Guatemala - Late Tuesday Afternoon

What a day! I'm exhuasted, but also exuberant. We left the hotel around 6:50 to head to David and Mirza's house for a wonderful breakfast of refried bean, scrambled eggs with ham, fried platanos with cream and sugar, toast, orange juice, and coffee. (see pic below.) After a meal like that I think we could have all used a nap, but we headed for the school instead.

We arrived around 8:00 and started work around 8:30. The trench for the cement footing for 2 new classrooms had already been dug, and the rebar was already in place. So, we started right away doing cement work. McKenzie and I shoveled sand and gravel into 5 gallon buckets. The guys carried them up the very, very steep hill and dumped them into the cement mixer. The mixer dumped the cement into a wooden box, and it was then shoveled into wheelbarrows and poured into the trench.

I believe there were 9 or 10 of us, including 2 or 3 local contractors. The work was arduous (to say the least), but a least the sun was shining and the birds were singing. Plus, the view is phenomenal!

We had a few short breaks, including a chance to eat fresh pineapple and oranges that Mirza brought mid-morning. Pastor Paul, Linda, and Linda's sister-in-law arrived around noon, after having been detoured yesterday. We were sure glad to see them - especially since they started pitching in with the work right away!

At lunch we had Dominos Pizza - delivered on the back of a scooter! After lunch we only had about 30 more minutes of bucket and cement work to do before the footing was completely poured. PRAISE GOD!!!

After a short break, we started in moving cement blocks. I don't know how many there were, but it felt like a couple thousand. :) We had a pretty efficient 'block brigade' system going, and each of us managed to master the necessary block swinging technique to make the job a little easier. (Momentum is a wonderful thing when it's on your side!)

We left the school around 3:45 with all but 50 or so of the blocks moved. Guess I know what everyone will be doing tomorrow morning. Everyone, that is, except for me. I get to be the substitute Bible teacher for the high school students tomorrow morning. (I'm SUPER excited about that!) After we get the blocks moved, I think we're going to start laying them, though I don't know how much of that work we'll be able to do. I'm amazed at how quickly the work has gone, and how much God has procted us all from injuries, pain, and bad attitudes. (I did get a bit of a sunburn that stings a little, but I doubt I'll get much sympathy for that from the folks back home.)

Now we're headed back to David and Mirza's for supper. Our evening is pretty open. There has been talk of the cement slides, listening to live marimba music, going to a coffee shop, or even looking into getting a custom-made suit from an ex-Armani tailor who lives in Xela.

Let the adventure continue!