Fenns in El Salvador

We've been here 4 months! It's gone fast. We are just now seeing some above ground changes in our construction project! They are digging the footings for the temple! They are huge. The hole looks like an archeology dig since the workers "sculpt" the footings into perfectly square boxes. The footings are really deep (because we live in earthquake country-we've had three since we've arrived!) and there are little wooden handmade ladders going into each of them. The past 3 months we've watched only preconstruction work. It's fasinating how much work goes on under the ground for a project like this! Holes open, then they disappear. Since there was an urgency to complete the storm drainage system before the rains come in May, much of the work has consisted of ditches, pipes, manholes, drain boxes, and cisterns.
The most amazing thing has been the manholes because they are made by hand. In the States we buy them already made out of concrete and plunk them down where ever they are needed. The "posos" here are started with large rocks and built up in a circle around the mason with adobes. They use a string hanging down from the top for the center and off of it is a piece of metal for distance. So they use that to measure the circumference. They lay adobes around them and go up. After they are done they are plastered three times on the inside. They take many days to complete but when they are finished it is a work of art!!
Jim's Spanish is really great! He has a little notepad and writes down words he wants to remember. He is on the site every day and sometimes he has a hard time switching back to English! They work 6 days a week and often Sundays we are "showing" the site to a visitor. I generally go in the afternoons to take photos or after everyone goes home for the day.
My Spanish is improving. Slowly, but I understand a lot if the person isn't from the campo and using "slang", or if they say the whole word and not drop part of it. So far, it hasn't clicked and although I can form sentances in my head, it takes a long time and the moment is gone by the time I figure it out!! So thank goodness for Jim!!!
Our office is completed as of yesterday afternoon when they hooked up water to the bathroom. Jim even got me a toilet seat! I feel like a princess with a toilet seat, a sink and even toilet paper!
Jim's been painting our tables the carpenters made. We have some used desks and new chairs, a computer, a white board, refrig, micro and bottled water. We are living the good life!! Oh, and air conditioning if needed! And so it begins...to actually be seeing the construction of a temple!