Christmas in Portland, Friday to Wednesday, Dec. 21 - 26, 2018

Patty and I flew to Portland Friday afternoon.  Ben was still at work when Martha picked us up at the airport.  We got to their home and got settled in our rooms.  Saturday, we all went to Planet Granite and Patty and I had lessons in belaying and climbing - that included climbing part way up the rock climbing wall (but not very far).  After the hour long lesson, we watched Ben and Martha scamper up the various walls - Ben's long limbs made it look easy, but Martha was just as quick and agile, maybe even more so.

Saturday morning, Ben and Patty shopped at The Meadow, a gourmet grocery store, to get some goodies for the planned meals on Christmas eve and day.  Saturday evening, the four of us went to Curious Comedy Showdown for a couple of hours of improvisation - quite fun and interesting, including popcorn and drinks.

Sunday afternoon, we went to Escape Games PDX for an hour of Sherlock's Secret Escape room - an hour of dozens of puzzles and enigmas to solve to get out of the room.  It was a team effort and we just made it after being given a few hints and a short extension of time.  We then went to the main Powell's Book Store for a couple of hours before going to the Living Room Theater for dinner while watching the movie "Shoplifters."

Monday morning, I went out for a walk that included a stretch along one of the roads where the Trimet trains run.  I was amazed at the amount of new construction of large multifamily apartment/condo complexes.

On a prior trip, the four of us had dinner Patton Maryland - now there is a large brown, four story complex just to the south and a large green, five story complex just to the north.

As I continued north, there was another huge complex that required two photos to get it all.

And some of the local artwork reminded me that I was back in Portland.

As I went south, I passed the Polish Library Association and St. Stanislaus Polish Catholic Church, both of which brought back warm memories of my November trip to Warsaw and Lipowy Most with Angloville.

Christmas eve, the four of us went out for a walk to see the Christmas lights different people had out.  Many were pleasant, a few overdone and one just done wrong - there are no penguins at the north pole.  I sent this photo to Megan and she got a chuckle out of it.

Ben and Martha had their living room decorated for Christmas.

We had fun opening gifts Christmas morning.

Ben and Martha gave Patty a couple of framed photos of Mr. Shadow.

We had much good food to eat at Christmas brunch - thank you Martha!!

Christmas afternoon, Ben took me to Swan Island, where he and Mr. Stowe went for a run.  He had wanted me to learn about "The Captain's Walk" and the history of Swan Island.

After checking out the two trails and signage, I then walked back to the house.  I passed by the headquarters for Daimler Trucks North America - a beautiful campus with nice gardens even this late in the year.

On a walk during the daylight, Ben took Patty and me on a loop that crossed over I-5 and that took us by the Statue of Liberty - it was not lit up when we went by after dark, so we had to come back in the daylight to get a photo.

One of our gifts to Martha was to join me in a build with the Fuller Center in Puerto Rico.  We booked flights and hotel, and registered for the build.  While at Powells, I got Jose Andres' book and read it over the weekend, then left it and a guide to Puerto Rico for Martha to help plan the three days we will spend in San Juan before going on the build.

On Wednesday, we packed up and Ben and Martha brought us to the airport around 5:00.  While we zipped through TSA, Patty had me take a photo of her with this store display which we then sent to others joking about the line being so slow I nearly died.

We got home a little before midnight after a wonderful week in Portland.  Thank you Ben and Martha for a wonderful Christmas.

In Peru with Fuller Center Part III, Thu. - Sat., Dec 13-15, 2018

On Thursday morning, Al, Brian, Nancy and I mixed the cement, gravel and water, and then brought the concrete mix into Maestro Augusto #1 to spread out and smooth.  We finished around 11:00.

Also at the roof house at the same time, Zollie, Ted, Katherine and Jay finished the triangular end of the back side of the roof house.

I walked to the brick house and it was so crowded that it was difficult to find a place to fit in.  So I left a little early for lunch and walked by this small day care center a block away from the brick house.

I went back by the roof house to see Augusto smoothing out the concrete we had just put in and the other team finishing up the back triangle of wall.

On my walk to lunch, I walked around the La Florida's central plaza and went by the government run day care center Cuna Mas, the pre-school Ugel No. 8 Cañete and the public grades 1 - 12 school named Jorge Chavez Darnell.

I continued down the street that is behind the Fuller Center office to the canal that brings water from an underground river - without the water, there would be no La Florida.

