Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Well, we had unexpected success in the churro department... the lady was arriving outside our accommodations when we returned from dinner last night.  She had quite a line of customers!  She is a good example of the working class poor here.  She sells churros at 50 centimos apiece until she sells out, usually carrying pre-made dough for about 120 churros.  Normally she works until 10:30 p.m., so even before the cost of ingredients and cart rental, the most she would make is $20 per night.  We feel kind of guilty enjoying her work so much.

Today was another full work day, pouring more footings, constructing rebar supports, leveling the surrounding ground.  We also had a pre-VBS for some of the kids who came to watch...some of the ladies made crafts with them, painted their fingernails, and sang songs with them.  We gave them bags of goldfish and a sucker and told them to come back tomorrow with their friends.  One little boy kept learning English words; he came up to me with a grin showing his sucker and said, "Dumm-dumm" (his funny pronunciation of the lollipop name--at least I hope that's why he said it to me).  The guys as usual gave them spins before we left, and they chased the bus as we drove away, some hanging on the back until shaken loose by the bumpy ride!

Since we did little else remarkable today, I thought I'd share a couple humorous notes.  One is that there is a rooster on the roof of the building next door.  The accursed thing starts crowing at 5:30 a.m. and continues roughly every 20 minutes until long after we're gone for the day.  Since there is no A/C, we sleep with the windows open, so you can imagine how we feel about this fellow.  Pastor Paul found a good retribution though.  Apparently his window is close enough to the creature that if he makes a sudden, loud noise he sees it jump and run away.  We are encouraging this.

Also, for you car enthusiasts, Pam has punch-buggy mania during our bus rides, because there are so many VW beetles running around down here.  I think she is leaving this phase behind, though, since there are enough bruises going around from the construction work.  Don't fear, all are well, though Jesse has to stay off his sprained ankle most of the time.  We have forced him to bring his guitar to the worksite and play background music for us.

If tomorrow goes as planned, we will be at the work site in the morning again, then will do our VBS at the day care in the afternoon.  Not sure if there are any church activities in the evening.  We are all having a great time!  Wish you were here too!