Crafts, Kids, and Clinics.

Hello all, this is Rob Herring here.  Yesterday morning, I along with Matt, Katherine B, Steele, McCall, and Rachel made traditional baskets. We divided the EHS group in to four smaller groups and yesterday morning was our turn.  It was a very humbling experience!  What our instructors, Sergio and Pancho, could do in 30 minutes took us over 3 hours.  With their expert help, everyone was able to complete a basket so we should all be bringing home some great presents!  The rain continues here and I have learned that it has rained like this only twice in the last 30 years.  Our work outside has been somewhat limited but the relationships formed from the time spent in the classroom are growing stronger as we continue to work with the kids in their classes. 

Unfortunately, yesterday also saw several students fall ill.  Most are feeling better today but one student unfortunately had to be taken to the hospital in Cusco for further observation for an illness that has worsened.  Our guides, Susan and Jorge, as well as our local contact, Adela, have been a huge help with this.  They are true professionals whose first interest lies in the well being of our students. We could not have more responsible and caring people looking after us!

As we near the halfway point, our thoughts are with our friends in Cusco, but we remain in good spirits.  Hopefully the rain will break soon!
Adios, Rob
P.S. A special hello to my wife Sarah and 7 month old son Robert at home.  Love you guys!

Hey guys, this is Cayce Sweat. Even though the rain continues, it is hard to not be in a positive mood. The children in Piscacucho are always smiling and wanting to play no matter how cold or rainy it is. The mood of the children is very contagious to everyone on this trip. Yesterday, we were hoping to do some planting at the school. Unfortunately the rain prevented this, but we came up with a great alternate plan. Many of us spent the morning in the classrooms with the children. Hannah Cooper, Katherine Cochrane, and I were in a classroom together. We helped the children with their english in areas such as colors and counting. It took some time, but the children were determined to learn and they worked very hard. At the end of our time with them, we took turns singing our favorite songs to the class. As soon as the teacher said it was time for break, we found ourselves splashing around outside with the children. Even though it can be hard to understand the children in the classroom, there is definitely no language barrier when they want to play.

Unfortunately, this is all I have to blog about our day in Piscaucho. I do know that for the second half of the day, students were told to stay in their houses so they would not get sick from the rain. My second half of the day was spent on an adventure to the clinic in town. It was just for a spider bite, but we wanted to make sure that it was nothing too serious. We ended up staying at the clinic so late, that we stayed the night in town. But, on the bright side, we got to take showers!

Although the showers were great, we are looking forward to seeing our families later today!
Adios, Cayce
P.S. Hi Mom, and hi to the Raby family!