El Salvador, Day 2

Day 2.
Today was our first day of actually, honest-to-god work. We woke up to the beautiful noise of a horn being blowed at 7 AM. We then rushed around trying to get ready, and then realized, ant 7:20, that we still have 40 minutes to enjoy ourselves. So I ate a breakfast of  peanut butter toast, and made myself and oh-so-healthy lunch of Nutella and Marshmallow Fluff and way to many Luna bars.
We then divided into our work groups:  some when to a local village (which sounds like “Sarasosa”, but I am pretty sure is spelled with a z) to construct a gaurdaria (or daycare center) and amuse some kids, others went to another local village to amuse small children and assist the local nurses, and my friends and I went with one of the leaders, Fiona, to a third village to help finish a house.
The house belongs to Don Miguel, one of the employees of the volunteer house. His house was destroyed by Hurricane Ida, which was probably a blessing. According to Sister Gloria, the coordinator of our trip, the old house was in shambles: one morning, Miguel’s mother woke up screaming--there were two rats in her bed.
So, a group of students from Villa Nova University has raised the funds to create Miguel and his family a new, and much improved house. The new house will have an inside toilet, strong walls and roofs, and all sorts of fun things.
Today, we were helping paint the house a beautiful turquoise blue. All of the houses here, though many are little more than wood and tarps, are bright and colorful. Miguel’s house seemed large, in comparison to the surrounding houses, but it could  have probably fit into a half of the first floor of my house. Hopefully, when it is not after lights one, I will be able to locate my camera in the dormitory and insert some pictures here.
Working with Miguel and his family was fantastic. Miguel is a jokester, and repetitively snuck up behind us and attempted to scare us (Of course, I jumped every time). His mother and step-father we wandering around, giving advise, warning us to stay away from the vicious rabbit, and keeping the large masses of chickens in check.
Here in El Salvador, there are both chickens and dogs everywhere in the small villages.    None of them are contained (or neutered) so the just spread all over everything.
At the worksite/house  there were also a number of children. Some of them were village children, and some of them were Miguel’s children and nieces and nephews (the language barrier kept me from actually figuring this out). We would take a half hour break from sawing, painting, and sanding to hang out with the village children. We made leis with them, and colored pictures. I had a lot of trouble communicating with them, but I got by with the three words that I could remember from Spanish class (Okay, it might have been 30). I was able to understand what they were saying most of the time, I just could never remember the right words to say back to them. It was still enjoyable, and they enjoyed my camera, and learning how to play tic-tac-toe, and singing german songs with Fiona.
There was one boy, Kevin, who I believe was related to Miguel in some way or another. He was wandering around when we arrived, and looked at us timidly for about 15 minutes when we arrived. He then quietly took a paint brush, and pretended to paint. Kat then asked him if he would like to paint with us, and he instantly turned into our little helper. He would gesture what needed to be done and climb up onto places where we couldn’t reach. He also knew all of the words to all of the songs on the spanish/american radio station we were listening to.
We worked from around nine in the morning until noon, when we braked for lunch. We then took an hour, ate lunch and chatted.
After lunch we returned to painting, and quickly realized that there wasn’t much left to paint. So, Miguel sized up our muscles, and choose me and Laura to saw metal pieces stuck out of the cinderblock walls.
It was really hard, and now have a new-found appreciation for power tools.
Half-way through our second or third peg, Miguel showed us a secret--he had a tool that would break the pegs, if we sawed more than half-way through it. His step-father, who only has one arm, then hovered about, making sure we were doing in correctly. He understood no english, and spoke spanish so complexly that I couldn’t understand what he said, but we were a happy little team.
After killing my self sawing those lovely little pegs, I climbed upon a rather sketchy ladder and finished painting.

We then left and came home, 6 people in a 5 person car (seat-belts aren’t really a big deal here) and showered. I then washed my own clothes on a pila (I think that is what it is called...) which is this complex sink-like thing, that really is just a basin and a stone shelf.
We then have dinner of rice and beans (damn being vegetarian) and played soccer and bonded and reflected and played pictionary and stayed up too late typing blog entries.

Wait, that last one was just me.

Sorry if the end is rushed and the grammar is bad, but I have to be up in 7 hours, and I think I am the last one awake and my battery has 5 minutes left...

Sophie