Wednesday, January 14; El Encanto de San Antonio

 I begin this blog noting the irony that many of us were complaining of slow WiFi speed tonight when we returned back to the mission house.  😱. We began the day w/ an hour ride up and down thru some incredible mountains on roads that I have never traveled before.  The community while very rural was quite large and high up the mountain. Our crew hiked 20 minutes up the mountain to the first house where we would pour a floor. Imagine my surprise as I met 'la señora' and she was wearing  a tee shirt that said Deep Run East - Push the Rock 2013. Of course I told her this team was from DRE and took her picture. We had incredible help from all the home owners today. But what made them all wonder if we were crazy was when they pulled out a garden hose to fill our water buckets. We went crazy with excitement as it made filling buckets much easier as well as cleanup of the tools.  The water came from a spring high up the mountains and there was very good water pressure and it was crystal clear.  If there was ever a temptation to drink the water this was it - but nobody succumbed to temptation. 😀. We had a second surprise when the water hose followed us to the second and third houses. As we moved from house #2 to house #3, we took a shortcut thru a cornfield. I grew up among cornfields, but I have never seen a cornfield so steep in my life - almost vertical. There was a large rock at the top of the field and we persuaded our Honduran friends to take our picture standing on a rock in a cornfield! After we finished house #3, John, Big Dave, and two Hondurans took a 20-30 minute hike downhill to a waterfall. They showed us pictures and talked of sitting behind the waterfall.  We all continue to marvel at both the beauty and the poverty in this place.  I must also mention the compassion and caring of Joe who walked down a steep hill to bring lunch to our crew.  Of course he had to walk back up that hill. 😣👏 The clinic saw a large number of people today. Families were large (9 & 11 children at two of the houses we did) and children were plentiful. When I asked an older gentleman how many grandchildren he had, he laughed and said 'over 100'.  The medical crew ran out of micronutrients, shoes, tools, and donations. The creativity of the team was evident as a nebulizer was made for children using a Gatorade bottle.
Tim for the team.