Tomorrow was indeed longer. We just finished a hard day of mixing mortar and concrete and laying blocks for the foundation. But that's the kind of exercise we needed after our voluminous meal last night; we visited an Argentinian steakhouse on the recommendation of another Casa Sito resident, Aaron. Luckily it was delicious, because we learned afterwards that Aaron had never actually been there. With a boardwalk dining area over a pool and with tuxedoed waiters, this restaurant takes my vote for the finest dining in Antigua. One thing we learned from this experience: you know a place is good when there is an armed guard with a sawed-off shotgun at the entrance.
Back to today: the family seemed very happy to see us. The smile on the 5-year-old boy's face reached ear to ear when we presented the family with a soccer ball (with a Clemson logo, of course), and everyone seemed very grateful to see lunch once again. So were we, by the time we had laid three rows of the concrete blocks.
It is still difficult to get by without having had Spanish language training, but we are all learning more as we go. Instead of just waving or saying an English goodbye, we all had our own "Buenos tardes" or "Hasta mañana" to say as we left. We skated down the steep path of loose gravel to wait for our ride back down the mountain, proud of making another step towards completing our project.
-Patrick Fuller
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