Sunday 2-24-13

A day of Rest....and some sight seeing. This morning the team traveled 12 Km to the little town of Comarapa. While there we had the pleasure of walking the open market and surrounding buildings, where locals can purchase anything from clothing to meat and produce ( in one of the nicest produce markets, with the greatest selection and variety that I have seen just about anywhere) to prepared foods, house hold items and even cell phones! You could almost call it the Wal-Mart of the Andes. The team had a great time mingling with the local people, tasting new fruits indigenous to this region, and picking up a few souvenirs. We had beautiful ride back through the valley in the bed of the camps large stake body truck. Once back at camp a steak dinner was served for lunch (lunch is the largest meal of the day in Bolivia), a treat for all of us. To show our thanks to the kitchen staff for a wonderful Sunday dinner, a few of the guys on the team jumped in and did the dishes for the Bolivian ladies. Apparently we did such a good job they invited us back to do dishes for them anytime! After lunch some of the team members took a much earned nap, while others walked the grounds and still others checked email and read online versions of the Sunday paper. As the afternoon waned, a group of us lead by our host Tim Ramsey, hiked to the top of the white mountain "Monte Blanco" for which the camp is named. The ridge line ascends over 350 feet above the camps base elevation and affords views that were well worth the hike.

Comarapa

Butcher Shop

Produce Market

Center Cross Roads of the market

The guys do the dishes, nice apron Gene and Matt!

On the truck

Hi Mom, look at all the fruit!

Heading up White Mountain

View of camp Monte Blanco, center in valley, from top of white mountain

The gang on the ridge

Monte Blanco general store

Matt Wilson plays soccer with some boys in Comarapa 

Head Cook Choka teaches Steph a new stitch

As the afternoon came to an end and evening was upon us, dinner was served in the well lit dining hall. After dinner there was time for some reflection on our day of rest and then it was off to church. We only have 4 more work days ahead of us and there is still much to be done around camp. Please continue to pray for our continued success and safety as we enter week 2 of the project and thanks again for supporting us this far! Please also tell family and friends to look at this blog, as of this morning we have received over 2100 page views with a goal of 5000!