Our Last Day on the Construction Site (Friday)

compliments of Cicily Dennis...

The concrete, sand, or soil is cleaned off all of the shovels and trowels, the homemade strikers are clean and ready for another day, the plastic homemade trowels are in the trash. We are at rest after another very busy day.

The days will continue for the wonderful extended family of Maria who is deeply embedded in our hearts. They will continue making homemade and inventive solutions to construction needs while we return to our life at home forever changed.

Never again will we take things in our lives so much for granted. We are each blessed with so much.

Yesterday we had a full working day with no rain. 45 minutes after we arrived back at our hotel, the heavens dropped with a long heavy downpour and another during the night. We were secure in our rooms or the restaurant with no holes in the roof. We knew that Maria et al were dealing with dripping ceilings and muddy floors in all of their rooms!

This morning we discovered erosion in many areas and the sand that we needed to sift was water logged making that job and others so much more difficult. We dealt with the extra work that that meant for one day. They deal with issues like this everyday!

Sifting sand to remove the larger stones in order to 

make smoother concrete.

It was a bittersweet day as well. Because it was our final day, there was a wonderful celebration, formal ceremony of thanks, and very special Salvadoran foods. Delphina, Maria's daughter, was able to leave her job to be with us for the first time all week. It was special for her to see what she left last Sunday as flat ground and see her house taking shape.

The Family: the mother, brother, sister, and children of 

Delphina, the home owner on our last day of construction.

Many, many tears and a zillion hugs (or so it seemed!) as we bid "Adios!"