tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42160745798953467892024-03-05T04:37:54.544-05:00First Trinity Builds Houses in El SalvadorFollow our progress as a group of members and friends of First Trinity Lutheran Church in Washington, DC journeys to El Salvador to build a house with Habitat for Humanity!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-64869563437452769502018-02-24T23:04:00.000-05:002018-02-24T23:05:10.197-05:00Final day of Nicaragua 2018!<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgucwlzxIpZJ36IQmLYp4SkAyV2imzd7xprk1TXGjjrw2kRmxNH1-IVdtHr6IAebt7nXRarcO7vHxTG2_XhmvyaOmXz-COyelsX77bF4udxRff-8ttplyssVoh2KRaAJbdm81S4y1gIXPs/s1600/image1-710212.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgucwlzxIpZJ36IQmLYp4SkAyV2imzd7xprk1TXGjjrw2kRmxNH1-IVdtHr6IAebt7nXRarcO7vHxTG2_XhmvyaOmXz-COyelsX77bF4udxRff-8ttplyssVoh2KRaAJbdm81S4y1gIXPs/s320/image1-710212.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6526338144429505250" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ_TGDLDXKt8ZJnhs7fyaD8R9P-HykcDGVvXgBQtJeN7OVnR1DHeZ9M9FYZ7Ef1doxJybbx8181d27h_xD58AlnM7NBTb7hQVP6UoR_gtcPGDsbcSb50ULM7rrUOEmqMyR1OYtvDpfZro/s1600/image2-711394.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ_TGDLDXKt8ZJnhs7fyaD8R9P-HykcDGVvXgBQtJeN7OVnR1DHeZ9M9FYZ7Ef1doxJybbx8181d27h_xD58AlnM7NBTb7hQVP6UoR_gtcPGDsbcSb50ULM7rrUOEmqMyR1OYtvDpfZro/s320/image2-711394.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6526338148133329794" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW646dyT-yfwCjuPsfVl3Sqx105Tls9dMKaZr5aXO5fk8XkJZCNMsIdbZtq755LO5Ft3Ej4aLALgakhtX87BGeO3rmZdBLHrgTumJhmY3TTRBLDMua97kjPp2DglwypwrH8n08qNSxmHE/s1600/image3-712729.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW646dyT-yfwCjuPsfVl3Sqx105Tls9dMKaZr5aXO5fk8XkJZCNMsIdbZtq755LO5Ft3Ej4aLALgakhtX87BGeO3rmZdBLHrgTumJhmY3TTRBLDMua97kjPp2DglwypwrH8n08qNSxmHE/s320/image3-712729.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6526338156537756210" /></a></p>With the end of the morning yesterday, our time of construction ended! On a personal note, having worn the same pants all 5 building days, it was very nice to put on something clean this morning!
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<br>First up was the Masaya volcano. It is an active volcano, but not erupting at the moment. But the lava is boiling (you can hear it!) and lots of gasses are being emitted. So from a distance you see a beautiful volcanic cone with "smoke" coming out!
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<br>Up close it's really neat. The wind was helpfully at our backs, which kept the fumes away and gave us a better view. As shown by pictures we saw from another group, at night the lava makes the gasses glow and you can see it jumping up!
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<br>The park also has a nice museum with some history around the volcano and geographic information about what we just saw.
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<br>For lunch we joined the other 3 groups in country this week on a boat ride into Lake Nicaragua to a beautiful island. There we had lunch and enjoyed some real R&R with kayaks, a pool, and comfortable chairs in the shade! Not even a bit of rain at the end could spoil it!
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<br>Before we headed back to Managua we stopped at a chocolate museum and store. There we had an extremely outgoing guide, Alejandro, who walked us through the process of making chocolate and its history in Central America. Plus, at the end were samples, including chocolate rum, liqueur, and tea!
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<br>We then returned to our first hotel because our flight is extremely early in the morning. But we had a farewell dinner out with Humberto, our assistant for the week, and Nelson, our driver for the week. Both have been friendly, outgoing, and very good-natured with our wacky crew.
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<br>Pr. Tom gave out mini flashlights to each of us, celebrating how we have let our light shine for others this week.
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<br>We hate to leave behind our new Nica friends, but we will be glad to see our families and our own beds and showers again!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-41972521262380097062018-02-23T21:13:00.001-05:002018-02-23T21:13:53.167-05:00Final Construction Day!<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtri56HIV3gIFm6yYfrr0khg5EmydY-ApYjY4uhqkMkeDrP2CzAkiv9CInrvoTEGWRNDRrpumMI_662GTP_2kMXIAd6cG-cfaz2ztPzrz7XyKXnmADUat2sSrL5AlII_xrCu56716S-jE/s1600/image1-733171.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtri56HIV3gIFm6yYfrr0khg5EmydY-ApYjY4uhqkMkeDrP2CzAkiv9CInrvoTEGWRNDRrpumMI_662GTP_2kMXIAd6cG-cfaz2ztPzrz7XyKXnmADUat2sSrL5AlII_xrCu56716S-jE/s320/image1-733171.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6525938381682290562" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6iuK-PWeL2ZoC4-lSf-Xr72PFzkz7Snk7FO14O34MaqYZvHIm_N9LCc22lUpH6RknSyT-KLVPtLhb05nGTJyPNLDvQM5Wx8Df-gK0of-9QIVEOlmEYUSW2SyAGTooTyT0QvcQ8Famyks/s1600/image2-735211.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6iuK-PWeL2ZoC4-lSf-Xr72PFzkz7Snk7FO14O34MaqYZvHIm_N9LCc22lUpH6RknSyT-KLVPtLhb05nGTJyPNLDvQM5Wx8Df-gK0of-9QIVEOlmEYUSW2SyAGTooTyT0QvcQ8Famyks/s320/image2-735211.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6525938387644428434" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilaVkUlNghJve7Ne6qg33SzpcM0MbN0W_Ujdwyrao7RkevXzx4PTDMxxau9dP8tmtEJCEXFECnOuIAq9dSenhLuh1JOpYu734JGZuEn4v51vTgvZl9XA0Hg786_vGRV-AWIACC8KH1lwE/s1600/image5-735785.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilaVkUlNghJve7Ne6qg33SzpcM0MbN0W_Ujdwyrao7RkevXzx4PTDMxxau9dP8tmtEJCEXFECnOuIAq9dSenhLuh1JOpYu734JGZuEn4v51vTgvZl9XA0Hg786_vGRV-AWIACC8KH1lwE/s320/image5-735785.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6525938389698614722" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNhRTqqf3B3CFpyM6i6nJNr5Ln8QyJIKmujkkRIsauvsxdxkvHoDmL5S-MSwShAxgLgKPSi8Te379o5tFLS6epuvuDQOHWj1AoXaWYD6_rRDKsOqkNG9RcD78EcuGr7XPZ4ZPimXt8x38/s1600/image4-736321.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNhRTqqf3B3CFpyM6i6nJNr5Ln8QyJIKmujkkRIsauvsxdxkvHoDmL5S-MSwShAxgLgKPSi8Te379o5tFLS6epuvuDQOHWj1AoXaWYD6_rRDKsOqkNG9RcD78EcuGr7XPZ4ZPimXt8x38/s320/image4-736321.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6525938391999912386" /></a></p>Out work today was short but intense. We had to mix enough concrete to pour the floor of the house and the front stoop, all before the fiesta time!
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<br>Mixing all of that by hand, on the ground, is not easy, especially working that quickly, but we got it done! And then Cappie worked with the family to decorate, aided by a beautiful creation by Larry in honor of the Nicaraguan flag!
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<br>Our helper from Habitat Nicaragua, Humberto, started off the ceremony, thanking everyone. Pr. Tom led the team in blessing the house, and Humberto presented Doña Marta with a picture we took with her on Sunday and a Bible, signed by all the team members. Ron and Cappie also had bought a small plant as a housewarming gift. Don gave the mason some tools used by us in the States, as well.
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<br>In addition, it was Doña Marta's daughter-in-Law's birthday, so we had cake!
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<br>After the ceremony (including a ribbon-cutting), the party began in earnest! We played musical chairs (Lori won!) and there was a piñata, which the kids expertly handled.
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<br>All too soon we had to say our goodbyes and head out for our R&R day! We drove first to the market in Masaya for a little shopping before heading into Granada. This is a pretty little town, full of tourists, but we are in a hotel that allows us to do a bit of exploring, too!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-15585280118320481052018-02-22T21:53:00.000-05:002018-02-22T21:54:08.658-05:00Construction Day 4<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI9DQushg-zkMeYqRqDeF5eRRwkfnAujJCsViO5E9LS74angqNtCvP-TxpL-PjQjVODVDmxz5GNpP2fs26yawTN_XsBR2p7UMbvb_sS0VllOBgnYqMra5qqDCpXt2Bzp6Fl5rTiGvjG6g/s1600/image1-748699.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI9DQushg-zkMeYqRqDeF5eRRwkfnAujJCsViO5E9LS74angqNtCvP-TxpL-PjQjVODVDmxz5GNpP2fs26yawTN_XsBR2p7UMbvb_sS0VllOBgnYqMra5qqDCpXt2Bzp6Fl5rTiGvjG6g/s320/image1-748699.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6525577671566610498" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9TVx6beESsm8ZBgFYKt9sqz1yeClcxaP4Kx5ymcVqWvr7-qClQhkMwpIuvPISCB2LVDYLcj4aO2ze3aDm1s7LmpckzjSIQTSLzxC4p5K39zl_KDus0yGJA8C7oKsoh2Ne-FZeYBBg-xA/s1600/image2-751397.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9TVx6beESsm8ZBgFYKt9sqz1yeClcxaP4Kx5ymcVqWvr7-qClQhkMwpIuvPISCB2LVDYLcj4aO2ze3aDm1s7LmpckzjSIQTSLzxC4p5K39zl_KDus0yGJA8C7oKsoh2Ne-FZeYBBg-xA/s320/image2-751397.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6525577681139491586" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9IwkvvLpV9ujDB8I1ewIqFcIuPFwTETimPtEx_TYsYoIQ6G_TVa0_9NxCw3sUTQvIzfzEpNBu25Ipt47COIQZbmXLR1Pn8GtQfzhpDcdZNDJWq6mWnrLx4P8VGpajhGQ5SQS4l6WAJ6E/s1600/image4-752552.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9IwkvvLpV9ujDB8I1ewIqFcIuPFwTETimPtEx_TYsYoIQ6G_TVa0_9NxCw3sUTQvIzfzEpNBu25Ipt47COIQZbmXLR1Pn8GtQfzhpDcdZNDJWq6mWnrLx4P8VGpajhGQ5SQS4l6WAJ6E/s320/image4-752552.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6525577683791402274" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhXfXXbxVVrvlIR2253m9T4DaEu2Hmtu19nCYysT3mU8xM7A378n9d_tNZRYVVYvDoQSTqXCeqVCDeNFLA0zkNUXkWfSFYgxkIlbINc-ZC5eMKmmHDwDUHaku9N4c0QvI-yCxXUMtINQ/s1600/image3-753944.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhXfXXbxVVrvlIR2253m9T4DaEu2Hmtu19nCYysT3mU8xM7A378n9d_tNZRYVVYvDoQSTqXCeqVCDeNFLA0zkNUXkWfSFYgxkIlbINc-ZC5eMKmmHDwDUHaku9N4c0QvI-yCxXUMtINQ/s320/image3-753944.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6525577691949126866" /></a></p>After the half day yesterday, we were back for a full day on site!
