What an early start! We had to be downstairs at the van by 6:20 a.m. Oy! It was good to get started, though, and the breakfast Mirsa had waiting for us was a welcome start to the day. We had scrambled eggs with ham mixed in, fried plantains with sugar and cream, and refried black beans. It was all so delicious! Several of the other ladies went back to the shelter to finish painting the ceiling in the kitchen. The rest of us went to the school.
We started by loading 36 one hundred pound bags of cement (18 at a time) into the van, unloading them behind the school, and carrying them up a flight of stairs to the work sight. It wasn't long after that the cement, mixer got fired up, and we started our jobs. I shoveled sand and gravel into 5 gallon buckets. Mark carried the buckets and heaved them up and into the cement mixer. There was a whole crew of people who carried little (but very heavy) buckets of the mixed cement and poured them into the foundation. Thankfully, there were several fairly long breaks in the day. I don't know that I could have kept it up all day in the sunshine like Mark did yesterday.

Even as tired as we were, it felt unbelievably wonderful when we finished he job around 1:30 in the afternoon, and got to sit down to a dinner of Dominos pizza.
After that, all 9 of us piled our sweaty selves, along with two extra people, and drove up a very steep and bouncy mountain road. (Well... we had dropped off one of our extra passengers.) We ended up at a park high in the mountain that has a fairly well-known big slide. Big, and it ends at a short cement wall in order to prevent people from being propelled off a steep dropoff. It was fast enough for me by itself, but several people put flattened 2 liter plastic bottles under their rear ends in order to get some extra speed. Several people actually caught air on the bumps. It was very fun. 
After that, we didn't have a whole lot of time, but did get to spend around 40 minutes at a different market (more inside, more souveneirs, less vegetables). We had stopped and exchanged some money for Quetzalis right before we came to the market, and it was tons of fun to ask prices, look at all the goods, and be a part of such an awesome cultural experience. We bought 2 of the purple fruits that Leslie had gotten for us in the other market. I'm not sure - they're called something like Jaimitos or Chaimtos. We also bought an avocado. All together it cost 3 Quetzalis - or about 24 cents. Can't wait to eat them in the hotel this evening. We also got one small souveneir for each of our girls. I wish we would have had more time to shop some more. Hoping we'll have a chance to do some more shopping tomorrow.
After a very quick shower and change of clothes, we headed to David and Mirsa's for a delicious supper of tamales. There were two kinds to choose from - rice with chicken or mashed potatoes with peas. They were wrapped in a kind of leaf similar to a banana leaf. (The locals prefer this type of leaf, and export banana leaves.) What a privilege to be able to have enjoyed this meal!
After supper we loaded into the van to drive to a rural church with an earlier start time. The drive was about 30 minutes, and it was down the mountain and up the other side. We actually drove by a volcano that had erupted and the whole side had collapsed. There were also beautiful farms all around us. The village we went to was very undeveloped. The walk from the road to the church was down a rocky, narrow path. The church was small and simple, with a beautifully-painted mural on the front wall, and very simple wooden benches. The people are more from indiginous tribes, and speak their own native languages. One of our members preached a powerful word about the need to be filled with the holy spirit, and asked anyone who wanted to receive the spirit and speak in tongues to come forward. The entire church came forward - probably 40 or more people, many of them beautifully dressed women with their babies tied on to their backs. It was a powerful, amazing evening, and I feel so privileged to have been a part of it.
I am trying to soak up as much as I can in the fleeting days of our trip. I feel so blessed to have gotten to have this experience.
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