Dia Siete,

 

Today is the final day in the mission area.  We stopped at Plaza Vea and bought 6 plastic bins and loaded them with groceries and household supplies.  A bin of supplies will be given to each family receiving a new house.  When we arrived at the mission area, the Peruvians had already carried the panels up the hill and assembled them.  We proceded to send the sand up a sand line.  The live worked so fast, we couldn{t get the bags to the bottom fast enough to fill them again.  Finally the sand was up the hill and the contrete team began. 

 

We then proceded to bless 2 preschools (built before we got there) and the 6 houses we built.  Our family represented the Foundation in blessing one of the preschools.  The recepients of the houses cried tears of joy each time.  Finally there was the celebration to end the week.  In addition to our team, about 300 Peruvains were at the celebration, which was on a concrete soccer field.  There was food (chicken and rice, of course), music, dancing, and the younger kids played ball.  Finally we went to the loading are for the bus.  It was an emotional time with many tears.  We eventually said our final goodbyes and loaded the bus.

 

Climatically, it was an interesting day.  It was misting when we awoke.  To the residents of Lima, this was a hard rain (they get less than 2 inches of rain annually).  At the mission site, it was much hazier than usual.  Normally, the sun burns through the haze by noon and although not sunny, you can tell the sun is in the sky.  Friday we never saw the sun or anything close to it.  As the day went on it was heavier and heavier fog cover, barely even light.

 

Saturday will be a rest and recretation day in Lima.  We will sight see and shop.  It is also Peruvian independence day so we might see some of that celebration.

 

It was a very uplifting and rewarding week at the mission.  I do however look forward to returning home.

Dia Seis,

 

Today we stopped at a building at the base of the mission we the mission is able to stor bags of clothing and other items.  This building is brick and completed to one level although it has steps and rebar sticking out of the top to accommodate a second story.  The building is available to the Association to purchase.  It would be used for a medical clinic and other services (legal, et cetera) for the communities of Project Hope (about 10,000 people).  The second level, once built could serve as a dormitory that could be used by people coming to help at the mission.  The building has water, electricity, and indoor plumbing.  The Association is currently trying to determine if the building is a good deal at the current price.  Then it will have to raise the money to purchase.  It is exciting because the mission would then be able to provide infiniately more service to the people in the area.

 

We then we to the current community and built the 5th house of the week.  Sand had to be transported further for this house.  Coronado, the Peruvian carpenter had 2 Peruvian helpers and wanted 2 more.  I was excited to be one of the 2 he hand picked to help with construction.  I have worked on a lot of houses and know 2 things about Coronado.  #1, he has a way he likes to build the houses, and #2, I always know what is next and anticipate his needs.  I know when a saw is needed.  I know how he likes the tin roof section handed up.  The house was assembled very quickly.  In the afternoon, I helped carry sand and water.  This house was also of high enough elevation that water by hose won{t reach it.

 

We finished our next to last day.  Tomorrow is out last day in the community and we will build one more house.  It will be a very emotional day because the people and especially the children will be very sad to see us leave.  We too, will be sad to leave them.  But we won{t be saying adios (Spanish for goodbye).  To them, it is perminent.  We will say chau (Spanish for see you later).  If you say adios, they either don{t know what it means or they don{t acknowledge it because they would rather not know.

 

By the way, I will post pictures when I return.  I forgot my download cable for the camera and the computers I have access to don{t accept the camera cards.  I have taken about 300 pictures so far.

 

More to follow.

Dia Cinco,

 

Today was much like yesterday except we only built one house.  This one was a bit higher and harder to get to.  We had to run the sand line twice, first to get it half way there and again to get it the rest of the way.  We also had to carry water up.

 

On the ride to the mission area, we wound up wedged between 2 busses with about an inch to spare on each side.  They folded all of the outside rearview mirrors in and the bus on the right inched closer to the curb and we made it through.  Again we had a few near misses.

 

We spent a lot of our spare time playing with the kids.  200-300 kids come to join us each day.  It is really neat seeing the same kids as they grow up from year to year.

 

More tomorrow.

 

 

Dia cuatro,

 

Today started much like yesterday.  We did however, nearly get into an accident on the way to the worksite.  A taxi tried to overtake our bus as our driver was beginning a right turn.  From our vantage point, the vehicles looked incredibly close to the point I couldn{t believe we didn{t collide.  The respective drivers shared some horn honking and jesturing and each went on their own way.  Folks seem so used to this as a way of life, road rage here is commonl but usually short lived.  As soon as you encounter one obnoxious driver, there are 6 more to take his place.

 

Today, our goal is to build 2 houses.  Neither is more than 150 feet from the road and the path was wide and had steps that were not tremendously steep.  One house was too high for water to reach by hose.  The pressure is only enough to reach about 1/3 of the way up the mountain.  So we had to pass sand and water.  I worked closely with Coronado, the maestro (carpenter) today.  He recognized me from previous years.

 

The second house today was special because it was for Marcos{ family.  Marcos is a now 20ish year old young man who has been one of the most prolific youth ever since I started.  While all of us from the US carefully picked each step and slowly went up and down the hill, Marcos ran up and down like a mountain goat.  Marcos likes to tiptoe behind you and tap you on the far shoulder so when you look the way you were tapped, he is on the opposite side.