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<br>And it was a day of hard work. We were working on building out and pouring concrete for the front and back stoops, but also bringing a huge amount of dirt into the house and tamping it down to be the base for the floor.
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<br>This last task was complicated by the fact that the large amount of dirt that was delivered earlier this week had lots of rocks, and then it quickly disappeared, leaving us scrounging a bit and having to move lots of rocks to bring the floor up to the correct level.
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<br>But we managed, and got it all done! Then dinner was a lovely dinner out on the town at a steak house in Estelí.
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<br>It is so hard to believe the week is drawing to a close, but tomorrow is our last day in Estelí!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-34256698130215574422018-02-21T20:46:00.000-05:002018-02-21T20:47:11.127-05:00Day 3 of construction<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK5fgKkN-qZhfY8cor_gFas2dTuxV4EUFcGKQekgHHUjNjOMsgFnVogYwNxUV9jEtUdJVPBBauEN6CT2OgMCGVV_kLqYCbrPx7yzE_7A7Enq3PdZswCxooI8RPNMaa6dXpcrGIXm52E4I/s1600/image1-731141.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK5fgKkN-qZhfY8cor_gFas2dTuxV4EUFcGKQekgHHUjNjOMsgFnVogYwNxUV9jEtUdJVPBBauEN6CT2OgMCGVV_kLqYCbrPx7yzE_7A7Enq3PdZswCxooI8RPNMaa6dXpcrGIXm52E4I/s320/image1-731141.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6525189334020974386" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiJeSNMR33pVrCKTcLZyyiqD2Ci1K5aqBR7FT0DQq1oxnX9JAKapcnXoMjjntAQIOHVERN8t3W5u2DxqCC1AHf8bANiLJ-WaP2iOGKDChb-48fbDde_nB-eCu_kJKaDtJyZuy8aIbigPs/s1600/image2-733010.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiJeSNMR33pVrCKTcLZyyiqD2Ci1K5aqBR7FT0DQq1oxnX9JAKapcnXoMjjntAQIOHVERN8t3W5u2DxqCC1AHf8bANiLJ-WaP2iOGKDChb-48fbDde_nB-eCu_kJKaDtJyZuy8aIbigPs/s320/image2-733010.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6525189339448833810" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNpp5WsQZZBlO8quygNBiKlpH_2hVvMsjxOL_BFuNsN1P2yYRvz4PsH2CyMGN1sqUiqClpEaBA1xk7CehaDGAgzfm2tlDC5MaSisWCgcF8HvH0MuH7g00KUhscXKvZA-gR4gtHwIqMW7E/s1600/image3-733779.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNpp5WsQZZBlO8quygNBiKlpH_2hVvMsjxOL_BFuNsN1P2yYRvz4PsH2CyMGN1sqUiqClpEaBA1xk7CehaDGAgzfm2tlDC5MaSisWCgcF8HvH0MuH7g00KUhscXKvZA-gR4gtHwIqMW7E/s320/image3-733779.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6525189338135655682" /></a></p>As you can see, we have made some real progress! What started with just 3 rows of block laid has now risen to be a full house with the gables going on!
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<br>We put on the last full row of brick this morning, which is a row that also requires a great deal of concrete to be poured in—quite a labor-intensive project when you have to mix by hand and haul it all up onto scaffolding!
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<br>But we got it done, and helped begin the process of building the gables on the front and back.
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<br>That was it for the day today, though, because this afternoon was a tour of a cigar factory. We were not prepared for the fumes from the fermentation process, but we learned so much about all that goes into making cigars! It was incredible to be able to watch these people sort amazing quantities of tobacco leaves and so quickly roll the cigars. Everything was by hand, because machines just can't do it.
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<br>Tomorrow we return to a full day of work!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-9487098929581598112018-02-20T19:52:00.000-05:002018-02-20T19:53:53.467-05:00Construction Day 2<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8MMFmxeW9fctfUjN45di6cQCZtYzgm_X5gJNBe-n1MMyW_N2J5tawSfp9gxXE1PtE5iKbleoS40BXb9VxxAaPfT8tvK8wvtZI_x4OU6xFINRiVKyKZTqRgGqH2c6sW5zKTfjESPtNris/s1600/image1-733537.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8MMFmxeW9fctfUjN45di6cQCZtYzgm_X5gJNBe-n1MMyW_N2J5tawSfp9gxXE1PtE5iKbleoS40BXb9VxxAaPfT8tvK8wvtZI_x4OU6xFINRiVKyKZTqRgGqH2c6sW5zKTfjESPtNris/s320/image1-733537.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6524804515633196098" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH5WrvBCvUC67hDa3O-fWt3nG9d5uS6IEi_m_7THf6q_IFIQAzqXAdGV2O95zj7HQlff_G4pat_3rictYeQsYzM1csno35LLLfnzaLQSiAVjcHhzA8hySLWwMBt1KWQ7sEO7TB98gl8jI/s1600/image2-737124.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH5WrvBCvUC67hDa3O-fWt3nG9d5uS6IEi_m_7THf6q_IFIQAzqXAdGV2O95zj7HQlff_G4pat_3rictYeQsYzM1csno35LLLfnzaLQSiAVjcHhzA8hySLWwMBt1KWQ7sEO7TB98gl8jI/s320/image2-737124.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6524804529453496786" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEY96dQ6AZIXYQzQdN9WTdFq1p6p2WP_dqN3p0mEKRLM8zSXfeCxBfIPsFCI-CcPLpxHfDPS33cPAKPEjydx8V1AJGcqgHw1G0ltE7eX3gAHzFQvU1_zOU-g-7cbg9D5oD2QUPeAbj01s/s1600/image3-739273.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEY96dQ6AZIXYQzQdN9WTdFq1p6p2WP_dqN3p0mEKRLM8zSXfeCxBfIPsFCI-CcPLpxHfDPS33cPAKPEjydx8V1AJGcqgHw1G0ltE7eX3gAHzFQvU1_zOU-g-7cbg9D5oD2QUPeAbj01s/s320/image3-739273.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6524804538098972098" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5i9mVQDofp1UM70u-Uk6hINQ79ao-apmxVuuM6mLoRmyEkI_YWh9qWSO2AoNPNUIoP2T_MeKLabAwGYXQiJPXONDggjwV9_1qHws7tzx7oGCpASI2caLzlRmGf_iSH68NlGs0kdRi9nI/s1600/image4-741975.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5i9mVQDofp1UM70u-Uk6hINQ79ao-apmxVuuM6mLoRmyEkI_YWh9qWSO2AoNPNUIoP2T_MeKLabAwGYXQiJPXONDggjwV9_1qHws7tzx7oGCpASI2caLzlRmGf_iSH68NlGs0kdRi9nI/s320/image4-741975.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6524804549126225938" /></a></p>What do you do when you've already put up the four lines planned for the day before lunch? Why, add on two more rows before calling it a day, of course!
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<br>Today the building was all on scaffolding, which didn't seem to slow us down. Instead, we worked together to exceed the expectations of Habitat! All while enjoying music featuring requests from all our team members, and dancing (while on the ground, of course, since dancing on the scaffolding is against the safety rules!).
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<br>Larry also made a friend with a young man who is also a juggler and card trick expert, so our afternoon break was a nice little show!