I came around to the main street and saw a hotel, but there were no signs of life there.

After lunch, Jay and I walked to the canal and down to what appeared to be a park area and which we found later was two swimming pools that do not function.

Oops - please excuse my fat finger!

Back at the brick house after lunch, the walls continued upward, with some finished, some still in progress and some not yet started.

Nancy took this great photo of Brian and me, two old guys, dirty and tired, but having the time of our lives, whether it be mixing gravel with water and cement or delivering the sand we had mixed with cement to be used with water as the mortar to hold bricks in place.  We just had fun.

After a busy afternoon, it was back to our hotel.  After dinner and our team meeting, I was beat and did not go out for an after dinner walk as on previous days.  Friday morning on the way to breakfast, I enjoyed the flower gardens along the street in the strip between the street and the sidewalk - many were barren, but many homeowners took pride in the appearance of their homes from the street side.

We had been told that Millard Fuller, the founder of both Habitat for Humanity and the Fuller Center for Housing, had been recognized in La Florida.  And we found that there was a plaque near the non-functioning swimming pools by the canal - and it points out that the dirt street is named Boulevard Millard Fuller.

Friday afternoon we worked at the brick house until 3:00.  My job was to mix the sand and cement in a ratio of eight buckets of sand and one 42.5 kilogram back of cement, and then deliver buckets of it and buckets of water to those laying bricks.  Augusto #2 (the son of Augusto #1) gave me the new name of "Ocho y uno Tom."

A quick check of the roof house showed that the back triangle was finished and that the floor was curing and would be ready for Saturday.

At three, Xenon took us on a bus ride to see the Inca Highway, the Incahuasi Ruins, the touristy town of Lunahuana and most importantly to the Zapata family's pisco distillery - we all had samples and many of us bought some pisco to bring home.  It ended up being a late dinner back in Cañete.  We were told that people could sleep in Saturday and breakfast would be at 8:00 instead of 7:00.

Al and I were both up around 4:30 as we both had been most mornings.  I did my work for my online class and started working on my blog posts, while Al worked on his diary.  Around 6:00, we decided we were both ready for coffee.  We asked our hotel owner Oscar for suggestions, and he said Valentino's near Imperial Park as well as any of the shops around Imperial Park.  So we set off into town.  In spite of daily walks into town, it was not until Saturday morning that we noticed this statue without signs of what appears to be an Inca soldier as we entered the downtown.

Valentino's was not yet open nor were any of the shops around Imperial Park.  We did find a shop that was open, but they did not have coffee.  Then we found a coffee shop that was open - they had wonderful pastries but their coffee machine was broke.  So we walked back to the main street to see if any of the large gas stations had coffee - I had experienced that many gas stations had small convenience stores that also sold coffee, especially for the truck drivers.  But no luck at the three gas stations we passed.  Finally I saw a sign for Gran Hotel Villa del Sur.  It is down a side street from the main highway.

As we came to the door, it was locked and a security guard greeted us.  We asked about coffee in our broken Spanish and was told that the restaurant was closed.  After seeing the long looks on our faces, the guard remembered something.  He opened the gate, led us by one pool, past the closed restaurant, through an area where there had been a party the night before, past a second pool and to the bar where they served coffee.

The bar even had an appropriate sign.

Finally, after more than 30 minutes of walking and searching, we enjoyed our morning coffee.

Then it was time for breakfast, getting into our Fuller Center shirts and heading out to La Florida.  Since we had all cleaned up for group photos in our new Fuller Center tee shirts, we did not do any work that would get us too dirty.  Ten people went to what will be the new Fuller Center office and dormitory to bend rebar and wire it together.  I took five people to see the three homes Patty and I had worked on in 2014 (again, please excuse my fat fingers).

On our walk from the houses built in 2014 to the new Fuller Center office, we passed by the local health clinic.

And finally, around 11:30 we had a dedication ceremony for the family who will be living in the roof house.  The new crew coming in Monday will help with the painting, while Augusto #1 and a carpenter will do the finish work to get doors and windows placed so the family can move into their new home for Christmas.

After the dedication ceremony, our bus driver took us by his home to see his buses and to treat us to a snack of watermelon.

And then it was lunch time, packing up and checking out of the hotel, taking the bus back to Lima, dinner in Lima and time to say goodbye to our fellow team members.  It was another inspirational trip with the Fuller Center.