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Published: April 6th 2013
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Working the rebar
Agate and Michelle try our skills. We had nimble hands to fasten the frames. I am a little behind in my blog. Wednesday, I hit the wall physically. I worked hard all day, and by the time I got back to the hotel I was capable of little more than shower, food and sleep.
We began our day by building rebar frames to be used in the construction of the roof support around the perimeter of the house. We worked as a group and were quite effective in getting the task done.
I moved onto making my first adobe bricks. I enjoyed the task and quickly fell into a nice Pattern. I played my music, worked alongside other team members and got the opportunity to dance when I needed to stretch. The masons and their helpers found my antic entertaining, as I could see the laughing with with (at) me from the work sites.
I made several rows of bricks when we were told there was no more mud for the adobe. Water was scheduled to be delivered the day before, but as of yet had not arrived. Needless to say, you cannot mix mud to make bricks without water. Work ground to a halt on the job site for our team.
Being the industrious people we are, we saw the need to make room for more brick making wen the water arrived so we proceeded to move all the remaining rocks from the brick making area to either the building area or another storage area. So for more hours than I can count, we unstacked, carried via wheel barrow and re stacked countless bricks. Hard, hot, dirty work. By the end of the day, the water had not yet arrived.
Many team members spent a lot of time engaging the local kids. For reasons, I cannot explain, I felt the need to continue moving bricks. I worked harder than I could ever imagine. By day's end, I was completely spent. I don't think I ever felt so exhausted.
Straight from our work day, we visited a local school in one of the poorest areas in Santa Rosa de Copan. The director, welcomed us graciously as we dined on cupcakes baked by one of the teachers. We visited several classrooms, did a short cultural exchange with some of the kids and then were the main attraction for a very loud, rambunctious recess. School is only available to most until 13
Daniela
Our youngest visitor, Daniela, arrives at the site everyday with her older sister Wendy. She certainly knows how to get your attention years old. The classrooms are very overcrowded and poorly stocked for e job at hand.
Our visit to the school was followed by a visit to a cemetery. We were shown how Honduran family use crypts to bury their dead and keep adding layers to accommodate more family members. At this point I was functioning at about 10% and was considering laying down in a crypt.
Back to the hotel for a quick shower. The we ended out to a local Mayan restaurant for a most delicious feast. A wide variety of dishes were served family style, including, chips and bean dip, plantains, potatoes, chicken, beef, beets, pickled beets, and broccoli. Many started our meal with a drink made from local fruit. Similar to a smoothie at home.
For me, my tired aching body was finally allowed to collapse in what now felt like my most wonderful bed in the world.
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