New Home Construction!

This week has been a lot of fun! We started building on to our new home at km 8. I think we’ll be moving there next week after the clinics. We’re going to start a clinic on Sunday that will go through until Friday. Once we move to km 8, Rachel and Stephanie will be assisting a lady doctor run a daily clinic and I am going to be working at the local school teaching music and English. On Monday we went to Km 8 and cleaned out the rooms because the property there hasn’t been used since last year, so it was a little dusty to say the least. The chicos have been working hard all week to repair the bathroom, construct a shower, and build three consultorio rooms for the doctor lady. On Tuesday, poor Rachel was sick from a bad mango, so just Steph and I went to help the boys. They were building the frames for the rooms and they gave Steph and I the job of cutting the wood planks for the walls. Using a hand saw we cut over 90 pieces of wood! My arms were a little sore at the end of the day, but it felt so good to just work hard and accomplish something! For lunch that day we tried something new, it was called “Lomo”, which consists of tomatoes, onions, carne de res, and potatoes and served with rice. It was amazing! The soup we had to go along with the meal was interesting, we found out later after we were almost done eating it that the meat in the soup was horse meat. Haha. The things you eat in Peru… I tasted it, and I didn’t like it, so I didn’t eat the rest of it. I think the reason the horse meat tasted funky is because it has a lot more fat on it then other meats. Lol. By the end of the day we had completed the front walls for two of the rooms and a door, and the boys had finished clearing the tall grass and such from the property. Yesterday, Wednesday, Rachel was feeling better so we all three went to the km 8 property. The day started out slow, but we helped Lucho finish the shower and Rachel helped Daniel finish the 3rd front wall. After lunch, we had a lot more work because they bought more wood and nails, so we constructed four more doors and the two walls that go in between the three rooms. It was fun because the boys actually let us nail the boards into the frame for the wall and for the doors. The wood here is so much harder than wood at home! I don’t know what kind of tree it comes from, but even the locals sometimes have a hard time with it. Let’s just say it always took me a while to get a nail to go in straight. Today, we’re not going out there because the medicines in the pharmacy need to be inventoried for the clinic Sunday. Right now, though, we don’t have money for the meds, but it will all work out. Speaking of money, when I came to Peru at the end of August, I was short just over $1,000 for my fundraising goal. I found out this week that it has all been paid in full! Praise God that it’s all paid! My parents were going to have to come up with the difference and now I’m a couple hundred dollars over what I needed to raise.  Thank you so much! Well, until next time! I think I’m going to make Locro for supper tonight and do some cleaning. Chau!