Susan 's journal

We awoke to another sunny day, only to discover that our team was going to be down by one. Colton developed a stomach virus. After a quick run into town for ginger ale and bread, Colton was left in the care of Giovanni and Zelmira, and his cell phone, with instructions not to create international charges unless necessary. It was off to the community center to continue the bathrooms. To our surprise, Minor had been hard at work and we were almost finished. Connor jumped into working on the walls, while the rest of us cleared a walkway around the back. Progress happened rapidly and the scaffolding was removed from the walls. They also cut the pipes and placed the septic tank in the ditch. It was so much fun to see a project move along almost to completion. We took our now familiar stroll to Elvin's house for another delicious meal. Though hot, sweaty, and tired, the kids engaged in a lively conversation about when we could return to Cebadilla.
After lunch we shifted our focus to the school. Connor, Chase and Cadyn played soccer with the students while we got organized. After retrieving a frisbee from the roof, we got back to work. Minor outlined an area to lay concrete while Connor and I dug it out for him. Then we attempted to pull down a section of the roof to be repaired. The going was tough and hopefully we'll make more progress tomorrow. I have been amazed and impressed at how hard the kids have worked, and how inventive they have been when taking initiative. On the way back to the hotel they were talking about all we have accomplished and how much more spanish we need to learn!

Colton seemed recovered enough to join us at the table. Since everyone was hungry, we had an early dinner, then walked through town to the serpentarium, with a stop at the Common Cup for smoothies. We met the Atlanta born owner and a student from Chevy Chase bound for Duke in the fall. We promised to return to roast our own personalized coffee! At the serpentarium we saw a ton of snakes we hope to never see in the wild, and over the course of an hour watched a boa constrictor shed his skin. Very cool! Time for the tired crew to get some rest.