The one where Pablo wants to be demoted.

Kathleen here! Today we headed to the site once again to build. The morning started off with a devotional by Ricardo. I continue to be amazed by the deep faith of those in the community, especially the men who help raise up such beautiful homes. We worked on the same teams once again, and everyone seemed to be comfortable working with their masons. Today I was the main traductora (translator) again, so I bounced around between groups. A little bit of rebar, some chispa (cement) here and there, some mezcla (mortar), and a whole lot of Spanish going on.

I spent some time after our first break with Lucy, Diane, Matoso (one of the masons) and Company. They gave us some fruit which would be the Salvadoran version of our green apple. Nice and tasty. We taught them a few words and talked a bit (and laughed a LOT) before some more hard work. Time seems to pass so quickly working here-- I really feel like we've gotten into a groove: carrying cement blocks, slapping the chispa in, laughing with our masons, sanding down the windows, using our Spanish words, moving dirt... It seems so easy when you're with such a great group of people.

Over lunchtime, Juan (another mason) told us that international groups like us come through the community to help all the time, but that there has never been a week like this one... and that we would always remain in his heart. It was a touching moment for all of us.

Pablo (the gringo formerly known as Dan) decided that being a mason is VERY hard work! Juan and Rafael had him in a hole in the ground digging and hauling metal roofing. At the end of the day, Rafael referred to Pablito as "un pollo loco americano" (a crazy American chicken) for his wanting to step down, and I'm fairly certain the masons will refuse to let Dan leave the community Friday afternoon.

We left the work site around 1:30 and headed for Thermos del Rio, a water park with natural hot springs. Not so fast! We got a flat tire. Ramon pulled into the nearest gas station and pulled the spare tire out of the back, jacked up the micro, and changed it in under 5 minutes total (we have videos to prove it). When we arrived at Thermos del Rio, we soaked in the natural spring pool for awhile, and then some of us tried out the other pools. Eighty cents for a large ice cream cone! Ramon brought us back home to Hotel Sahara where we freshened up for dinner at Lover's Steak House. Felipe and Ana Cristina from Habitat met us there. We dined on soup, salad, and steak. Then, Felipe got most of us out onto the dance floor where we boogied down.

I'm reluctant to go to bed tonight because tomorrow's our last day on site. Before we can hit the hay, we must pack our bags. After work tomorrow there's a farewell and we are off to our R&R before our return stateside.