Tuesday

Just q quick update as we are due to take medical supplies and get a tour of the hospital in Punta Gorda at 5:30.

The construction crew finally got to do some  construction today! The supplies they ordered yesterday arrived by truck in Otoxha right after lunch and they already have two sides of the library finished.

The teaching group at Otoxha worked on dictionary skills and started on the pen pal letters. Denise worked with the littlest students forming letters and words from PlayDoh.  This was interesting to say the least, and an exercise in patience. Their next activity involved tossing a beach ball around, lots of fun for sure.  During morning recess we busted a move teaching the kids the Cupid Shuffle!  We hope tomorrow the kids will spend more time dancing and less time laughing at our sweet moves.  The highlight for the whole group at Otoxha was not one,but two homemade lunches! First we were treated to Caldo (a soup), made with gibnut meat.  A gibnut is a delicacy here, it looks like a giant gineau pig!  Apparently the father in the family shot two last night while out hunting. We had homemade tortillas to go with it. Then at the second house we were treated to tortillas stuffed with beans and steamed in a banana leaf, yummy.

In Corazon Creek the students also worked on dictionary skills and map skills. They made Fruit Loop necklaces today.  They were also served Caldo for lunch in a home, but their version had casava in it.  

In San Lucas they finished the PenPal letters and played math games with dice.  While the older students were studying insects, the younger students recited poems about insects to them. The older kids loved making their coffee filter butterflies.  They did a lot of singing today,which the children loved.  The teachers here were treated to casava for lunch.  Casava grows underground and tastes like a potato.  They got to taste two versions, one of which was sweetened. They brought some back to the retreat center for the rest of us to taste.  We loved it.

Ann worked on the plans for the trip next June and was able to schedule visits to some schools up north that will not involve crossing a river!  After all of the flooding last year she doesn't want to take a chance on not being able to get to a village because of high water.  Ann was able to purchase a keyboard for the new Catholic church in Corazon.

Rainy and cooler here today, but we are not complaining!  More tomorrow, stay warm!