No habla Español

(This is Lorie writing, Thursday)

This morning began with everyone comparing our battle scars from moving 500 adobe "bricks" yesterday. These bricks weighed a minimum of 40 lbs each, so we earned every bruise and scratch...
It was my first day on the job, after "loafing" the first few days, and therefore my first look at the destruction. It was overwhelming for me to witness the squalor and the conditions in which these people are existing.
We were treated to a snack consisting of corn which had been heated and seasoned, the largest kernels you´ve ever seen, and some sort of beans which were also heated. They also brought us real Coke and Inka Cola to drink- their very best for us. This had to be an incredible sacrifice for them, but they gave willingly and constantly thanked us for our work. I never felt worthy.

During our debriefing session last evening we were able to speak frankly with one another about how the day went for us - it was a good time of sharing and we learned that we all have areas that need improvement, but that we our also building incredible relationships with the other team members.

Today I felt like I conquered the world! I actually communicated successfully with our bus driver, Daniel, who has worked alongside at the jobsites every day. Surprisingly, my 3 years of French have not been helpful to me here, other than to understand Jeffrey when he tries to speak Spanish and throws some French words in, just to help things along a bit. :) Anyway, we were freeing foundational logs from a pile of rubble and I remembered the word for strong, so I told Daniel he was strong and he laughed and laughed. It was great, but I suppose as Sarah would tell me "Mom, you had to be there".
The highlight of our day was defnitely spending time with the family at the worksite. They were incredibly grateful, and even though my verbal skills are totally lacking, I enjoyed a wonderful time of sitting with my arm around the woman whose home was destroyed, holding her close as she watched and cried at the whole situation.

And finally, I want you all to know that we know you are praying for us, after experiencing a 20 minute taxi ride like no other...When the taxi driver buckled his seat belt midway through the trip after weaving and winding through traffic like a crazy person, we looked at each other, smiled and I told them, "I think we´re in really big trouble." :) Continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers this week - we are deeply grateful.