to say is if you do not like seafood you would be nutso if you lived down here for more than 2 weeks....Sorry Katie. Today I had a tuna sandwhich and conch chowder. The night before that we had fish fry and tuna for lunch. Its nuts down here. I feel like im a shark or somthing. If I have to put anymore fish inside me I may go change my middle name to Fish Tank.

So I also went in the drink today. And by drink I mean the ocean which is the fourth day straight. This time was a little different however......and by that I mean we went swimming with a overweight black Bahamain kid named Micheal and his 4 friends. What you may not know is that Micheal decided to go swimming today with beefstick and string cheese. This was very interesting because I couldnt believe and body wanted more salt with a beef stick but apparently slat water is a good match. What made the situation even more interesting is that we were being attacked by about 20 gulls. Micheal didnt seem to care but he was barely above water...I was dodging poop like I was dodging tomatos at a Adam Lambet concert. Good Grief. Also Micheal likes to go swimming fully clothed but I think a lot of people do that around here. Although the interesting fact was that Micheal swam with his socks on. I hate wearing wet sock let alone swimming in them. (Lebron just joined the heat) Plus to make his mom probably even more furious his white socks were almost black. As his close friends say...Micheal Your Socks Look Like A Nightmare.

So thats about it for the day. Hope you all enjoyed everything.

Love

Matt.

Interesting Fact: Yesterday we saw a Sting Ray while swimming. He was about 4 feet wide...He didnt come near me however. I think he was scared of the brown water....

Eleuthera 2

Hello people. It is nice to write to you again. Today is my second whole day in Tarpurn Bay and it is pretty sweet. The gorgeous view from the balcony does not get any worse and the weather is beautiful. It has been slightly overcast but the sun shines frequently and the locals love the weather...so I do too. I went swimming again today twice and the water is so warm its awesome. Im trying to keep a steady streak of swimming everyday. Since being here I have played a total of 24 games of connect four. I thought I was pretty good but I am currently 11 and 13. Most times against the camper kids here at the camp bahamas I have won. There is one kid though I am seeking revenge on. He has never told me his name but he goes by The King. Now while King James aka Lebron James rules the bball court...The King here claims to rule the connect Four grid. Besides the King I prefer to call him by many other names. Such As...Loud Lips, Chester of the Chips, God of the Grid, Four Dot Damn Im Hot, Mumble Rumble and Carl. When he challagned me I was a little weary because I did not want to fall to the king and be disgraced in front of his court, however I took the challange and trouced him the first game. Quickly after that I had dominated him the second game. The third I was a littel war torn but continued on. The King However thought otherwise. Deep into the game he beat me and without any respect he said "Four in a row..You cant beat me"...then walked away. I sat there thinking wow... Hes the man...but his memory must suck because I beat him 2 times before that. I believe it was just a scare tactic and a way to throw me off my game in the future. Untill then I will wait in the weeds...or in shallow water at low tide for him to reamerge near the battle grounds of the connect four tables to challange The King.

Thanks for reading this at work. I feel like you like me more than your job...but if you lose it im not paying your salary.

Love

Matt

Interesting Fact: I saw 3 girls playin Jenga today...I know what im doing tommorrow...

Travel, Eleuthera

Welcome one and all to the Mission Trip Internship Blog. I have been away for quit some time due to intense work travel and the overall depressions of the pine ridge area. I am currently in the city of Tarpurn Bay which is located in the southern quarter of the island of Eleuthera in the Bahama Islands. To keep you all very interested I will start out with the boring information and end with the exciting stuff about the Tarpurn Bay to keep you all on here. So here goes the boring stuff.

Ttravel was very good on our way back to the sconnie nation. We left Pine Ridge about 345 in the afternoon and returned home at about 5. With the hour change in time zone we made it in about a half a day which was great time. The ride was very interesting to say the least. Steph was driving with me which always makes me a little leary because she tends to hit the rumble strip over and over again. When I noticed her driving was doing well I decided to get in a good nap so I would be well rested for my driving stint in the near future. About a half an hour into the ride Steph...like clockwork......hit the rumble strip with full force of the F-150. The noise made me purk up pretty rapidly which was cause for kind of an awkward moment. I tried to diffuse a little of the tension by doing the first thing that came to my head....Yelling RUMBLE STRIP about as loud as I could and going back to bed. While I was lying there with my eyes closed I thought to myself that I probabaly made the situation 8 times worse. Whatever happened though..we were still on our way out of Pine Ridge. That was about the only interesting thing about the trip. That and when I said godbye to Lenny he hugged me so hard that I nearly passed out. It was pretty intense.

The trip down to Eleuthera was very long and tiresome. It went bus to Chicago, flight to North Carolina, Flight to Ft Lauderdale, Flight to Nassau. Which is where we slept for the night. We then awoke and went to church in Nassau Sunday morning. If you have never gone to a church in the Caribbean let me tell you somthing. Its long, energetic, and....veeeeerrrrryyyy long. I actually had a very good time though. The service lasted for 2.5 hours but held my attention the whole time. We got up in the middle of service to introduce ourselves with all the others that did the same for their forst time being at that church. Butttttt sitting there, 12 white poeple, all crammed in a row with a room of all blacks, im sure everyone else in the church was wondering who the heck was the frosting in the middle of the ethnic oreo. We then left on a boat and got to Eleuthera at about 7 then took a bus ride via twinkie (school) bus to the Camp Bahamas. So since yesterday we went to bed and checked out the worksites this morning. It looks like our crews will be mainly doing tile work and clearing brush to make new cabins. This will be great work and its only 50 ft from the ocean. On the otherside of the bay area is where Mariah Carey has a house where she recently got married. We went swimming in the ocean as well and aet meals. This pretty much concludes what I did today...however I will give you a little more sustinance than that. Swimming was awesome. The water is incredibly warm and there is nothing but sand and Conch shells under your feet. We walked probably about .3 miles out and the water was up to my chest. We found cool shells and had an overall awesome time. Eating was also cool. We checked out some local cuisine and by that I mean he had some Conch Salad. The salad was pretty good but the conch meat was a little interesting. It had great taste but about the consistancy of really well done chicken and rubber. It was mixed up withgreen pepper, tomato, hot peppers, onions, lime, and lemon. It was very good. The only other thing that I have to mention so far about the island is that I have a new enemy. They havent affected me yet but thay are weakening the moral of my fellow employees. The Locals call them ankle bitters. I have no Idea the real name but they are regardless nastly little devils. This is going to be a war I will most likely not win. The ankle bitters a little nat like animals that sit on the ground and when you walk by they jump up on your ankle and bit you. The bit feels like my dreaded rival the fire ants bite but there is no way you can see this coming. This foe will be tough but I will fight with honor.

Thank you all for reading and the posts will continue very regularly from here on out. Please keep reading and whatever you do.....do NOT read this at home please do it at work. Stay classy my friends and remember....WHY READ THIS BLOG AT NIGHT WHEN YOU CAN DO IT AT WORK TOMMORROW.

Love

Matt

Interesting Fact: I think the ankle biters are Chiggers. O GOOD GRIEF. There is no way i'll win this battle unless I act quickly...which I will...dont you worry about that.

Interesting Fact: Intelligant people have more Zinc and Copper in their hair....I cant believe I got through airport security Saturday.......