The Build Day:
Today was a GREAT build day, and also our last. We spent the morning setting up the rebar in the trenches to guard against the frequent earthquakes here. Then we mixed by shovel on the ground 4 wheelbarrels of gravel, 3 wheelbarrels of sand, and two bags of cement. Then we added water and mixed vigorously by turning the pile of concrete over and over again. It was like kneading a giant ball of rock dough. We poured our mixture into three trenches on the perimeter of the house. We left the family in a good situation to continue the work. According to Habitat For Humanity, it takes about six weeks to finish a house. So God willing, Maria will be under her own roof by September!
After lunch we drove over to the other work site to see how they finished up. We stopped by Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church to see their new church building. They had previously been worshipping under a large tree. A benefactor from the US sponsored the building of their church, and they were in joy to be inside praising God.
Then we had a par-tay, Salvadorian style! The food was delicious and very corny. We had corn tamales, corn on the cob, and corn tortillas in our pupusas.There was also a corn drink and cake (made out of corn! just kidding). But as you can see, there was a lot of corn. A person who worked on this site said he saw the women of the house gathering corn from their fields this morning and cooking all day for us.
We also broke open piñatas–all of us including Levi took our turn. And in true Salvadorian fashion, we finished the celebration by breaking eggs filled with confetti over each other´s heads.
Caedmon´s contribution for this evening, ¨I love my Levi with lots of kisses. (At the party) I saw chickens that couldn´t get out (in a chicken coop). I liked the piñata ´cause I got candy and I love cake!¨
One final note . . . we will be traveling to Gautemala tomorrow morning to finish our stay in Latin America through Tuesday. We will try to blog by way of Jeremy´s iPhone, but he has not had much luck with service down here so far. If you don´t hear from us, don´t worry. We will be sure to post when we return to the states. But let´s hope for the best that we´ll be able to keep you updated, so keep checking.
I’m so glad to hear everything is going well. It sounds like you guys are having an awesome time and are accomplishing a lot of the Lord’s work. Thanks for keeping us up to date! We miss you all–have a safe trip home! 🙂
P.S.- All this talk of food is making me hungry!
Nick
Hope everyone is feeling better today. I spoke to Aristides and he didn’t have transportation to get to you guys. I believe his wife Johanna is also due or just had their third child. I told him you would be going to the airport on Tuesday and maybe he could see you before you leave. All my love,
Mom (Nama)