Church makeover

Tuesday, 7-12-11

The old church in the canton of San Lorenzo is getting a makeover. The canton’s partnership in Iowa provided money to fix up their Catholic church. This morning Cecilia and Blanca suggested that we go to San Lorenzo to see what the progress was on the church. I didn’t have classes today because it was some sort of evaluation day. Sometimes I’m never fully aware of what’s going on at school or why we don’t have classes so I just go with the flow. And right now Kathy’s in Costa Rica because she has to leave the country every 90 days to renew her visa. So the ladies thought that the three of us could go and I could take pictures.

We’d planned to leave around 9:00am but some people from another canton came by needing something and we were delayed about an hour. It seems like there’s always someone here at house. We left at 10:00am. I thought we were walking to San Lorenzo (since Kathy’s not here to drive us) but then Blanca hailed a mototaxi. Those are the little red, car/motorcycles with three wheels that can haul a few passengers a short distance.

The mototaxi took us about half way to San Lorenzo and then we got off. It cost 50¢ per person and took us about 5 minutes to get there. From there we walked the rest of the way to the church. One of the members of the Directiva, Emma, had been walking to San Lorenzo as well so we walked together to the church. It took another 20 or 25 minutes to get to the church. The walk was uphill most of the way but it was overcast so I wasn’t completely dripping with sweat when we got there.

There were several guys working when we went inside the church. They were working on redoing the walls. I realize that’s not incredibly technical-sounding but that’s as much as I know. When it comes to home repair I am not the person you’d want to contact. Basically, what they were doing was chipping off the bad parts of the walls that are really old and crumbling. Once they’re done with that they’ll put cement on top of the wall, smooth it out, and paint it.

The people who are working on the church are from the canton of Corozal and recently finished building a new church in their community. They, unlike me, definitely know what they are doing and did a wonderful job on their own church. Thus, I’m sure the walls in the church in San Lorenzo will also be beautiful when they’re finished. We stayed inside the church for a while and chatted with the workers. Cecilia and Blanca talked to David to see if there was anything else the group needed for repairs. The ladies will be buying some things for them at the hardware store and he’ll pick them up Friday.

Before too long we were partly covered in a layer of dust from the walls. They’d finished talking and I had taken several pictures so it was time to head back home. We walked for a while and then made a quick stop at Emma’s house so I could see her guatusa, an agouti named Pepa. Then we continued on home. We’d crossed the halfway point when we saw the same mototaxi heading our way. So we caught another ride and drove back to the house.

I’d say it’s been a good day. I like getting to know the churches in the different communities. I saw the inside of the church in San Lorenzo for the first time about a month ago. Today I got to see it being repaired. I’m excited to see what the church looks like when they’re done. I’m sure it will look great!

Mototaxi

Inside of the church in San Lorenzo, photo taken on June 16

Walking along the road today to San Lorenzo 

I can see the church

Very beautiful

Inside of the church being repaired

Lots of dust and cement on the floor

All covered

There's David

That looks safe

Working away

He's got a lot done

Swingin' away

It looks totally different than 1 month ago

One of the kneelers

Team work

Looking good!

The tool they're using