More from Monday

Okay, our visit to the Hogar has just finished for the day. And what a day it was!

We began the morning with another breakfast at Hotel Quan. This morning we were served French toast, along with the usual dark morning coffee. The way the breakfast room is arranged is that there are about five table inside the café and then another three or four outside. Because our group is so large we need every chair the café has. It’s a simple, easy breakfast and a very good way to start every day.

Following breakfast, at roughly 8:00, we boarded the bus. Our first stop was the Mall Premiere where we spent a good hour shopping at the grocery store. This was a cultural experience in and of itself. Five from the group were given the task of buying all the necessary items for lunches for the next four days. The rest of us were free to roam around buying coffee, candy, snacks, and drinks. Sam and I even took time out to have dos cafes at a bar inside the grocery store. Mine was café con leche, Sam’s was café negra.

Then our day at the Hogar began. Upon arrival the Hogar was mostly empty except for a few workers doing the daily chores around the grounds. The children were off at school. Some attend school right in the village just a short walk away. Others, the older children, attend high schools in nearby villages.

Because the kids were busy at el colegio, we had much time to begin various projects. Sarah Fimmen and Annie Bjerke took most of the group on a walkthrough of some of the buildings to explain what was needed. Bob and Doug then did an awesome job serving as pseudo project leaders. Folks in this group did everything from minor repairs in the bathroom and kitchen to cleaning and painting one of the children’s rooms to painting cribs in the toddler room.

While this work was going on, others tackled a large brick wall the stood in the front of the Hogar courtyard. It was our job to tear down this wall so that a water filtration building can begin to be constructed a few weeks from now. This building will allow the Hogar to bottle enough water to not only serve their own needs but also the needs of many others in the villa.

The wall went down fairly easily, thanks to the brute strength of several tough Minnesotans. Once the wall toppled over it was then necessary to break it into small enough chunks to load into the back of a pickup.

Adjacent to this wall was a bathroom building that also needed to come down. Mitch (aka Hurricane) and Evan (aka Almighty) gave removing the toilets the old college try, but to no avail. Thank goodness for the hepatitis shots, eh boys? We decided to leave the toilets for another day. Too bad my friend Neil T wasn’t here. Neil earned a reputation for expert toilet removal on a trip to New Orleans in 2006. Maybe we’ll save the toilets for Neil and convince him to come next time.

In the afternoon the children returned to the Hogar. We had mucho tiempo to visit and play with the kids. Again I got to know many children. They are all so friendly and happy to talk. Some are trouble, though, and are clearly having some fun at our expense. The joke is on us most of the time as we scramble to find an interpreter to tell us what they are saying and why they are laughing so loudly. It’s all in fun and of course we love it.

Among the children I worked with or hung out with today were Giovanni, Jessica, Alba, Sarai, Wendy Esmerelda, and Maria Isabel. Giovanni had a little too much fun wielding his machete.

It was another great day and I just can’t wait to get back tomorrow. Hasta manana!

Chris