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<br>We continued to get some excellent help from Doña Marta's son and his girlfriend, including with sifting sand for the mortar and tying rebar. It is always a treat to be able to build with our family and get to know them!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-58190616707798469692018-02-19T20:46:00.001-05:002018-02-19T20:46:39.269-05:00Day 1 of Construction<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6PjSXulbvLh8V5BD5nQbujor2OldeBjlD0wc90BOSnUpL-fIres42pK8vhxFaHK1YnG2LrZ6gudu6xyQM9ORfJF5gbYZQJ7LfCrTOP2geQyAp3xO8TFct8EO2gOqPiI5VnnmZn6hH9Vo/s1600/image1-799273.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6PjSXulbvLh8V5BD5nQbujor2OldeBjlD0wc90BOSnUpL-fIres42pK8vhxFaHK1YnG2LrZ6gudu6xyQM9ORfJF5gbYZQJ7LfCrTOP2geQyAp3xO8TFct8EO2gOqPiI5VnnmZn6hH9Vo/s320/image1-799273.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6524447025136828642" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyBHtBrJO6YXlD4B4N0UDrTGit3pTowdEkkWMHzjVVyH8wCMGJfvglXR91RXLb3b3kM0A7RnWvIg2Ux-IDP3UcrxLW82TA4X0p_ibMrUy7qIIYOBxob0fUuQQMKsJCtAIMmXM9atyGgRo/s1600/image2-702592.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyBHtBrJO6YXlD4B4N0UDrTGit3pTowdEkkWMHzjVVyH8wCMGJfvglXR91RXLb3b3kM0A7RnWvIg2Ux-IDP3UcrxLW82TA4X0p_ibMrUy7qIIYOBxob0fUuQQMKsJCtAIMmXM9atyGgRo/s320/image2-702592.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6524447038186605970" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOmNGzDWe6o0quUXrQTHZzDoyF7kNV8zJY34LC9dWSKjdstXICQf8misc6MbbkbHbUrkdXPl-dhxP0drxMZRVso-RO7VadB_ab0W1wf2mVI8KBmRo2TCjtKmuyRs4a_M6c3jOWyaXGUu0/s1600/image3-704788.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOmNGzDWe6o0quUXrQTHZzDoyF7kNV8zJY34LC9dWSKjdstXICQf8misc6MbbkbHbUrkdXPl-dhxP0drxMZRVso-RO7VadB_ab0W1wf2mVI8KBmRo2TCjtKmuyRs4a_M6c3jOWyaXGUu0/s320/image3-704788.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6524447053452888434" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTuqlkanL1Uu3MFuK01BVQdLJdlNLTl-xgylPoNkaenqa1HlpuRtZteMi93jr5KOZ2uZLj7xEOjILM98989LOikJCUh_oaRhFtYRm_ZFKvnepKVFZFVSaUeyRYwSYC6gy0aEh6gOyDBpc/s1600/image4-707179.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTuqlkanL1Uu3MFuK01BVQdLJdlNLTl-xgylPoNkaenqa1HlpuRtZteMi93jr5KOZ2uZLj7xEOjILM98989LOikJCUh_oaRhFtYRm_ZFKvnepKVFZFVSaUeyRYwSYC6gy0aEh6gOyDBpc/s320/image4-707179.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6524447053979969906" /></a></p>Before we went to the worksite this morning, we went by a partner of Habitat Nicaragua. This is the organization that helps with some of the non-building activities, and stresses working with youth to help break cycles of violence and poverty. That space is also where we have lunch every day.
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<br>When we got to the site, we were greeted by a shade tent with chairs, hard hats and waist supports, and our masons!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-2251368314772729422018-02-19T08:10:00.001-05:002018-02-19T08:10:43.739-05:00Orientation<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM9OSgxYcmZZ-DXhQHgXgFHMiUGB-FEws2KXWI9P3PDSotQSydLy7eL09Zwcy8LQGKT_yVrwzHbwxb3D5uJ-YfMpZB__NUAqIUzXR1hZJEswYOhzn8zORICgkLdFWBqev-LtX2qM0uMFQ/s1600/image1-743744.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM9OSgxYcmZZ-DXhQHgXgFHMiUGB-FEws2KXWI9P3PDSotQSydLy7eL09Zwcy8LQGKT_yVrwzHbwxb3D5uJ-YfMpZB__NUAqIUzXR1hZJEswYOhzn8zORICgkLdFWBqev-LtX2qM0uMFQ/s320/image1-743744.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6524252224479250482" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAvILoJd7J1K8HJBcI2rrb5XdqWEXkQPoKQ1_-TxZ6UBiGHAgff43Bxuzt3FnJZehUqUgqoLeMcBEMnP-qV_tJQDEP53CUyL0rLnCcSJdvVmwrr0RCVK-1b4sMe_WdAajQpZuubshS6LE/s1600/image2-746434.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAvILoJd7J1K8HJBcI2rrb5XdqWEXkQPoKQ1_-TxZ6UBiGHAgff43Bxuzt3FnJZehUqUgqoLeMcBEMnP-qV_tJQDEP53CUyL0rLnCcSJdvVmwrr0RCVK-1b4sMe_WdAajQpZuubshS6LE/s320/image2-746434.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6524252237441478818" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNfpDuso9gHsuN2Kdh7_Qrv5s2yiz6ydW5N0QC1Mogd2glMfhyphenhyphentRRHDrNlV3RrbznAKnjV-UlHm9pA1Mk7DUysu-FI_demoY6caub8o-ZJYtiGqIRoQDQ4zFhXSeRyffqHP1qCNsL97Mc/s1600/image3-748007.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNfpDuso9gHsuN2Kdh7_Qrv5s2yiz6ydW5N0QC1Mogd2glMfhyphenhyphentRRHDrNlV3RrbznAKnjV-UlHm9pA1Mk7DUysu-FI_demoY6caub8o-ZJYtiGqIRoQDQ4zFhXSeRyffqHP1qCNsL97Mc/s320/image3-748007.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6524252242011102818" /></a></p>(Posted late because it didn't go through last night)
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<br>This morning, after an incredible breakfast spread, we had an orientation with the other teams in country, which included some excellent data. For instance, 48% of the people working in Nicaragua are underemployed. And the poverty line sits at $250/month!
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<br>Habitat Nicaragua does work that goes deeper than just building houses. They provide financial and economic training, and even participate in a micro-lending program for construction improvements. The benefit of these loans is that the recipients get assistance from engineers and architects to ensure that the improvements are quality.
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<br>From there we headed out to Estelí, stopping at the Revolution Plaza to hear about some political history and see the cathedral that was practically destroyed in the 1972 earthquake.
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<br>The drive was long, but featured some beautiful scenery as we traveled across the country.
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<br>Out hotel is beautiful and wonderfully calming. The sign declares that this is a stress-free zone, and that seems to be the case!
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<br>We had the opportunity to meet Marta, whose house we are helping to build. She has served as a soldier for the government, and had her daughter murdered in Guatemala and lost a grandchild to leukemia. She works for the local hospital as a phone operator and announcement-maker. But her health requires that her son and daughter-in-law live with her in her 24 sq-meter house. It was nice to meet her ahead of a workday.
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<br>We are actually building within the confines of her current wooden, ad-hoc structure. The family is crowded into what little space is left until construction is finished. But she owns a great deal of land to add on rooms as she can afford it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-80997450027391453722018-02-17T23:02:00.001-05:002018-02-17T23:02:54.512-05:00Travel Day<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVWBQkRmUFUEqyJzR_I45FKU_89umjXX33MynpsoMTaTj2DnP7s15HuW8r426a-AwG1qmcBcqItvHYZZbPzrymumcc7QsMgq_f6NbkHSSYCrUbt3Y1cAHv7SMdCmnDnm4CzEmBKY101ak/s1600/image1-774514.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVWBQkRmUFUEqyJzR_I45FKU_89umjXX33MynpsoMTaTj2DnP7s15HuW8r426a-AwG1qmcBcqItvHYZZbPzrymumcc7QsMgq_f6NbkHSSYCrUbt3Y1cAHv7SMdCmnDnm4CzEmBKY101ak/s320/image1-774514.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6523739966279692402" /></a></p>We managed to make it through two planes and three countries to arrive in Nicaragua!
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<br>Once we checked into our beautiful hotel (check out the view from the back!) we had plenty of free time to relax, even getting some pool time in!
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<br>Dinner was delicious (may this continue all week), and tomorrow we move out to Estelí, our building location for the week.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-84774196670809422262018-02-14T23:24:00.001-05:002018-02-14T23:24:16.316-05:00Change in plansThe title of this blog is "First Trinity Builds Houses in El Salvador." And that was certainly the plan for this February, starting Saturday (2/17).<br />
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However, just a few weeks ago, plans changed. The US State Department changed the format and wording of its travel advisories, and reclassified several countries. El Salvador was one of the countries affected, and it wound up in the "Reconsider Travel" category. Nothing changed on the ground, it was simply a change in categories.<br />
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According to Habitat for Humanity policies, they cannot send teams to countries in this category. So El Salvador was a no-go. Luckily Nicaragua, which is a premiere destination for Thrivent Builds this year, had a slot open for our team!<br />
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Over the course of the next few days, the team agreed to switch destinations, and we found a way to change our travel plans. A huge thanks to Habitat, who not only helped us financially with the switch, but our wonderful coordinator Anna (who was working with other teams in the same situation!) was in constant contact and was a huge source of support.<br />
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So now we get to explore new territory. Nicaragua has a slightly different building program. They build the families extremely small houses (24 sq. meters), which serve as "starter" units for the family. It is a secure place to live while they save money for any additions they need, and they can add on as needed.<br />
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We will do our best to update as the week goes on--stay tuned!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-40636279894479348132015-02-21T22:06:00.001-05:002015-02-21T22:06:16.944-05:00Farewell to El Salvador<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcD_cLKP4eH3SqnSqSc1VFEeo9E-CQNKfQjPFYh3DDGexvlFKYpw0eAr630WKB_YTRMIjERCRBkulyKPaqn17hU37qY5LetKskAbmn14aYbCBg0SZiHiUo5JKHuQr3xK4zSpwxLZDvjiQ/s1600/image-776945.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcD_cLKP4eH3SqnSqSc1VFEeo9E-CQNKfQjPFYh3DDGexvlFKYpw0eAr630WKB_YTRMIjERCRBkulyKPaqn17hU37qY5LetKskAbmn14aYbCBg0SZiHiUo5JKHuQr3xK4zSpwxLZDvjiQ/s320/image-776945.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6118500363666102690" /></a></p>With the time on the construction site finished, we took a day today to experience a bit more of El Salvador.
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<br>Our day was a tour of various towns along the Ruta de las Flores. The route is named that in honor of the large number of coffee flowers that can be seen in their season. The combination of altitude and volcanic soil makes this area of the country a prime coffee-growing location.