 

Marcos step father recently died leaving his mother a widow.  He also has a moderately disabled sister and another brother.  He had moved out on his own in the same community a few years ago but was no back with his mother to help her.  It is always special to build a house for families of those we are so close to.

 

With completed Marcos{ families house and returned to the hotel.  Tonight was pizza night.  We had Pizza Hut pizza at the home of one of the major Lima supporters.  Her place was on the 9th floor of a building and had a panoramic view of town.  Because we got back late and the kids were tired, we skipped the gelatoria tonight and crashed back at the hotel.

Dia Tres,

 

We awoke this morning and enjoyed the buffet at the hotel.  Then we boarded the bus for the mission area.  All of the past years we have used the same bus and drivers.  Unfortunately, that bus is designed for about 20 passengers and this year we have close to 40.  A larger bus was selected and everyone fit on fine.  The ride is about 45 minutes to the mission.  The Monday morning Lima traffic was totally insane.  Vehicles were everywhere.  Lane markings and street signs are merely suggestions.  Traffic patterns are determined by who is biggest, loudest, and most aggressive.  It is quite an experience.

 

At the mission, Project Hope, we were welcomed with open arms.  We knew many of the people from past trips.  There was a welcome ceremony and the recipients of the houses were introduced.  After the welcome, we started the first house.  Panels, tin, lumber, and concrete were carried to the work site.  In the afternoon, we had a bucket brigade to get sand to the house.  This house wasn{t far from the road, so it was pretty easy.  The work load on the first day was relatively light.  Their teens and our teens played soccer.  Later we got out an assortment of other balls and played with their children.  One of the balls was a beach ball about 4 ft in diameter.  The children (and a few grownups) had fun with it.

 

We left the worksite and returned to the hotel to get ready for supper.  We ate at La Granga del Abuela.  I think it translates to my grandfather{s range.  It was broiled chicken with fries and was very good.  We visited the gelateria once more and retired for the night.

 

More to follow.

After settling in at the hotel, we walked a couple of blocks to Wongs.  Wongs is a supermarker chain in Lima.  We picked up enough bottled water for the first few days.  Then we returned for a meeting with the trip organizers.  Piero, Magali, and the rest of their family (plus a friend) were already in Lima and met us.  It is the largest trip I have been a part of.  There are 32 total from the US.  We are joined by the Peruvian contingent.  Everyone was introduced and we got a briefing of the week to come.  We will build 6 houses instead of the usual 5.  We will be working primarily in a community higher on the hill than Primero de Mayo where I worked on the first trip 4 years ago.  After the meeting we left for the Indian Market for a short trip.  We had supper at Pasquales.  On the way back, some of the group stopped at Wongs.  We got off the bus at Wongs and walked to a familiar ice cream shop (Gelateria) a block away with another family on the trip.  The ice cream was very good.  Then we returned to the hotel early to get a good nights sleep since sleeping on an airplane isn{t quite the same. 

Day Uno,

 

Traveling from continent to continent is always an adventure.  Our team assembled at the Pensacola Airport at the designated time.  We left Pensacola with 26 folks.  Some of them we knew before the trip but most we had only met at the pretrip meetings.  I missed one of the meetings due to a cancelled business flight home from Dallas a month and a half ago (which is a story unto itself) so I had only met them once.  Several of the team are youth.  Everyone was very nice.  We caught a lot of attention in the airport because we had on matching Love for Peru foundation shirts.  We arrived at the departure gate ahead of most of the other travelers out of Pensacola.  One of the first of the other travelers to arrive glanced around and took all of our group in then looked at his own non-matching shirt.  Shortly the rest of the passengers arrived and he did not seem so different.  The flight to Atlanta was completely full but it left on time and arrived uneventfully.  We actually arrived 20 minutes early in Atlanta but lost 15 of the early minutes due to a bottle neck from construction at the arrival gate.

 

Once in the Atlanta airport, we went to meet a young lady from south Florida who had made this trip with our group each of the three previous years.  We surprized her by being at her arrival gate when she deplaned.  Then we headed to the departure gate on Concourse E.  We had a couple of extra hours so we ate ate the food court.  We were at the departure gate well ahead of time.  Time to start boading had come and gone.  A plane was at the gate but the jetway had not been moved to it.  Finally there was an announcement that there was an electrical problem with the jetway and we were moved to another gate.  It was a moderate hike but the new gate was also in Concourse E.  We eventually lef an hour late.

 

Day dos

 

We flew through the night and arrived at Lima in the wee hours of the morning.  We arrived about 45 minutes late.  Usually we are on a flight arrived about midnight when a lot of other international flights arrive and immigration has an hour or more wait.  This morning we were the only arrival at this time and moved quickly through.  There was a considerable wait and much confusion getting our baggage.  Our group of 27 had over 50 total bags.  We eventually found all but one.  The missing bag was supplies and not anyones personal belongings so we moved on.

 

Luis, Alphonso, and Joel greated us as we emerged from the airport.  We traveled to our hotel in the San Isidro district.  The morning traffic was wild like Lima always is but certainly not like weekday traffic when there is 3 times as much.  We are in a different hotel this year.  It is exceptionally nice for this type of trip.  Apparently they gave us quite a bargain.

 

More to follow.