Buenos días (good morning)!
This morning while a couple of us cleaned the house and Carolyn made two loaves of delicious banana bread, Pete was trekking into the jungle to get rafters. He said that they went 1 km into the jungle but the road was so bad that they were barely crawling with the truck. The road consisted of old creek beds, large ruts and winded around trees. The Bolivian men had cut the logs already into the rafters so they loaded them onto the truck. However, each rafter was so heavy that they could only take about 7 on the truck at a time so, therefore, they had to make the 1 km journey over and over again. Lisa went on one of the trips into the jungle and took a picture of a very unique and beautiful flower.
The Bolivian men taught Ray and Pete how to lay bricks for the walls. They say that it is not near as easy as it looks but rather, it is quite difficult to do. They have a system with fishing wire tied to either post to make sure all the bricks are even across the wall. It is time-consuming but looks really good when finished! Ray and Pete can now be considered official brick-layers if their wives want any brick structures made. It is an art and good experience for sure!
Irene, Lisa and Francine sanded the pews that will be painted later on. They also, along with Carolyn, did some more of the spooning; filling in holes and smoothing it all out. The children took the wheelbarrows and were taking cement powder and sand to the men as well as giving one another rides in it.
Lunch was soup again. I should mention, that only our group and Marg and Jake get a piece of meat in their soup. The Bolivians don’t keep any for themselves. This is another way of them showing us that we are their honored guests. We got boiled bananas again for dessert and the men played their instruments and sang once again. Irene chose this time to have a quick siesta.
The door frames are up in the church now and bricks were laid up to the window frame level. We worked until dark again to get it all finished. The family fed supper to those at the site even though they told them that we had a supper waiting at home.
Supper here was tamales which the Bolivian women, Felicia and Roberta, spent about 5 hours making! They first gathered 100 ears of corn! They cut off the top and bottom of each one and husk it. Then they stand it on end and cut off all the kernels. There were enough kernels to fill a large laundry basket. They then grinded it all by hand which is a difficult procedure! They add salt, baking powder, yeast, cinnamon, cheese, shortening and sugar to the mush, tasting it to see if there is enough of everything. They then take the husks and make them square, filling each one with some of the tamale mix. They fold the husk into a triangle and put into the outdoor oven for 10 minutes. They were very good!
After dinner we had some tea and relaxed a bit before bed. There were many fireflies as well glittering all over! Well Buenos noche (good evening).
This morning while a couple of us cleaned the house and Carolyn made two loaves of delicious banana bread, Pete was trekking into the jungle to get rafters. He said that they went 1 km into the jungle but the road was so bad that they were barely crawling with the truck. The road consisted of old creek beds, large ruts and winded around trees. The Bolivian men had cut the logs already into the rafters so they loaded them onto the truck. However, each rafter was so heavy that they could only take about 7 on the truck at a time so, therefore, they had to make the 1 km journey over and over again. Lisa went on one of the trips into the jungle and took a picture of a very unique and beautiful flower.
The Bolivian men taught Ray and Pete how to lay bricks for the walls. They say that it is not near as easy as it looks but rather, it is quite difficult to do. They have a system with fishing wire tied to either post to make sure all the bricks are even across the wall. It is time-consuming but looks really good when finished! Ray and Pete can now be considered official brick-layers if their wives want any brick structures made. It is an art and good experience for sure!
Irene, Lisa and Francine sanded the pews that will be painted later on. They also, along with Carolyn, did some more of the spooning; filling in holes and smoothing it all out. The children took the wheelbarrows and were taking cement powder and sand to the men as well as giving one another rides in it.Lunch was soup again. I should mention, that only our group and Marg and Jake get a piece of meat in their soup. The Bolivians don’t keep any for themselves. This is another way of them showing us that we are their honored guests. We got boiled bananas again for dessert and the men played their instruments and sang once again. Irene chose this time to have a quick siesta.
The door frames are up in the church now and bricks were laid up to the window frame level. We worked until dark again to get it all finished. The family fed supper to those at the site even though they told them that we had a supper waiting at home.
Supper here was tamales which the Bolivian women, Felicia and Roberta, spent about 5 hours making! They first gathered 100 ears of corn! They cut off the top and bottom of each one and husk it. Then they stand it on end and cut off all the kernels. There were enough kernels to fill a large laundry basket. They then grinded it all by hand which is a difficult procedure! They add salt, baking powder, yeast, cinnamon, cheese, shortening and sugar to the mush, tasting it to see if there is enough of everything. They then take the husks and make them square, filling each one with some of the tamale mix. They fold the husk into a triangle and put into the outdoor oven for 10 minutes. They were very good!
After dinner we had some tea and relaxed a bit before bed. There were many fireflies as well glittering all over! Well Buenos noche (good evening).
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