We are now back in Patacancha full time, hard at work on our projects. We returned to Patacancha on Sunday to get a head start on the week´s work. The painting crew jumped right into efforts to finish the mural and the building crew got a feel for the work that needed to be done this week.
After a few days in the city of Cusco, it was great to be back in the mountains. The local kids were happy to have us back as well! As soon as our bus pulled up, we were greeted by our welcoming commitee all over again, only this time they knew our names. They were yelling "Sarita, Madison, Katie, David!" and begging us to come play with them.
Just two days later, we have made tremendous progress. We finished the mural (hooray!) and tomorrow we are starting a new one designed by our own Michelle. Although the school´s paint job is in good condition, it lacks any bright colors, so these murals are an excellent addition- and many of the elementary kids have told us so!
The construction project is making great progress as well. The classroom now has a roof! Today, we finished leveling the ground of the classroom, a job that required the muscle and efforts of everyone in the group. Tomorrow we will start mixing the adobe that will be used to coat the walls and to support the floor boards. With the help of our three local construction maestros - Juan, Narcisso, and Ignacio - we should make great strides towards finishing the project by the end of the week.
We also celebrated a birthday in Patacancha this week! Sam turned 16 on Monday and we celebrated with a fantastic chocolate cake followed by a 2 hour game of yoga ball soccer! The kids in Patacancha had never seen a yoga ball before and they were enthralled. We had at least 30 elementary school kids running around the soccer field with us, laughing and having a blast. We ended Sam´s birthday around a bonfire with a few of our local friends.
We only have four days left in Patacancha and we have much left to do!
Saludos,
Hannah and Yaser
