Day 7: Friday, February 25

Today was our last day of work—truly a bittersweet day. It ended with a celebration of our accomplishments and work this week, but I think the entire team, as tired and sore as we may be, wouldn’t really mind being able to stick around and finish things up! And, of course, we will certainly miss the people with whom we have been working!

The work itself was pretty basic, continuing the basic work of laying, tying in, and filling in the solera blocks, and finishing up the work on the floor. The neat thing was that we were far enough along for the electrician to come in and install the insulation for the wiring!

Around 2:30 we stopped work for the farewell ceremony. Before we got started, there was a chance just to enjoy being a part of the community for a bit. Alex let some of the older boys grab some of our floor tampers and parade around in the house for a bit, both letting them help in the construction and showing them how it’s done. We have some great videos of the routines they were working out.

We also got a chance to observe and even help out with the cooking of the celebratory feast. Cappie, Carolyn, and I tried our hand at making pupusas, earning a round of applause from the kids who were watching our every move. Even though it wasn’t that long since lunch, it was all smelling so delicious that it was making me hungry again!

Alex got up in front of the group and said a few words of thanks to everyone who worked on the house, and then invited Saoul and Jose to say something, as well. It was really great to hear them speak, as they talked about how much they enjoyed us and hoped we would return.

Then Alex called up the boys of the neighborhood, and after making them prove they had clean hands, they presented each of us with a certificate, a beautiful magnet, and a pretty cool ball cap.

I also presented the grandmother of the family with a plant from the nursery/hotel at which we were staying all week, explaining the American tradition of housewarming gifts. We had hidden the flowers when we arrived in the morning, but the kids found it. They understood it was a secret, but they made sure that it was kept watered and safe throughout the day. They kept asking when the surprise would happen!

We had also stopped on the way to the worksite this morning, not only to try to find a plumb bob for Don, but to pick up some gifts for the baby and for the young daughter of Jose. Of course, little did we know that we would arrive at the site to find that Heidi had been gone all day yesterday because when she went to her doctor’s appointment, he sent her to the hospital to give birth! We were happy to be able to celebrate with the family, if a little sad not to be able to say goodbye to Heidi.

Finally, it was time to eat! After our group had gotten our food, all the kids in the neighborhood got in line; Alex had given them tickets earlier, and they all got a small plate of food in exchange for their tickets. The adults then got a share, too. We were all happy that Habitat was able to share with the neighborhood like that.

When everyone had eaten, Pr. Tom led the group in blessing the house, with some translation help from Alex. Tonya, the regional architect, said that while we had blessed half the house, they had faith that the as-yet-unbuilt half would still be blessed.

Just before we left, we led the kids in the Hokey Pokey! They probably didn’t get the words, but they understood the concept, and anytime you get to jump around is fun! So we said our goodbyes, took our last 12-minute ride down the bumpiest, roughest “road” in the world, made it back to the paved road, and headed to the hotel.

Of course, as we were turning to head out of town, what passed us headed the way we had come but a big cement truck! Oh, well. Our way burned more calories!