Week 3 Day 1

What's up, world?

Today was the first day for the new guys, but, since I was here last week and worked there Friday and Saturday, I knew what I was getting into. It was a more than moderately exhausting day. The work began by making mortar for the house. The process of troweling it in between the cracks of the cinder blocks would continue for most of the day. The guys alternated between working on that and carrying rocks and dirt up the horrendous hill in buckets. Several of us incorrectly hammered the U-Blocks, earning the name "Ewwwww-Blocks" for the rest of the day. We also made some concrete to fill a layer of cinder blocks and carried cinder blocks into the floor. By the end of the day, most of us were sore, tired, and hungry.


The work took up a lot of our time, but we still found time to interact with the kids. They showed us these multi-colored baby chickens that they had and loved taking pictures with us. Our lunch ritual of tossing rocks continued, and the kids joined in the tossing, as well as handing us rocks to throw. They are definitely enjoying our company. We're enjoying theirs too. I love playing around with the guys in particular. None of them are older than ten years old, and they are absolutely precious.


After such a long day, we saved our discussion for the dinner table. I completed my turn on the hot seat, and we discussed different things that we had observed during the day. Several of us mentioned all of the trash that was around the town and its use as a fuel to heat the house. Others commented on the kids coming back from the fields with bags of sticks on their backs. We will continue to look for things that help us understand their culture and lifestyle.




Today was extremely tough, but the good news is that we got a lot out of the way. Most of the rocks are now at the top of the hill, and we have made a serious dent in the dirtpile. More of the blocks are also closer to the house-site. Tomorrow cannot possibly as tough, and experts are predicting that it won't be. My neck is probably going to be a little bit sore, but I'm not in as bad shape as I would have thought, after all the work. The rest of the week is definitely doable, after getting through a Manic Monday.

Izzi Hernandez-Cruz