Well, we have been here a week.  It is hard to believe that just a little while ago we knew nothing of this place or what we would be doing here.  It has been a really good week.  I really love El Salvador.  It is an intriguing place.  Beautiful mountains and tropical vegetation contrasted with run down buildings and dusty roads.   When you are on the campus of the Hogar, as we usually are,  it is easy to forget the crowded streets and crumbling shacks.  The children here are certainly fortunate.

I have done many things this week and met many wonderful people.  I will give you a quick example of what a day had been like here.

5:00 AM - Alarm sounds, time to get up, dress, and study (I usually take my shower after work. A cold shower in the morning is a little to invigorating!)

6:00 - Breakfast.  We have decided to eat beans and rice for breakfast and make it one of the bigger meals of the day.  We actually have cornflake that we can get here, but we save them for supper!

7:00 - Work.  I am working with the maintenance guy this week, Leiva.  He is a lot of fun to work with and is really laid back.  Leiva, myself, the "mechanico" and Papi Hernandez (one of the house parents who is also the mason) have worship together to start off the day.  (often not until 7:15 or 7:30)  We sing a few songs and then Papi Hernandez talks about the Sabbath School lesson, neither of which I can understand yet.

After worship I have either been working with Leiva doing maintenance or with Papi Hernandez on a renovation.  While working with Leiva I have helped replace lights, fix leaky drains, replace a faucet, and a toilet seat, install a washing machine, fix window cranks, replace a window screen, and many other things that I don’t' remember.

Working with Papi Hernandez is a bit more intense.  We are remodeling a wing of one of the houses and making two bedrooms into one apartment.  We had to dig a 15 foot trench in a concrete floor for a drain pipe, and today we just finished making a hole in a  concrete wall for doorway!  It has been quite a workout!  I couldn't believe it when he asked me to make a hole in the wall with just a little sledge hammer.   But we did it. And only 5 blisters to show for it!

12:00 - Lunchtime

1:00 - Back to work

4:00 - Work is over.  I am usually really dirty and tired by this time.  I head home for a cold shower, which feels good after being in the sun and sweating a bunch.

During the evenings we go out and mingle with the kids on campus.  Play soccer, push swings, etc.  Today I learned to play marbles. 

For supper we either come back to our house, or sometimes eat with the kids in theirs if we get invited.  There are seven homes here, each with a set of parents and an "aunt". Each house has from 6 to 20 kids and each family eats together.  We have eaten at two different houses already and are supposed to join another family tomorrow.

After supper we may mingle a little more and work on our Spanish, or work on things around the house.

9:30 head for bed!

Well that's the basic Idea of a weekday.  We have also been to several church meetings.  I am working with the praise band on Friday nights.  We have met many wonderful people and I hope to tell you more about them in the future.

There is much more I could say right now, but I think I will save some for next time. 

Adios!