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<br>So we were able to stop by several small towns, both to do some shopping and to check out these very pretty locales. And in the first place we stopped at was also home to a cultural center where they are working to save crafts and ways of life indigenous to the area that were very close to dying out.
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<br>After lunch we had a tour of a coffee mill. The owners also run a coffee farm, but this tour focused on the operation of receiving the coffee from other farmers and preparing it for sale (and probable export). We were all a little surprised at the intensive labor involved. While the mill had a lot of automated equipment (dating back to the 1930s), manual labor was needed to pick, test, dry, sort, and move the beans around. El Salvador has suffered from a disease of the coffee plants for the past few years, so even though this is in the harvest season, they only had about half as many workers as usual.
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<br>At the end of the tour we had the chance to try some of the coffee, made using a cotton filter. There seemed to be some mixed results of this tasting, though the divide largely fell depending on if you drink coffee or not. ;)
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<br>After the tour we made our way back to San Salvador for our closing ceremonies and to brace ourselves for the return to the frozen North.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-51217498868960777652015-02-20T19:41:00.000-05:002015-02-20T19:42:41.448-05:00Construction Day 5: All Good Things Must Come to an End<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp7QJU2_iErldTh_bkVs-LPAlIS68VNJExSsObS3ddySl24Rsqru1FbWgIufvzQj9-YFb0D45XNv59CRfp-n1itz2giT4PtkgZ5GimmIJAkSk7zdlf1IYFmKyUw65XjkLR2uTf4xhu960/s1600/image-761449.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp7QJU2_iErldTh_bkVs-LPAlIS68VNJExSsObS3ddySl24Rsqru1FbWgIufvzQj9-YFb0D45XNv59CRfp-n1itz2giT4PtkgZ5GimmIJAkSk7zdlf1IYFmKyUw65XjkLR2uTf4xhu960/s320/image-761449.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6118092269383566498" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-dSk-3RPkaP2Kg2i_T6jxcLk0cFaiS0Q1zIQZnmCfTpFwjdPJnQhgFQeMaxPWrMAZc3yJSSLF_tdprYDQJha1vOr5WfLSvv54Ke7drkIGAJEAH6zAFkBkuWptQLNZ-6c7t3c_84gv1Qw/s1600/image-764430.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-dSk-3RPkaP2Kg2i_T6jxcLk0cFaiS0Q1zIQZnmCfTpFwjdPJnQhgFQeMaxPWrMAZc3yJSSLF_tdprYDQJha1vOr5WfLSvv54Ke7drkIGAJEAH6zAFkBkuWptQLNZ-6c7t3c_84gv1Qw/s320/image-764430.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6118092283620158674" /></a></p>Alas, today was the final day of work on the site. But good news! The regional construction supervisor said that we had done such a good job that he canceled our flight back on Sunday!
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<br>But seriously, as part of the day's final farewell, there were several representatives of Habitat for Humanity El Salvador, and everyone was extremely happy with how much we achieved in our time here. We hate to say goodbye, but we can go home knowing that we put a family well on their way to a safe and quality home.
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<br>We only worked half a day today, but we got another two courses laid, bringing our total up to 4! The septic system folks were waist-deep in the second hole, so they also made some wonderful progress there.
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<br>Lunch was a delicious steak and sausage, cooked by one of the Habitat staff. And after the meal we had a small ceremony, where we gave some small gifts to the family and the masons and got a certificate and HFHES calendar. Our mason was Mr. June!
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<br>The big surprise for the group was a mariachi band [photo]! They came and played a few songs, and much of our group was enticed to dance. Yes, there is video (perhaps to come later). The kids also enjoyed a Tinkerbell piñata!
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<br>When we were finally done with our goodbyes, we headed to the nearby town of Ataco for some shopping, sightseeing, and a drink or two. It's a pretty little town, just right for an hour to relax.
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<br>A few notes from earlier. First, our hotel has a menagerie. There are monkeys, an ostrich, deer, and more. It's a little odd, but kind of cool at the same time.
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<br>Second, Sarah was able yesterday to visit the medical clinic. It was a day of appointments for pregnant women, and the doctor let her sit in on a few visits and see how he works. Sarah hopes that she can set up a return visit, either through her school or by herself. This is a great idea, and hopefully it will work out!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-45669585622718388792015-02-19T19:38:00.001-05:002015-02-19T19:38:46.323-05:00Construction Day 4: We Have a House!<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_MHJxQBU-Ke7PUHRKupMtl4AD1O54-7Ady10A49oSGCXPFu5UfsLjc1bfPhmDo2iqgvzmG6UcA7g9r44FQ7z3T5JD0Aprfreg6qccvgkuZu43LKTlsMCtHC6r_F704opJvprcP3Buvsw/s1600/image-726323.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_MHJxQBU-Ke7PUHRKupMtl4AD1O54-7Ady10A49oSGCXPFu5UfsLjc1bfPhmDo2iqgvzmG6UcA7g9r44FQ7z3T5JD0Aprfreg6qccvgkuZu43LKTlsMCtHC6r_F704opJvprcP3Buvsw/s320/image-726323.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6117720175733703186" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_jXBNgi8GMpEO-e8BN1HBruBI495u61XEfBFwXbjpscWKj9xmvVK52jkheQ6wIGfe-HpojKZGe3ojQhlv5WeCOvCu4Kwh3iMZaNLSE2A04_JnPTBQ9dofoY8_13fVazWqRkyX4hnvsG4/s1600/image-728887.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_jXBNgi8GMpEO-e8BN1HBruBI495u61XEfBFwXbjpscWKj9xmvVK52jkheQ6wIGfe-HpojKZGe3ojQhlv5WeCOvCu4Kwh3iMZaNLSE2A04_JnPTBQ9dofoY8_13fVazWqRkyX4hnvsG4/s320/image-728887.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6117720188499130898" /></a></p>Well, the start of one, anyway. The morning started off making the mortar to lay the blocks! By the end of the day we had two full courses (rows) of block laid. So once we got started on the building, we move fast! Our mason, Dagoberto, and his two helpers, both Jose Antonio [photo], are extremely great and very patient with us. Through the week we've been able to draw them out to joke with us, too.
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<br>When building, the masons lay the blocks, and we come behind them and fill in between the blocks. There's also another type of mortar that goes inside the blocks, and we do that, too. We are a full-employment operation [photo].
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<br>The heartbreak of the day was when the folks digging the septic tank hole were told, just as they reached the bottom of the meter-deep hole, that they needed to dig a second hole bigger and twice as deep. After crying a bit, the crew took a deep breath and got going.
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<br>The family we are building with is a mother, Ingrid, her husband, Raimen, and their son (Estuardo, age 9) and daughter (Yesenia, age 4). They currently live with the father's mother, Isabel, and his sister and her family. Raimen works in a bakery during the day and so we only see him for a few minutes each afternoon, but everyone else (other than the little girl) works pretty much all day. Many of the days this week are school holidays, so Estuardo and his younger cousin, Victor, are amazing workhorses all day. Seriously, they frequently demand more sand to haul and yell at us when they think we're slacking.
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<br>The family lives adjacent to the building site, so even after the house is finished, they'll all basically still live together.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-63544054518276180432015-02-18T19:54:00.001-05:002015-02-18T19:54:25.499-05:00Construction Day 3<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEIivO2Bz3lXSCWbHm7o15G8YcsEd_ZWEpdZe481eCm8mV28H2EJ76LRBQUDUTw_m8dVQ7DeRfdmLofMQFQ55PR9rk1hovOPqIwqOWH5W7zSTHQHKJYEUqIClKdhinPaZRviVOTT2dsA0/s1600/image-765500.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEIivO2Bz3lXSCWbHm7o15G8YcsEd_ZWEpdZe481eCm8mV28H2EJ76LRBQUDUTw_m8dVQ7DeRfdmLofMQFQ55PR9rk1hovOPqIwqOWH5W7zSTHQHKJYEUqIClKdhinPaZRviVOTT2dsA0/s320/image-765500.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6117353124738214674" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyYOGXwL_jabMRmHpSiEj8UhL54uIQFO3kMV9hJ2ffBZkIBWwY7DQfMa-rlZQOzkNcnKz4lg34m-d71vQlORzuZFLegdyKJ9d8LvWVJnfFjYrEWAwjAyqoamNyRk8GLeh0t561ABZYvUg/s1600/image-767457.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyYOGXwL_jabMRmHpSiEj8UhL54uIQFO3kMV9hJ2ffBZkIBWwY7DQfMa-rlZQOzkNcnKz4lg34m-d71vQlORzuZFLegdyKJ9d8LvWVJnfFjYrEWAwjAyqoamNyRk8GLeh0t561ABZYvUg/s320/image-767457.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6117353131522131666" /></a></p>The thing about building a house literally from the ground up means that the early stages are a lot of work with almost no visible progress. So despite our industry over the past few days, our pictures don't look incredibly different.
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<br>Still, we are making progress! Before we got to the site we stopped by the community of Getsemani, the neighborhood in which Habitat and two partners, including Thrivent, have worked to build houses and improve the lives of the entire community, not just the Habitat families. They have initiatives for education and health, and have also helped form a cooperative for economic improvements. The co-op makes micro loans and has several money-making enterprises, including cooking and making various crafts.
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<br>But on the site, we made more cement for the foundation, and worked all the way around! This means we are set up and ready to begin laying blocks!
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<br>Speaking of blocks, they were arriving just as we did. Due to security, we couldn't leave the blocks on the street. So we formed a conveyer line to hand the blocks over to the worksite. With pretty much every family member helping, we moved almost all of the 1,275 blocks in!
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<br>And the group digging the hole for the septic system is close to being finished, too. It's becoming more of an effort to get out of the hole!
