Queso Party!

Hola! Today we had breakfast at the hotel before heading out for our second day at the bateys. The weather looked promising and after being told that it "never rains two days in a row," we all opted to leave any rain gear back at the hotel. Lesson learned.

The same crew (Amos, Sarah, Jenny, Kayla and Senor) stayed at batey 106 to finish the latrine. They painted the roof, mixed cement and....sifted sand! After finishing that work, everyone was able to play with the kids who live in the batey. The girls got their hair braided (Amos and Senor declined) while Amos and Senor got to know the rest of the crew and the pigs. Back at the other batey, the dream team (p-unit (Andrew, Mack, Jake, Holly, Audrey, Liz, Jay and Brooke)) moved the cinder blocks that will serve as the wall for the latrine there. After finishing that job, we were asked to clear the area around latrine; this translated into moving a large pile of rocks. While the job itself was not especially exciting (unless you have a love for throwing rocks at other rocks), it was a highlight for many of us when different kids from the batey continued to join us in our task until we had a fairly sizable crew (pictures to follow). Rain ended the morning slightly early for both groups and we met up in the church for lunch.

After lunch, each group finished up small jobs at their respective bateys, but most of the afternoon was dedicated to giving out donations. We went to each home to hand out bags with toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap etc.; everyone was very appreciative. We spent the remainder of the afternoon playing with the kids and taking pictures together. At the end of the day, we all met up in the church again. Senor thanked the members of the crew on behalf of our group for their support throughout the week and we gave a small present to each one.

After that, we headed back to the hotel and had our last dinner together by the pool. Everyone's going to meet back down here at 8:00 for a dance party. Kayla, Mack and Sarah are looking forward to watching us all attempt to learn some new dance moves. After that will be the much anticipated "Queso Party (convivial celebration of cheese) and the boys plan to end the evening and start the next morning by watching The Patriot (Mel Gibson owning people), from 11:30:00 till 2ish.

Merry Cheesemas and a Happy Queso to all!

Amos and Brooke