Tuesday

I thought I would have a moment of silence. But not happening. All of the kids went to the pool, but by the time I got on the computer...they're back. So this probably won't be to coherent.

And I am not in a bad mood...just because someone used my towel as a bathmat. May you all have 25 teen-age boys live with you for a week just once in your lives...it will keep you out of purgatory. They really are being great...just boys. We get their rooms cleaned, but it lasts only until they go in there the next time. And replace a roll of toliet paper...unheard of!

The work at the church went really well yesterday. They boys jumped in with both feet and worked really hard...so much so they out-paced the supplies. So they finished about one in the afternoon. It was getting too hot to work by that time anyway. They went to the pool after that. So they were all happy.

Yesterday afternoon the Fraternities had a game day...basketball and volleyball type of stuff. They had a great time and really mingled with everyone. We found most of them when Sofia's parents (who is in Jefferson City) invited us to their favorite taco stand...the boys were down the street at one of the city's most popular hot dog stands. The hot dogs here are all about condiments...fried pork, chorizo, bacon, beans, guacamole, three or four kinds of salsa, raw onions, cooked onions. One looked really good: a banana pepper stuffed with cheese and a hot dog and then wrapped in bacon.

Today we went back to work at the chapel after Mass and a fine breakfast of scrambled eggs with salchichas (hotdogs), re-fried beans and tortillas. The neighborhood is called Los Angeles and is just being developed. It is mainly low-income govenment housing. The chapel is Divino Niño Jesus: Divine Child, Jesus. The mother parish is Nuestra Señora del Rosario: our Lady of the Rosary. Eventually, a church will be built on the property.

Today the boys finished stretching the fence, used the irrigation trench they dug yesterday, washed, white-washed and began to paint the interior walls, sloped the front of the church where the steps will be build and cleared what I thought was just vacant property...which was really a side-walk that had been buried under debris. We should finish there tomorrow. Mr. Aur and I are meeting with some people this afternoon to look for some other experiences. I will let you know how that goes in tomorrow's blog.

While we were there some guy stopped to ask who we were and what we were doing. He left and showed up a bit later with his overtly reluctent son to help us, left again and came back later with tools and two of his son's friends. By the time we left we were also joined by another family who lived in the area. So that was really cool. Good will is contagious. Hopefully the boys will remember that.

Last night the boys were dropped off by even a greater number of girls, imagine that. We invited them to come and have night prayer with us, which they did. It was really nice. I think that will be a tradition.

Today for lunch, Ricardo's parents invited us to lunch. So our big yellow school bus pulled into a small quiet sub-division and hot smelly boys piled out. I think that was a get out of purgatory free card also! They had beef tacos and beans. The real treat was ice-cream cones for desert. They are leaving for mission tomorrow. I can't believe they took the time to feed us. When we left they were going to go set up a tent to sleep in.

Thursday night the Brothers have invited all of us over to their house for dinner. I hope they know what they are in for. Brother Rodrigo continues to spoil us. He will not take any money for the bus. Half-way through the morning one of the school workers shows up with soda and a cooler of ice for us, again Rodrigo. When we got back to the house, there were 10 cases of bottled water stacked in the kitchen. The many kindnesses just don't stop.

I am posting photos now. So check flickr.