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<br>A brief note about the weather. During the day it's incredibly sunny and warm, but our site has lots of shade and a pretty good breeze. It cools down quite a bit at night in our hotel, and tonight there is a stiff wind that makes it feel quite chilly.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-42412233135800602292015-02-18T07:29:00.001-05:002015-02-18T07:29:09.897-05:00Construction Day 2<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzJnI9tkhzf5fBeu73zn0fRZnBJBuO0DckOIu1nFdt1bluARRZ_2y1NLpa2R5LKqEpoRzEhY3GRRcxOprjEH-oPISoR6BOH2g6DoUkYoANhpwhXL2R5EfQgBCaYHtfidvQIuC1UfHqzUw/s1600/image-749898.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzJnI9tkhzf5fBeu73zn0fRZnBJBuO0DckOIu1nFdt1bluARRZ_2y1NLpa2R5LKqEpoRzEhY3GRRcxOprjEH-oPISoR6BOH2g6DoUkYoANhpwhXL2R5EfQgBCaYHtfidvQIuC1UfHqzUw/s320/image-749898.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6117161073229380850" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAbuw6WJDh2QCCAI1PiRNn2hyphenhyphenQDGXa-pobZi2tbL5i9nWfzRTlW2V3yw7BX5ZX9KVdtglHi5d-LRJQwdsIpC4bXEI28RPOUqRapjZwvDdRSKNSf83bvX50MKTaR9BTpkovHRpEIVHpepA/s1600/image-752281.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAbuw6WJDh2QCCAI1PiRNn2hyphenhyphenQDGXa-pobZi2tbL5i9nWfzRTlW2V3yw7BX5ZX9KVdtglHi5d-LRJQwdsIpC4bXEI28RPOUqRapjZwvDdRSKNSf83bvX50MKTaR9BTpkovHRpEIVHpepA/s320/image-752281.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6117161082314355810" /></a></p>With the foundation dug and some of the foundational concrete poured, we worked before lunch to finish that first layer of concrete. This required some massive mixings on the ground [photo]. Watching concrete being mixed by had is always an impressive sight, and this operation was incredible!
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<br>We split up more after lunch, some of us working on setting up the rebar for the foundation and the walls, others digging a massive hole for a septic tank, and the third group moving more sand from the street to the site. This last group had some extremely energetic helpers, both from our family and from the neighbors [photo].
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<br>Our hot showers (and we have awesome showers at our hotel) felt great. But as hard as we worked, we had a wonderful day working and playing with the kids, the family members, and so many others. It's always powerful to be reminded that people are people (and boys are most definitely boys) all around the world, no matter the country or language.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-69308600096535890962015-02-16T19:34:00.000-05:002015-02-16T19:49:13.073-05:00Construction Day One--Life in the Trenches<p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1uHMKjfbC4oj11US0r0z3ed5ifj62dNIg2dm-zeXZSrVvX9KGxO3WjNLYzzcbf4e1vqbXzVWiZOJPWHlF3VXV__4YdhkoVKBSI0fcsUp7Vsg0wqSMlDEjw85QVq_EX3xa7Xql9LJBHT0/s1600/image-753074.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1uHMKjfbC4oj11US0r0z3ed5ifj62dNIg2dm-zeXZSrVvX9KGxO3WjNLYzzcbf4e1vqbXzVWiZOJPWHlF3VXV__4YdhkoVKBSI0fcsUp7Vsg0wqSMlDEjw85QVq_EX3xa7Xql9LJBHT0/s320/image-753074.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6116609614100361122" /></a></p><p class="mobile-photo"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhycasp4sEsvzTbmApjsuPD1ibieGXfCNKxSmRj71lLa9Z1cq9q2FFxRB9vly0-GaKzI8_DhHk3BnToUxxTJdZw_hz7-wnoN3e8CGitOZhcougPHSdiSoMNriZrYWoVkU1oi8zszpXSV50/s1600/image-755720.jpeg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhycasp4sEsvzTbmApjsuPD1ibieGXfCNKxSmRj71lLa9Z1cq9q2FFxRB9vly0-GaKzI8_DhHk3BnToUxxTJdZw_hz7-wnoN3e8CGitOZhcougPHSdiSoMNriZrYWoVkU1oi8zszpXSV50/s320/image-755720.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_6116609622380673794" /></a></p>We had our first day on the site today, and it was a doozy. We had been warned that we would be digging the foundation, and that was the case!
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<br>Some of the foundation trenches had been at least started, but we had to get in there with picks and shovels and keep it going. [photo]
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<br>Meanwhile, half of us were attacking a giant pile of dirt that we need for the construction. But because of the geography of the site, the truck couldn't dump the dirt where we needed it to be. So, bucket by bucket by bucket, we moved that giant pile up to the house!
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<br>Lunch was provided by women in a cooperative in the Thrivent Builds community in the area. They also make various crafts to sell, and have an agreement with another cooperative to sell locally grown coffee!
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<br>But it was a great day. We met our family (many of whom, including the grandmother and. 9-year-old, worked alongside us all day) [photo]. Our masons seem to be nice, and even cracked a smile at jokes about swimming in the "pool" made when we were mixing concrete. And by the end of the afternoon, we had finished digging and poured the first few batches of foundational concrete!
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<br>Morning snack: yogurt, in all sorts of exotic flavors
<br>Lunch: chicken, rice, vegetables, and tortillas
<br>Afternoon snack: watermelonUnknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-37782159013950973232015-02-14T22:52:00.001-05:002015-02-14T22:52:19.479-05:00The Group Has Landed!Our flight was bumpy, but we made it! We even landed early, shocking the Habitat staff.
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<br>The weather here is perfect, a beautiful 85 with a comfortable breeze. So for all y'all up in Boston, yes, we're bragging.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-491875367435022992015-02-13T23:56:00.001-05:002015-02-13T23:56:22.861-05:00Final Countdown!We are in the home stretch! Tomorrow First Trinity returns to El Salvador, along with some new friends from Boston. Never has tropical weather seemed so inviting! I'll update as much as possible during the trip, but that will all depend on email access.
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<br>-AmandaUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-4411860537614742992011-04-22T23:30:00.001-04:002011-04-22T23:30:00.618-04:00Day 7: Friday, February 25<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPALo6oHgqfGqVA6qP9PNugnl6c9FVgMz3kV4xdol5IYTEWQxlIzyOZJ6HV_ntZV1kac26C6fyIMhoSx-Orx2PFRNLLaM-k7kb1iM2CWDrPUmRo0cMlq2VDiF98ijQIcDlK81kKENnzck/s1600/01+Electrician.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPALo6oHgqfGqVA6qP9PNugnl6c9FVgMz3kV4xdol5IYTEWQxlIzyOZJ6HV_ntZV1kac26C6fyIMhoSx-Orx2PFRNLLaM-k7kb1iM2CWDrPUmRo0cMlq2VDiF98ijQIcDlK81kKENnzck/s200/01+Electrician.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598229267518045506" /></a>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!<div><br /><div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhohdLGRvn5gD9vusk_r2LvPSG8gIi1K7u8fsiM-AVptcykj-dSsfKuZgFCWpG7hzbaezHAql5jua4trhKvLXMEO5VyeMOjhHZV1RvFgAPF0W6UtyjtMgxbqTLsuAh6Due-y54PscrruVI/s200/02+Last+Work+Group+Shot.jpeg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598229909762446738" />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!</div><div><br /><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQkNmuGpqGSuZrO_ABj5adt8cntAyOaWGaecQVEgItkjaztdO6lrwxrguA6Dsr_qxHIc1LYGjih0TyzETYTwqmhMgQgfjvCo8uR1dXXSqHlVnAOJ377V-RN287EmfMPDiD3SBytslNoq8/s200/Alex+and+boys+tamping.jpeg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598229271588594722" />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.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIhSO07ZuckHazSKEt2RZ3P5HqGCngcvqigPyOb1anPvRJIKicYBX4ftDV5xg83rJ88bUhOWzpuFUEDyWLWqWNUvRZxO8CkEAHo1yXncWwqCK6uqJF1qBQIKLKgLSQ16H3MRLmgHEzqk8/s200/Carolyn+Making+Pupusas.jpeg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598230929877369154" />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!</div><div><br />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.</div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzKuBNdQmcVgUXt3QQtPxoLkh3Y14hFxFsLhU8TXY8BDi6n7MJSoeZHiLSE3H1mn4EQg_cfLmZTCnemOhCWEQyHi3CSqTHZaE92iyDtQPWnHyCF9tIS_6ORNpXU01DDSUNkOeuyw4eV1Q/s200/Kent+getting+certificate.jpeg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598229915807565202" />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.</div><div><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqWdz54US873Y-5OPQsDvfozSt4qGb2-bZau6UVQo-IGKaeI0HWYhbFkoQa4ZLAbn6SD-gTb_8mnvIUlQ2_Ok29AAp5173aEFKSX-yvpcwK9vRYKW6VhBzwHFj2ATYRUImb7M2vns1Fjo/s200/Presenting+the+Flowers.jpeg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598229279028752482" />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!</div><div><br />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.<br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIylIwOHVCgWjShG3pRr1ziD_UJL2Aaz6pFKrpCxVPSeGmzIC1QBIdyGkq2Mwu97JIsCHCqUuy4P0yR3d05EtYRHJinzJx9Bksx8W-dFjBN1r53UbB8RlKzDy7kNY8a3Jv_ZTYq-vStow/s200/Frying+Yucca.jpeg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598231513488620482" /><br />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.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8BErNN2T0CbVt43J7OVlXdjaVN3ccqe-mChhwkXpf4clqOkFOPUxwl1ZRCQADAh4CC_SMGdcg8Q-sN7nFNwZ_-RzdFHGjM02ShWzUegdG2YzAxgJiaXevKB8aiuzub3yZL6Ij8S_Yi2I/s200/House+Blessing.jpeg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598229269375115362" />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.<br /><br />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.<br /></div></div></div></div><div><br />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!