We Stink Even Worse

by Katie Hade

Hey guys! Yesterday we had a special service for the girls at Proximos Pasos. Elsa, Jamie, Sara, and Jolene did skit based off of the parable of the three talents , and Courtney helped by taking lots of pictures, and recording. After the lesson we did a relay race with the girls, and they had a blast. The girls have really enjoyed having us here , and taking the time out for them.

Also yesterday was another long hard-working day at the cistern. After mixing the cement, and pouring the cement by hand, we were able to finish the lower half of the walls. The family afterwards invited us into their home for lunch after working, we enjoyed talking to them, and seeing their appreciation of our work.

Upon our return home we started painting some more, even though at this point we were pretty exhausted and also smelly (we haven’t had running water in 3 days, just a note you cant flush the toilets). But we managed to finish for the most part of the painting.
That night we were delighted to meet Lito´s family, and share an evening together. For dinner Edgar, our cook, prepared chicken CORDON BLEU which was delicious, along with some other things. Afterwards some of us joined in a game of keep away/football/tackle with Lito´s daughter, Leslie, that was a lot of fun. A good way to wrap up our trip, with people that we have become close to.

This morning after breakfast, the team split up and some went to the cistern and also stayed back for painting. Since we haven’t had running water in 3 days the laundry is loading up, things smell, and we are getting annoyed but hey its all in the experience of the Guatemalan life, what these people face all the time. Anyways me, Sara, and Megan went to the pilas where the local women wash their clothes to give it a try because we were at our last resort for clean clothes. Lets just say that was an experience, and we now appreciate the modern washing machine. Some local women watching us, laughing at us, but they enjoyed the show of us gringos trying to wash everyones jeans…..but we managed and got the hang of it eventually. When we arrived home we were glad to find that we have water now..finally

Well we are wrapping things up getting ready to go. Tonight we are going to Antigua for our banquet dinner. We are starting to pack up get in the mode of leaving and going back to our busy lives in Cali, but we have definitely had a great time here, and we cant wait to share our experiences when we return.

Another Grand Pumba style group photo in Antigua on Sunday