This weekend I went to Chincha Alta Peru to build houses with an organization called "Un techo para mi pais"! A year ago a tornado destroyed a lot of homes so a lot of families were living in shacks (bamboo walls (that cost s/20 or $7 per wall) with tarp to protect from the wind). Just think if you could construct a house that cheap in the states! On Friday we all met at a stadium in Lima (probably, if I had to estimate, around 300 people showed up with ages ranging from 16-30); we then were split into 4 big groups. I ended up being in a different group than all of the students from my study abroad program, but in the same group as Martin (who also was brave enough to go 
. It worked out well because it forced me to speak Spanish and meet new people.. or just find the other exchange students from other universities.. We got to Chincha at 3 AM after a 3 hour (uncomfortable) bus ride with more people than the bus could hold. People were sitting in the aisles on their sleeping bags; I was fortunate enough to have my own seat. We stayed at a local school that was very rustic - no running water and toilets that didn't flush, and slept in classrooms on the floor in sleeping bags. The next morning we woke up at 6 AM (after 2 hours of sleep it took everyone some time to get up); we then were put into small "work" groups consisting of 3 or 4 people. I was put in a group with Diego, 26 year old guy who works in marketing company in Lima, Katy, a girl who attends la Catolica (one of the schools I attended), and Luis, another younger boy 17 years old who attends another university in Lima. We were given material, tools, little instruction, and got to work. We all worked well as a team; that atmosphere was really relaxed and carefree, I could tell everyone was there to have a pleasant experience. We returned to the school at 11PM on Saturday and had a quick dinner consisting of tuna and mash potatoes (after a full day's work it was the best food I had eaten in a long time)! Everyone was exhausted and went to bed. Again we woke up at 6AM and went back to our worksites. We were one of the slower groups - we made some mistakes that cost us some time, but we powered on until 11PM. We then had a little "ribbon cutting" ceremony where the family was presented their new house; the family consisted of a mom who had cooked us (delicious) lunches both of the days, the dad who had helped us nail and put on the roof, and the kids (2 boys ages 5, 9) who kept us laughing. The kids wanted to play with our electronics, and my camera ended up dying before we finished the house 
At the end of the day we left at 12AM just before we said by to the family they all started crying (even the young kids). Whoa it was really crazy seeing the young kids cry.. We got back to Lima at 3 AM Monday morning. I took a shower, ate dinner, and slept until 1 PM..
