Well, as far as this year goes, things have been very different. Not only with changes in scheduling and timing, but in the work amount and friendships. Although we we're at a challenge camp, my crew managed to finish two days early, as all we had to do was paint the inside of a woman's house. As we were wrapping up around 12 yesterday (30 minutes before we had to leave for our half day), our almost 80-year-old resident named Eleanor realized that we'd soon be done and started to ask us to complete various jobs around the house, along with whipping out photo albums from her past. After calling us her "angels", she explained that she used to be in charge of communication for the county during emergencies, outlived two of her four children, and has lived in four different houses on the same street all of her life. It was nice to grow closer with our resident, but now that we have to leave and help another crew, it's a little tough to imagine not seeing Eleanor for a couple days before we have to go.
With a simple task and a sweet resident, this year has had the most impact on me in friendships both within our youth group and with people at the camp. I haven't met many new people, but instead have strengthened my relationships with a select few from the church (like Sarah) and from the Boston group (which came to the same camp last year). While a lot has changed, this year has been as good as any other.
-Aaron