Food. Thieves. Work. John.

Dad finally gave me a call on Thursday morning for the first time since his incarceration (kidding!)... We chatted for about 45 minutes, which was great!  Overall, he was one big bag of complaints... But if you know Billy - They were "good" complaints, not bad ones.  All joking aside (for at least one sentence), he told me that this is the hardest thing he's ever had to do... That there are all walks of life, nothing is fancy and he is still struggling physically (although better than he was).  Here are some of the highlights of our conversation:

1.  He sleeps in a room "with about 5o-thousand other guys farting, snoring, burping and coughing all night long" and has contracted the "permanent plague" from this.  Hallie's translation - Hugh said there were 27 guys, and this is the temporary first step of housing... He will soon move into a room with about 6 men, then work his way down.

2.  He can only shower "every other day because there are 4 showers for all the men in his dorm."  Well Dad, you're not running marathons, so I'm sure that's sufficient!  

3.  "People steal stuff all the time" - He says since they're only given 3 meals a day and nothing else, you must provide your own coffee, coffee cup, creamer, sugar, snacks, etc - Said he finally got his hands on a coffee cup and it was gone about 5 minutes later (& a devotional prayer book only lasted 3 min).  Hallie's fix - Mailed him a hot pink coffee mug (along with some other yummy goodies)!

4.  "You should see the people here - They are covered from head to toe with tattoos!"  Hallie's response - "Dad, Hugh said you really liked the people there...?"  Dad - "Oh yeah man, they're all really nice & completely harmless!"  Point.

5.  Job - Hugh hooked him up with "the best job that anyone can get at The Foundry"!  He is working in the business office, making phone calls to corporations/businesses to acquire donations (monetary or stuff).  Anyone feel like donating??  After 3-4 months (I think), he'll start to make commission on the donations that he brings in.

6.  Esophagus - Well, it's either "the baby jesus" or the "eat or don't eat" working their magic, but his throat hasn't been giving him trouble lately!!  Yay!

7.  He told me that he "hasn't had the opportunity to dive into the religious aspect of the program yet, but he was starting towards that"... Hugh set him up, once again, with the best counselor on staff, who he has met with once and assigned him homework - To read the entire Book of John, and write a report.  Go Billy!  

That's about all I can recall for now!  He really sounded committed to the program, and even talked about what he was going to donate from his personal belongings... 

Try and update y'all again soon!  Love, Hallie