Today

So this morning we got up at eight and had breakfast and by eight-thirty were getting picked up by the pastor and some of the church congregation. We started working - which meant breaking up the dirt and making it level so that we could pour concrete over it. Daniel had experience in this and was quite helpful in directing all of us to do what was best-we were using shovels, pick-axes, and rakes. Mom, Abby, and I went with Daniella to a corner store and her "casa", her house. She prayed with us about the children's program that we're going to have and showed us some things that they have done with the children in the past. Then we went back and helped prepare some food. (Mom helped, Abby helped with the digging, I took pictures. :P) Then Pastor Walter's wife brought food and we set up lunch and then called the men in and ate lettuce, tomatoes, chicken, beef, potato balls, banana, mandarin oranges, "y" (and) "arroz" (rice). And had agua y Coca-Cola. (water and coke). Then I went out and started helping with the digging. Earlier, some people had gone with one of the pastors to buy some bricks (we lay the bricks on top of the concrete). So we removed bricks that were there previously, dug the dirt, removed the dirt via wheelbarrow, leveled it and then tamped it with blocks of concrete. Meanwhile there are boundaries marked by string and the ground has to be ten centimeters (approx. 4 inches) below the string. Then, when we were about halfway done with the second section (there's about four or five sections), we started mixing the concrete, rolling it via wheelbarrow to the corner of the first section, and smoothing it down. So first I helped make the concrete, then I migrated to smoothing the concrete (it was soooo much fun-it was Herb, Willie, Abby, Philip, and I). Then they ran out of gasoline (which runs the cement mixer) so the work on the concrete stopped. Then somebody brought more and we started again. After awhile, they ran out of cement (one makes cement by mixing two buckets of cement, two buckets of water, I think, six buckets of rock, and four buckets of sand) so the work stopped for good. We were done (it was around four or five now) and I went inside to rest. We waited for the pastor, Ed, and the taxi for about an hour in which we socialized, talked, and gave English lessons. All day long, Ed and his wife Lynn (I'm not sure on the spelling) and Philip had been translating for us. Ed left and went with the pastor to change money in the afternoon though, so Philip was getting called from all over to translate for us. (thank you, Philip!) He is fifteen years old, and going into his sophomore year of high school. Then after we got picked up, we got dropped off at our hotel, and had fifteen minutes to take a shower and then we went to Roky's for dinner. We ordered big meat dishes to share (it feeds four to five people) and a few people ordered individual dinners. We also got to try Inca Kola (a yellow sugar drink) that is popular in Peru. I was so tired and was just spacing out at dinner after I ate. (I think that in these three days, I have drunk more soda than I normally drink in a month.) Anyways, after dinner we came back and had our meeting in which Daddy gave a "two-minute" devotional on keeping a bigger picture of God's work in our minds and shared God moments that we've had. Mine (which I didn't share) was that Louis (nineteen I think) was so excited and showed his English work to Herb. He and Herb talked in "Spainglish" lol. Philip was sitting there with us though and followed the conversation so he helped pick up loose ends of the conversation. That's all I can think of right now...I'm trying to write everything down before I forget. Cory advises journaling so that when we get back and have so much to talk about, we can still remember the details. This blog has become my journal (hence the monster post :D). I actually brought two real journals but haven't written anything since the plane ride between Miami and La Paz (which, btw, was the worst plane ride I have ever had. I don't know why though. I think it's because I was so tired and couldn't sleep and my body was tired of having to stay in the same position.).

And thank you guys so much for commenting and following-I feel really loved and cared for and that people are genuinely interested in what I have to tell.