Day 6

   It sure felt good this morning as we stepped again into our routine of waking, eating breakfast with the host family, and walking to the school.  The host families go through extensive training to prepare for groups to stay with them, which means they know how to make an "American" breakfast.  Several of the kids had scrambled eggs and toast, while others had banana pancakes; it was a good morning.  As they make their way to the school, each pair of kids meets up with another. Will and Carver and Maddie and Skylar live on the opposite side of town from the school and from where Angela, Susan, and I are staying.  As they walk, they pick one another up and by the time they get to the "corner" where we meet each morning the group is intact.  It is a great scene to see the kids functioning so well as a group. 
   Our day was busy, but simple.  When we got to the school we learned that today we need to finish the mural, finish digging holes for the play structure, and get the timber for the play structure.  Picture this: we divided into three groups and tried to figure out how to carry a 6 meter long piece of timber through town to the school.  It was a funny site as we tried to figure out how to arrange ourselves and work as a team, but this impromptu team building activity ended up as a huge success.  Many different strategies were employed, but by the end we successfully delivered the freshly cut timber to the school.  The rest of the afternoon was spent stripping bark and sanding.  We certainly gained a new appreciation for the clean timber we can buy at Home Depot!  The day ended with 2 of the 3 logs cleaned, cut and ready to install, and tomorrow morning we will finish the other.  John and I tried hard to figure out how long each piece needed to be; fortunately I had a calculator and he had a working knowledge of trigonometry, so together we figured out where to cut the logs. Truth be told, I never would have figured it out without his help.  Tomorrow we will erect the two triangles that make a base for the play structure.  The mural is near complete, and the director of the school liked our work so much that she wants us to paint more tomorrow. 
  Today we learned that the road to the hot springs is under construction and it is closed from 6 am to 6 pm.  That changed our plans a little bit for the next couple of days - in a good way.  After working on our project in the morning, we all will go to the host families for lunch and to pack for the overnight.  We bagged the hike, and decided to take a bus straight to the hotsprings. We will depart Ollantay tomorrow at about 3 pm. We will arrive for dinner, take a dip in the hot springs and then get some sleep.  We will be camping in tents, but they have facilities so we will have some creature comforts.  Saturday will be filled with hiking and more hot springs. The kids are really looking forward to hanging out as a group and swimming! 

  There will be no blog post tomorrow night, and I will try to get one off before we leave.  No promises that this will actually happen. The kids continue to live life to the fullest here in Peru.  When we are together they are singing songs, telling stories, and constantly making one another laugh.  It is as good as it sounds.  Time is flying and while tomorrow is the half-way mark, we really are on the downhill slide of the trip.  We sometimes sit around and talk about our favorite Denver restaurants or spots and plan our homecoming meals.  There is a healthy balance of loving our time here and excited about going home!