August 6

Today was the first day of building houses. We got here last night, after a 3 hour ride that passed very quickly. We had dinner with the mayer of Alegria last night, and then we went to bed (after our group shared our highs and lows, which is always a great sharing time). This morning we had breakfast first thing in the morning and left for the worksite. The way up was rough (only literally... it was very rocky, but a lot of fun... we were in the back of a pick up). The view was gorgeous.... it was absolutely breathtaking. The mountains, layers upon layers, the cliffs, the valleys, the rivers... everything was covered in green. We got to the sight and started moving things from house 7 to house 6 (we are house 6). Then we started to move dirt from a hole near the house, to the floor of the house, in order to make a good base for the tiles. Did it ever take a lot of dirt to make that floor!! We worked until lunch at around 1 and then we got back to work. We worked so hard, but I loved every minute of it... like I was doing something real. I worked even harder after lunch and the harder I worked, the more I liked doing it. I really hope that we can keep up the good work and finish all 10 houses!!! We were so lucky today because so many El Salvadorean children from Emmanuel Baptist were helping us. Wow!!! Did they ever work hard! I was so impressed by their maturity.. no, not maturity, but discipline and determination. They didn't even question their roles, they simply helped move everything! I have to interupt my entry by just saying that I am so happy right now!!!! I feel like I am really living in the moment. I came home, showered, had some chocolate, and then thought about how great a coffee would be... then Suzannah came in to announce that there was a coffee shop next door, at that very moment!!! Now we are sitting in the cafe, all relaxing together after a productive day... I could hold onto this moment forever.
David and Suzannah have been incredible. Both of them are so patient and kind... they really know how to take care of us and they have prepared everything so that this week has gone smoothly. Anyhow, back to the day!
At 3pm, we finished the dirt and we started scraping the inside of the house, to even out the cement. This was a very special time for me. I thought to myself: "we are worried that we will not finish the houses on time, and yet we are smoothing out the bricks...eventually it will come off and then the tiles can be swept." BUT I knew that it was important to make the house beautiful for the family that would be so proud of it. I continued scraping and when I moved to another wall, I asked David: "I think this one might have been done already?" and he replied "well, they can ALWAYS look even better!" I was so thrilled by his comment! Wasting time wasn't an issue! His tone was so simple and true... I really felt the love in making the home at that moment. The reality of building a house- a home rather, sunk in.
After we finished this, there wasn't much else to do, so we checked out houses 6 and 8, which also couldn't use our help until the next morning. We headed back 20 minuted early and had showers. I scrubbed off all of the dirt and I felt so thankful for each part of my body. It worked so hard, and I felt so lucky to be able to do all the things that I did today.