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-13388896281179508032011-04-21T23:30:00.001-04:002011-04-21T23:30:00.760-04:00Day 6: Thursday, February 24<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVYlm60pGgalcgADu6Uj20MTOLRPsCW6sU6jLTjoOn-MNNotVcavwxFgUZF1dZemZ1AzSyCuanMnrj2-58VOD01323PTh-LDWlinJ4e2qdcC-xD-1F1_f2B1OblMUShARJW5-2lnnuig/s1600/Close+Group+Shot.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVYlm60pGgalcgADu6Uj20MTOLRPsCW6sU6jLTjoOn-MNNotVcavwxFgUZF1dZemZ1AzSyCuanMnrj2-58VOD01323PTh-LDWlinJ4e2qdcC-xD-1F1_f2B1OblMUShARJW5-2lnnuig/s200/Close+Group+Shot.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598226858622680818" /></a>I have to admit. There’s not a whole lot of new material to share today. We had another full day of work today, which meant that we were able to get two full rows completed, and then start the row of trench blocks, called “solera” blocks.<br /><br />The solera blocks are u-shaped blocks. These go about 7 rows up from the foundation, and they mark the bottom of the windows in the house. They are shaped as they are to form a trench for additional rebar to be laid in horizontally and tied in with the vertical rebar for extra support. This was a big milestone. Not only because we had officially gotten farther than they had planned for the week, but because we can really start to see how we are building a house!<div><br /><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8YEVInMPmRekZau4eqqoT9-_8RWOvcQ7kb3NK2cXIE7DTmeECTEb6nVMrrOLyqhohByUS2UvdIcAy110Y4nunnEGIqNvRs4KEtLvWmHvK6O1fcgKNbNVmw-RTGpFBTE1_10D0OvlTrtY/s200/Marti+tamping.jpeg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598227118901831218" />While some of us are laying the bricks, the rest are working on the floor. The interior of the house has to have dirt brought in and packed down very hard as a foundation for the floor. In keeping with the theme of not having the tools to make the job easy, we don’t have a nice machine to vibrate the dirt and pack it down. Instead, we have to cart the dirt in and use sticks stuck into coffee cans filled with cement to pack it down and make the floor as level as possible. It’s somewhat demoralizing to bring in a good 4-5 inches, pack it down and only have built up the floor about a half inch.<div><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilzVIrZzSNKzHQ8LGC1Dq9ZQeqTEktyqqxt_MUWb47qTBxIENah-TIdhqbC2pVQVfkEMH30jXfDCBzCFNeQQFTCZ4tz9CQCN3Mweza4PPjxtk7fT2lYo-LysBsV6EOwvxJacjvYGgVfdg/s200/Saoul+Filling+in+Column.jpeg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598226859797893538" />But we keep hauling and packing it down. We brought in a good block and half’s worth of plain dirt, and then added another layer of white sand (which packs more tightly) mixed with cement and sprinkled with water to create a harder base. Later, when they are putting in the finishing touches, they will pour a concrete floor, and probably put tile on top of that.<br /><br />Unfortunately, John got sick tonight just after dinner. But he has the entire team, the Habitat staff, and the hotel staff to look after him, so I’m sure he’ll be fine soon. Hopefully he’ll be able to join us tomorrow, at least for the celebration tomorrow afternoon!</div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-5564891534600814642011-04-20T23:30:00.001-04:002011-04-20T23:30:00.773-04:00Day 5: Wednesday, February 23<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIRB31chI6RIcqR1KtJjawLeuyDwWqTHmGICUBl7h9DYWb0LEx5wxXiHwbm4vDczTQ1gzbLNBvBLM3aD118bL3DxREA0rtwi5TpJ97e_tt1fTA6_VHT9wlc4N6vVLeHjgh2FVGTdc06wM/s1600/Pr.+Tom+laying+brick.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIRB31chI6RIcqR1KtJjawLeuyDwWqTHmGICUBl7h9DYWb0LEx5wxXiHwbm4vDczTQ1gzbLNBvBLM3aD118bL3DxREA0rtwi5TpJ97e_tt1fTA6_VHT9wlc4N6vVLeHjgh2FVGTdc06wM/s200/Pr.+Tom+laying+brick.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597117040258309314" /></a>Today was our first full day of work, and we made the most of it—3 rows of blocks!<br /><br />We have had some wonderful weather this week, but today seemed much warmer, either due to higher temperatures or higher humidity. The breeze was also down a bit, so we really felt the heat today. At least our site starts and ends the day in shade, so there’s at least some relief!<div><br /><d8"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5FMf4Tj-hSBRqxO2jtXj2dk1ZO2fJ38CE4CFGDEs1N3zPAWC4CuIfQqRhZuMJLPJWJypk9bu61gCZN2gc9kqn0xm5NOjoPfZPVuMbGwuCphzvOwltOO5WPeZiAb81ntDlUOVD-cblHQ0/s200/Ron+and+Cappie.jpeg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597122674729038738" /><div><div><div>Alex had a meeting for much of the day, so we were left alone for about four hours, which was no problem for us! Saoul, has learned that we rely on Cappie for translation help, and he will even yell for her himself if he has to explain something more complex than just gestures will allow.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWP02aX0rtDe8enxeQ15C-fMzWjSQ-i8Cpv-ziTrQS3K1Qn4hDyWOfmrZIvMbSR2102J3qHtKVNA0VjtztDli4yEY46Ke0yDSgVEzuSRE4ErZ4tMRR4AyHWuRfRpbmOI43UYTGv2kyJhg/s200/Don+and+Tom.jpeg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597117041202427042" /></div><div>If you are not familiar with El Salvador construction, El Salvador uses concrete block construction instead of the wood frame method that is most common in the United States. This makes the construction require a completely different skill set, and makes it harder for amateurs to build the walls. So the mason on site (and whomever he deems skilled enough to build walls that are straight) is in charge of laying the bricks. The rest of us contribute in a wide variety of other ways--putting the mortar (or mescala) on the bricks for the mason, putting the mortar inside the blocks after they're put onto the wall (that type of mortar is called chispa), cleaning up the site, or working on the ground in and around the house. Add in giving each other a chance to grab some water and a quick rest in the shade, and we are kept hopping!</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrboupCAOvaTmKeU_FhnX_J9rkCnP-KOeKlP9Sy2O-46REf4xhc8kvMOG3z3udIOIbFEAB_ApT32wcFiSZmU7kBvgP3Sj68jsNxX3R54VIgJnOqw7gNhDGzj-tqOaxrPbZk9DdgfnvDnA/s200/Ron+Kent+and+kids+Sifting.jpeg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597122442421736210" /></div><div><div><div>The kids are still always around, and always willing to help whenever we will let them (we tend to be very hesitant to let them help, mostly due to safety issues of hauling heavy things like bricks around). They turned the math quizzes back on Carolyn—testing her Spanish as much as anything, but she did great! They also started showing off for us, little rhyming games and hand games. We often couldn’t understand what they were saying, but they sure had fun with them!</div><div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9MOcBNYY3x8Rh1P6bfn06VOu4_0xQ2-RSaZ_OVanNfGonKNlwGy1zecmUW3wE-C7YssAGdz7qYHeg_pyt4kJhC7GS0tJUz-TNaW6QiQaJvYMzu-4fYWRJPitmvUL-9dpTokc0N55k1oM/s200/food.jpeg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597122125300078354" /></div><div>A little note about the food. We have breakfast every day at the</div><div>hotel, ranging from pancakes (with edible flowers) to more typical food like plantains and cheese. We have lunch on the site, which is brought in from a nearby restaurant with which Habitat has a contract. We also have a small snack every morning and every afternoon provided by the family. Dinner is back at the hotel, and is always large and delicious! Rest assured, we are not going hungry! We also are able to stay hydrated. There is a huge bottle of water on site, and we get more at the hotel, so we are able to stay safe, too.<br /></div><br /></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-21601967168110967942011-04-19T23:30:00.000-04:002011-04-19T23:30:00.418-04:00Day 4: Tuesday, February 22<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxxCJAhTAdloekm6XRSfp_2dGlqDEX7OsCkJ2iSQnT7BtwARB2DbsbgkgUqPD5Oy2fzAeH5i4eFyKAMQuDc4u6G_rYxlsViBMEwyD4Kmr26bJY4_Oy_jg6gQzoYBwIQpfZFUh-oy2A3ck/s1600/Esperanza+Casa.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxxCJAhTAdloekm6XRSfp_2dGlqDEX7OsCkJ2iSQnT7BtwARB2DbsbgkgUqPD5Oy2fzAeH5i4eFyKAMQuDc4u6G_rYxlsViBMEwyD4Kmr26bJY4_Oy_jg6gQzoYBwIQpfZFUh-oy2A3ck/s200/Esperanza+Casa.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597111176938187794" /></a>Today didn’t start with construction, which was perhaps a good thing, considering that we may have started a bit too quickly for our own good yesterday… Instead, we went to visit Villa Esperanza, the Thrivent community with 75 houses that was recently finished. Marti actually volunteered here before much of it was completed, so this was a chance for her to see the result of her hard work.<div><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK0JfT09D9h0Ea31UWsD1RhHXow71lloh-K37HqOIM7dxFQt_3Rjbx4lqF0INXTySMXuG7Q4XbBNBPibMyPi13cb5DDcN-T9F-kVkDonQXivuXxOGYJ0XMdSBrUqouVH2V2wardPiqwPA/s200/Group+Shot.jpeg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597112304874708562" /><div><div><div>It was a really neat thing to see. Many of the houses, especially the ones that were completed in earlier stages of the development, had absolutely beautiful gardens. And, of course, so many things were in bloom! One of the homeowners was even generous enough to invite us in to see what the houses looked inside, and to see their backyard. They were growing all sorts of amazing things—pineapple, papayas, cashews, bananas, avocados, and beautiful geraniums!