First Day of Build

Monday, July 2, 2007

First Day of Build
At 6:30am I woke up this morning to see if my bags somehow magically appeared in the middle of the night…no luck! So, I was on my way to a third day in the same pair of jeans. I never knew how creative I could be with a pair of 7 jeans, but everyone was quick to comment on my new look each morning (full length, capri, long shorts, shorter shorts - alittle more constricting though, you name it). Luckily, we were given a new Habitat for Humanity t-shirt, so I gave everyone the impression that I was indeed sporting a new outfit. The entire team met for breakfast downstairs in the dining area at 7:30a sharp. Breakfast was plentiful with homemade bread, Hungarian corn flake cereal, scrambled organic eggs, and sour cherry yogurt. At 8:15a we all headed down to the jobsite, which is a 10-minute walk from our hotel.

The temperature today was a scorcher…almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit. When we arrived, Peter (HFH Construction Manager) was there to greet us with hard hats, safety glasses, and job assignments. There were three different options (painting/coating wood with some type of mold-resistant treatment, nailing rooftop beams, or screwing plywood to the existing building frame). I volunteered for the last job with 5 other team members. Court and Kevin ended up being in my building group for a majority of the day. The two families that will be living in the homes that we will be building also joined us for the entire day. As a stipulation for selection, the chosen families must contribute a certain amount of “sweat equity” - their own time and labor - on the build of their home). It was also really nice for our HFH team to be able to meet the families because it makes the experience that much more personal. I was told that each home takes 4-1/2 months to build from start to finish.

Doing any type of manual labor in the scorching heat for 8 hours a day will give anyone a new appreciation for a desk job, or even better, a sales job where you’re out visiting customers for a majority of the day. We were given ample time for breaks and we walked back to the hotel for another tasty and filling lunch. Apparently, lunch is the biggest meal of the day for most Hungarians. We were served pickles, beef stew (which I didn’t eat), and this potato pasta side dish that is probably most similar to gnocchi. We had a decent lunch break and before the food coma came on, we were on our way back to the jobsite. Court, Kevin, and I were given two different tasks and we completed about 95% of the work by the end of the day at 5pm. After we cleaned up the jobsite, we walked over to the local grocery store and bought some water and popsicles (my suggestion?).

Dinner was served at 6:30p and it was a plate full of fried food, in what looked like tempura batter (turkey, potatoes, and broccoli). It also included a cucumber salad again, which is apparently a favorite Hungarian vegetable. Although most everyone took a walk down to the local ice cream parlor again after dinner, I decided to go back to the room and video chat with my sis. The weather turned windy and a thunderstorm rolled in, so I wasn’t able to get in a run tonight. I plan on jogging around the neighborhood tomorrow, before the start of another day of building.

Good News though... my bags finally arrived! Good thing because I would not have been able to get away with wearing today's dirty uniform (which by the way, my 7 jeans ended up with a natural red washed look after a day of hard work on the jobsite) again tomorrow. Thank goodness!

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