Floors and the Final Touches

The crew worked late into the night last night finishing the walls, to the accompaniment of Bolivian music. Jake and Irene rose early to mark the points for leveling the floor but when they got there they found that the floor was already started. Not only had the guys finished the walls but they also started hauling in all the large rocks for the floor. This was a huge job but many hands were there to help. First they lay the rocks down the center and level them. Then all the remaining rocks are placed so that all are level. They use a long board or rod to ensure that everything lines up. Using rocks lessens the amount of cement that is used. However, we still wanted a deep enough cover so that it didn't chip.

Then the cement brigade started once again with the girls making the cement and the guys hauling it in. Leveling and smoothing was the job of the maestros. We didn’t count how many wheelbarrows of cement we used! We were thankful for all the Bolivians who just kept on trucking late into the night. It was midnight again before they shut down for the night.

While most of the people were working of the floor other groups were finishing other small projects such as finishing the prayer room and the storage room. Others cleaned up the site. The women and Tomas baked buns, enough to feed an army. Their whole house was filled with buns -- beds, steps, everything!

Saturday morning was the last time on the job site. The cooks were busy killing the fatted calf and preparing the feast. Pots were brought in from La Pista and there were at least 30 women cooking.

Dionicio monitored the installation of the doors. These doors are made of wood and that means that each one of them has to be trimmed to fit the opening. Dionocio was thankful for the electric drill and other equipment that he could use. It made the job go much faster.

While Dioniscio finished the doors, Jose and a couple of others trimmed up the windows with a layer of cement. This covered all the little holes and cracks that could not be filled and cleaned around the windows.

Finally everything was done -- the building looked good, the yard was cleaned, and the food was been cooked. By noon all that was left was cleaning up the equipment to be returned to Jake’s and wait for the ‘Gran Fiesta.’

It was hard to believe that only two weeks earlier the team had arrived to see only bare ground with a few stakes and now there was a church standing!