</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL60X4MnUAv1MOrlP6J3jTK0sShgGeWMYereKQsCLN2nJ-bIVuXUVsYYhvvEFynx5L4WWNhkA8Y8s_E38Kf5XoC0539klI9OWD87Y2RGomOumXSpMXGM-1tCPR8AnLTcc6UzRm4GXAbLY/s200/Playing+with+Kids.jpeg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597111466356401122" /></div><div>In addition to the houses, Thrivent helped build a community center and a daycare center. We got to go into the daycare, where we watched them have a toothbrushing lesson before we had playtime! Kids are wonderful—there’s no need for any real language skills when playing with Play Doh!</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUmBq6jEfUhmvHnM31JadDm7VPnmxUNKkmMAc9Za2eEFUTsDmcOcB-XpZyjKLmoUZ3KQXiw11ss8eU_3rm7B3vkMbTbJFph_qU36NUI1EV96w55uLZI0vXM53_Sqn2spVskzUcTAoxh7c/s200/Unloading+Bricks.jpeg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597111938583564546" /></div><div>When we returned to the site, the blocks were being delivered. We helped unload the truck, sorting the blocks by types and putting some of the blocks inside the house to be easily accessible as we build up the wall.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLLkAcPCx0HOJcp9V4lbGwGsF-3-hJan_WBRZVUXyWC7dWkJwFVRRA0laaw_huPMaGiepotNadx35uKBM9C8n9Zt_mPhmLsc9_eQbyLzHJZTp9hJtzDApb-PurPE8ia_aMkIHYDsB7AV0/s200/Alex+Pr.+Tom+Saoul+laying+brick.jpeg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597111178011132690" />Following lunch, we got to laying the bricks! Don double-checked procedure with Saoul, and then we were able to have two crews working. This led to us being able to lay our entire first course of bricks before the end of the day, well ahead of the goal.<br /><br />We also had a lot of fun with the kids today. Carolyn started yesterday quizzing the kids on basic math, but today we abandoned actual lessons for playing around with barnyard animal noises. There’s nothing quite like random clucking and crowing sounds throughout the day! Many of the kids have an amazing ability to whistle and then run their fingers over their lips, creating a parakeet-like sound. Carolyn and I are determined to learn how to do it!<br /><br />Back at the hotel, we were relaxing, some of us were sitting out on a porch talking, when, at about 9:00, an earthquake hit! It was not very strong, but still rather disconcerting, especially for those of us who have never been in an earthquake before!</div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-5148929441141358972011-04-18T23:30:00.001-04:002011-04-18T23:30:00.853-04:00Day 3: Monday, February 21<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyc3y2aq8Rdu-fySOGvHsVDEfXPyEpVLH7YUHveii4mnYTRzBHd7kksUgVI1ldUYtkpKZzvO4E7IaCcfA_16Mmpa6MEQ1b-kKhSPJMiGzqCMTWpd7Bi4fXVeWIdfapkaPLuXlJN9QgDjk/s1600/Work+site+before.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyc3y2aq8Rdu-fySOGvHsVDEfXPyEpVLH7YUHveii4mnYTRzBHd7kksUgVI1ldUYtkpKZzvO4E7IaCcfA_16Mmpa6MEQ1b-kKhSPJMiGzqCMTWpd7Bi4fXVeWIdfapkaPLuXlJN9QgDjk/s200/Work+site+before.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596391169151707394" /></a>Our first day of work wasn’t exactly easy, but we finished in grand style!<div><br /></div><div>We had expected to be in a neighborhood of houses built by Thrivent, but it turns out that we are building on a single site in the middle of an existing community. For more information on the family for whom we are building and the community, please check out Cappie’s excellent write-up <a href="http://ftlcelsalvador.blogspot.com/2011/03/our-los-buenos-family-and-community.html">here</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDlo44X66matqrB_W_xwTL5Uccm7XRiCyL65KXHAu_iAsaVFGozDFldF5bxg6QhesY08D2lOmJ8IBo9Nbs0lA46KOojs-dkcU16dPUTcVfV0esORDwJYv6TRwtJEpFenJ8xzjgp5ri9hA/s200/mixing+concrete.jpeg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596394226833543298" /></div><div><div><div>Our house is at one of the earliest phases of construction. The foundation trenches are dug and the rebar installed, but we were in charge of pouring in the concrete to actually function as the foundation.Of course, there aren’t any automatic cement mixers around. Instead, we have shovels! The masons (Saoul, the head mason, assisted by his brother, Jose) gave us the desired recipe for the mixture, and then showed us their preferred method of mixing it. Basically, it involved shoveling into several piles and then back again, ensuring that all the ingredients are fully mixed together.</div><div><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNhUTQ80haIpKl4I9Z-8kbIZXlbW5sgmi95w9n6AldnSsDUOwmbCjcBJcMNVEuJY1HjjVRBvH-iEPpEGvo1IZ171g_OwtEqLbVjJyarJRsKYhoUrPI_n-7vpuWiX_EDgYj6dDpZqalIFU/s200/Making+a+volcano.jpeg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596391176420714290" />Then, you create a sort of volcano, add water in the middle, and gradually shovel all the dry ingredients into the middle. If you do it right, you wind up with a little compact pile, with the water all in the middle. Making a mistake results in water going everywhere! But by the end of the day, we had the technique down pat, which will serve us well the rest of the week!</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifvT89CRepabEFeEBKIjzja9OvJ3klkh5eFlJQ83WzDWXEjoKKE41kZMLoEBWjitK-fjNaIL6H3szoLbfZeJGQxFHyCysIWBZbE4-eA8WPoLVHFFdr8DTbw8hesxETdpnDlBG9U66WF4/s200/Saoul+and+Jose.jpeg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596393571155024914" />Saoul is, of course, in charge. But with some help from Alex, Don was able to explain his construction experience, and Saoul became comfortable, after a short period of supervision, with letting him work on his own. This will come in extremely handy once we start laying brick!</div><div><br /><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBybmbeaUsvqvvCfT8oW6odlD-ZO-0pkRrsbGOTmomXcVnQ2bM5euzVTSbxD3jb5qo6-fig5BF0vyzFdqLuLUVCSfmzPHrqAuYHHTEtYLl72eChpA4m3o5wRvMifsHM0Y-KVb3Y2Orxi4/s200/Checking+Concrete+Depth.jpeg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596393745425011362" />We worked very well together as a group. In fact, we worked so well that we finished pouring the foundation well in advance of the end of the day. With our transportation not coming for another few hours, we were faced with several hours to kill. But then Pr. Tom noticed that we had used up the vast majority of the water that was designated for us to use during construction. He asked how the barrels would be refilled, and he learned that someone would have to travel a bit down the road to the community spigot, filling smaller water buckets, and then bring them back to the barrels. So we volunteered to take care of it.<br /><br />Throughout the day (especially after lunch, once school let out), we had been attracting neighborhood children, especially the relatives of “our” family. In many of these families, the children are responsible for collecting the water and bringing it home as one of their daily chores. So we asked them to guide us and show us how it was done.<div><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3302S_HJlCe9oGJjCx90wkRMc4hm034PbrY1IPU-xFDWyPpbgQXDYw670xdydUXXOnOT5rOLBuXC3wBRM32akfZlOlWZ0QYaqQ3a4Q8i323Jxr0-ywB4d2HpYTUZauriWiw0I1yrLSP4/s200/Helpers+at+the+Cistern.jpeg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596391803103053154" /><div>Thus began the parade of the gringos! Not only did we have the kids with us, but we attracted the attention of the rest of the neighborhood as we went, too. Some of the girls took charge of the spigot, turning the water on and off, and checking to see when our buckets were full. We’d then take the buckets back to the house to fill the barrels. While the rest of us were waiting, either for another of our buckets to fill or for another member of the community to get their water, we’d play with the kids, laughing and joking.<div><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikW7jv83ZkpXZuy2a-mShK3I78ZdSsYc7uGlebo5hlor22qyuWn4GrRuaHRBvl5bxSwy6K5EY0mHS3hnoc5GM2RePYlYcv-eXUKwoC1lz15hyphenhyphenosuB6DeEnPn4bv27Hr4F0Er5eixDaYkI/s200/John+Carrying+Water.jpeg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596391180809709762" />Of course, we also got huge laughs when several of the men decided to take the water back by carrying it on their head. This is a common method for carrying heavy or awkward items, but by women. Men usually carry the buckets over their shoulder. But the head is actually much easier and more comfortable!</div><div><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-5NPf3el3tUCz0JnK6giSj1OkZJHSo7Quj9JjS4VyO6ziIddn9Mqh02shl1bReteDYhG_EM7A5p_hd3_0Q-bvva_L-hnh-V506dLlawPM39AElYlH3skjR2x3CBddb6eHdURxCj5yT-o/s200/Showerhead+of+Death.jpeg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596391804707190098" />Back at the hotel, the adventure was figuring out how to get hot water. Some cabins had a functioning hot water heater/showerhead (the heating coils are in the showerhead, heating the water as it flows), and others, well, not so much. Perhaps you might be able to see why…<br /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-27539990570444672802011-04-17T23:30:00.001-04:002011-04-17T23:30:00.771-04:00Day 2: Sunday, February 20<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgHTA39EDc5D-o3Kl6dqJi9rbCKvb01csjuDItDthHZsAD-G0zuZxHnz_43k7AQkVlLIPgvukejkJuyd9fDZ0tjDsZs6cWXNciFCRetppaVXA3EGmCHDyfBQwZiKzApVdFhdZOUExQ0No/s1600/Group+in+Sunday+best.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgHTA39EDc5D-o3Kl6dqJi9rbCKvb01csjuDItDthHZsAD-G0zuZxHnz_43k7AQkVlLIPgvukejkJuyd9fDZ0tjDsZs6cWXNciFCRetppaVXA3EGmCHDyfBQwZiKzApVdFhdZOUExQ0No/s200/Group+in+Sunday+best.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596386085206085634" /></a>This morning we attended church at the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in San Salvador. This is the home church of Bishop Medardo Gomez, the Bishop of the Lutheran Church in ElSalvador. He has an amazing personal story, but more on that in a moment.