the little bug expedition - day four (pam)

We boarded the bus for El Bichito (the drop-in center) on another sunny, glorious morning. When we got there, some of our Peruvian friends were already hard at work preparing the ceilings and walls for cement. Yesterday, the Peruvian electrician chipped away at the brick walls to insert the PVC that will encase the electrical wiring.

I think it was Feliciana that wanted more inner building windows, so, today, some of our group tried their hand at chipping away the bricks with a chisel and hammer. The young people prepared the cement for the ceilings and walls in the room where the work was to be done. They did it the old fashioned way -- on the floor with a shovel.

In the another room, our Peruvian friends were literally balancing on a very shaky scaffolding system in order to prepare the ceiling. I don't think any American would have gotten up their with them. Downstairs, in the large room where the children are fed, some of our group were removing mold off the walls and repainting. They did a super job. Everyone was working so hard.

I took a lot of photographs, but not long after we arrived at El Bichito, I felt overwhelmingly weak. I also had a bad headache. I could tell that it was the onset of altitude sickness, and I could tell that I was not going to be good for anyone today, so Wayne accompanied me on the bus back to the hotel.. I slept all afternoon. I'm feeling a little better now. I mostly feel bad about feeling useless. I also missed not interacting with the children. I was going to do a little origami with them today, but I didn't have enough brain power to figure out how to fold the paper. Terrible!

The rest did me good, because I was able to go out for Pizza with Wayne and about half of the group. No, the pizza tastes nothing like the pizza we're used to. We have a great group -- people from many walks of life coming together to create a little good in the world. Too bad some have to get sick. We've got two down right now -- one with altitude sickness, and one with traveler's diarrhea. Not good.

So, for those of you who live in the cold, I have to tell you that the high in Cajamarca today was 71 degrees F. The low tonight will be 46 degrees F. I think this will be the temperature of the Heavens. What do you think? Tomorrow I want to tell you all about Cajamarca. Meanwhile, "nicht th'noo"! Pam