<div><br /><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCq1ACkoTlqktsRH26qG9P38bwyxahTKg9lwxvJJXi04cpIq2-8KxSmLyTjY23eTd6x7LtaUlJnqRN1v3hGo12IR_lHOIoxuh_PmVhwjTiGpzKPBF0_TB3HDGizVyXXM5bJ_aZzzMLv6o/s200/Robed+Pastors.jpeg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596387474196942242" /></div><div>We were welcomed extremely warmly. On a personal note, I had a brief chance to catch up withMaria Trinidad, whom I have met on each of my previous trips. She runs both a homeless shelter and a sort of boarding house/hostel connected with the Lutheran Church, and she and her family are amazing.</div><div><br /><div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj21j8nMA-V0oylTfdLaJ8gWkJ6Us-svGXzZqW-ELOJrsTXdGEFTK8fdHtz0rElii80AuevktCl8g-g8JOsuzKKfDgJOa3eiTnyKWeFbBWrvpreMf7-evo_cnsMMGRAqlfFVe2tTLa9oMI/s200/Pr.+Tom+Giving+Communion.jpeg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596386083976557874" />But we were welcomed warmly by everyone, even by those who could not speak English. Pr. Tom was drafted to robe up andassist in presiding. As he tells it, he didn’t speak Spanish, and the pastor giving him directions didn’t have any English, so figuring out whatto do was pretty interesting… But they must have managed well, because Pr. Tom helped out through Confirmation and</div><div>Communion!</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhVe1v5fREPHvTC8auDXLDGl9Hv9eWB5cyDMjUiagzZsQxM-CKnt1OgFf75lCTGRSIQAQKhXlgIrkloL_Ed6Ah_FXk3yhaEwgK5erGfLnkegATSD_iQzaNTnh-Mfq-d9zgZCB5_s9zM3I/s200/Carolyn+Reading+the+Gospel.jpeg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596387151983827778" /></div><div>Carolyn also had the chance to read the Gospel. It was read in Spanish first, and then Carolyn read it in English, using a bilingual Bible that was provided by Carlos Avalos. Carlos is the Habitat El Salvador director of church relations, and he spent the day with us (at least until we left San Salvador).<div><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDq27JnwMFi1WvKtWbeCnFTRbNduwLTSrRXXzRJOP4MWiuNDxO8wqCFVDNeM2EtZnF5BMEY3a__34khlqYOOoaI00xOmu4Mq4dOZVRiJgYo1sbHPg6cO6My-Ot3UdwFyhKR02YfldLSk/s200/Awesome+Hug.jpeg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596386347720258546" />At the end of the service, each of us was presented with a small wooden cross necklace and a hug by one of the children of the congregation. One little girl, in particular, was a most excellent hugger!</div><div><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXR-uytpTo4V9oVlGHo2LurNnUToS7b_WECt5aKGpc_T4X8-xpQkA7p6m0-pI919Z62i4EdvyGPIga1IgiLqntW208tw5qyuNCxD473AZbTplqBjfY0yjfX5jAXqumBOPcv2wf4njYbVA/s200/Bp.+Gomez+in+his+Office.jpeg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596386807373989986" />After the service, we all went back to Bishop Gomez’s office, where he spoke a bit about the work that the El Salvador Lutheran Church is doing. They are focusing a great deal on building communities, and most of their new members are people who are already familiar with Christianity, mostly Catholicism. It’s a small but growing church.</div><div><br />Bishop Gomez was also one of the voices that roundly criticized the government during the civil war in the 1980s. As a result, he had many threats on his life, and for a while had an international escort with him at all times. He was arrested several times, and his war experience sort of culminated with the <a href="http://ftlcelsalvador.blogspot.com/2011/03/story-of-subversive-cross.html">story of the subversive cross</a>.</div><div><br />After church we went for lunch at the El Arco Café, the place overlooking San Salvador where the group ate last year. We could tell there had been several new developments built (somewhat ruining part of the view), but the flowers were still beautiful and there were lots of clever and fun decorative items around.</div><div><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEillki7ZtiHzdshFYRYvy8I7KGRDmwMGi0i4l0FxaShtTh7W5_AekjZ4f5yL4V48dmRMB2-7j_T87jgMJ0LgGWn6pScB3HpXFu71t1xaFEdxumr9sN_WD7kDhOmG-GEQ860RHQODBNpYDs/s200/Group+at+Hotel.jpeg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596386350213757314" />From there we headed northwest, to the hotel that will be our home for the rest of the week. I have stayed here before, and it is a beautiful place—trees and flowers EVERYWHERE! We are staying in a series of small cabins, and then we head to the restaurant in the middle for breakfast and dinner. There are small porches in front of every cabin, and lots of open seating in the restaurant area where we can just sit and enjoy being with each other. It can get a little chilly at night since we’re so high up, but that’ll feel good after working in the sun all day!<br /><br />We also met up with our last team member, Marti. She was vacationing in the time leading up to this, so she was only able to join us starting today. But we are all together now, and ready to go to work tomorrow!</div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-27707374286840571782011-04-16T23:30:00.002-04:002011-04-16T23:30:00.035-04:00Day 1: Saturday, February 19 (for real this time!)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWcoGVq9bBQpntg6ja6LpNmtFlXL0jncg0k0L1chxLneV5g_rpMl3EfdvoxpZ9blK3dTYjBOShGe1VTmvrOowzdvAO34tppNjBUJKGEzdSO_SLg0D4fOM286ihmtropduaTMSHqWzo3IQ/s1600/Crowd+at+airport.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWcoGVq9bBQpntg6ja6LpNmtFlXL0jncg0k0L1chxLneV5g_rpMl3EfdvoxpZ9blK3dTYjBOShGe1VTmvrOowzdvAO34tppNjBUJKGEzdSO_SLg0D4fOM286ihmtropduaTMSHqWzo3IQ/s200/Crowd+at+airport.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596380996047026338" /></a>Our flight left from DCA at 5:45, so it was a very early morning at the airport! But we all showed up in good time and made it through security in good order. When wearrived in San Salvador, we were greeted by throngs of people waiting to welcome their loved ones home.<div><br />We were met by Alex, who would be our guide and help for the week. He has been with Habitat for El Salvador for about a year, and he spends weeks at a time with teams of volunteers, working with them on the build site, translating, and generally acting as community relations for anyone that drops by the site.<br /><br />From the airport we drove the 45 minutes or so to San Salvador, where we checked into ourhotel for the night, an extremely beautiful hotel called the Hotel Villa Terra. We settled in for a bit, and then a group of us went on a short walk around the neighborhood, just to check things out. We were too far to really get into the heart of downtown, but we enjoyed the ramble just the same.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4VeA1xfZ9_TX7y7-UEUIPV6AH40ieS5ptfA4oOYDNlkGgfl6Bf33YVNEVbvaK46b4n1GMs0BrEH9QvF_m8ULEHbQ0cTojXPW0ie-9BniBDNUlcaKxfDkUvEepgkuslFmCsWULsV2OyRs/s200/Carolyn+with+guard.jpeg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596381222718574754" />One of the things we have noticed are the ever-present armed guards, at pretty much every store, and definitely at every hotel. We asked, and Alex told us that it was to guard against thieves and other forms of crime; we speculated that it was a case of a store having to hire a guard so as not to be more vulnerable than its neighbors. We kept being reassured that there wasn’t that much crime, but these pistol-grip shotguns didn’t really ease our minds. Still, every guard we met was super nice!</div><div><br />I<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRtXeYRY-r6DrYPXbXhcNBhF0q2dJ2VXYMQ-IyjV2K-WcsDDlm0vm2v37IZkP9xvHgbJ-CoWXXWd44nRSdJezbMSawGKrHJNsKytZjWDREoUltrDQPDD8YXhyphenhyphenD7OjXV6e503X1_UXjvUw/s200/Blooming+Flowers.jpeg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596381000617098210" />t’s also incredible to note all the flowers and trees in bloom. It’s mind-boggling to think that it’s the m<span><span></span></span>iddle of February, and there are things blooming all over, even though this is the “dry season,” so the open areas are not as green as they are in the wetter times. Still, it is beautiful!<br /><br />After the walk, most of the group found a small taco stand, where they had some drinks andlight food (we didn’t have any food on the planes, so we were quite hungry!).<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbyYWNBXMP5uGG0dzdVsMfYr_x9nkpBv71xzyvYFyMLOwBX7rOwjwUjqCKTJ63k-pdia1B1zBMwBFyrC2IKqqkZr_YksOaLjozrgWQL0bo6jrCQKqnBAmS-e6LW_mKzSMjB-ZRYrFreJ0/s200/Food+Typico.jpeg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596381223134875058" /><br /></div><div><br />For dinner, Alex took the group to a (very popular) restaurant, one of his favorites, which specializes in “typico” food—pupusas (stuffed corn tortillas—practically the national food of El Salvador), plantains, beans, tamales, fried yucca, and lots of other delicious food and drink! We also ate with another group in El Salvador at the same time. They were from Canada, and they will be building in a completely different area of the country.<br /><br />While everything was so delicious, it had been a very long day, and it is time for bed!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4216074579895346789.post-18875321817738864972011-04-16T23:00:00.003-04:002011-04-16T23:02:31.013-04:00A note about the upcoming postsSo, even though it has taken me way too long to get these up, I have tried to write them as if I were able to write and post every night on the trip. It may seem a little ridiculous, but I'll also be posting once a day over the same time period as our trip. Please enjoy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0