15 Floors in 3 Days.

That's right. 15 floors in 3 days. We could do more but there are no more supplies. 

This morning we loaded into the truck and set off for the site. Steve and Megan bought dog treats the night before for the dogs at the dump. They really are some of the sweetest creatures I have ever met. So sad and yet so trusting. They had no idea what to think of the cookies at first and then it was like the flood gates opened up and dog cookies were AWESOME! The little white dog who I call "Matty", because she has a ton of mats in her hair, was so excited to see us she laid on the ground and rolled on her back to get her belly rubbed. Rambo was ready for pets and general attention.

We gathered up supplies and headed out. It was a little hike and a very different area than we had seen before. More trees, more shade, more steep hills. The mixer had been placed at the bottom of the steep hill. That meant lengths of rope and lots of tired Rejuvies. Up the hill. Down the hill. Rinse and repeat. The one plus was after the upper floor was put down, the second floor to pour was five feet from the mixer. That went quick. 

The guys we worked with are great. Strong, funny, kind. So much help... 

Next floor... a serious hike. Most of the supplies were loaded into the truck and the cement mixer was strapped to the back. Certain lucky dames got to ride in the cab and Sisco climbed on back to keep a watchful eye on the cement mixer attached to the truck bumper via rebar. The second location was pretty good. a straight downhill shot to the house. 

After that was completed, we loaded up the truck, but this time we headed to LUNCH. Oh delicious, well earned lunch. Today I was actually hungry. My stomach has decided that Mexico is okay minus the super spicy fare. We had burritos. Just delicious tortillas, rice and beef. So good after working so hard. We had a little down time. I borrowed Toby's knife to make a dog bowl out of the bottom of a water bottle. Rambo and Matty had no idea what I was doing. I had to splash water on them for them to get it. It seems like the dogs and cats have to make do and find water where they can. 

Sisco found a baby. That sounds strange, I know, but He seriously wandered back from the yard with a baby no older than 6 months. A beautiful baby boy. Donna got her baby hold on and then most people went off to meet the mother. I hung around with the dogs a little longer. It was nice to see them start to act more like dogs from home. Wandering up and rubbing against a leg for attention.

We all decided that this was the day. We would complete the remaining 5 floors in one day. 3 down 2 to go. They were on opposite sides of the "city", if you will. The 4th home of the day boasted some adorable children, helpful occupants and some great dogs. The house and surrounding area was very well kept. The doorway to the site was NARROW. Certain wheelbarrows couldn't be used, which slowed things a little. The temperature was climbing. The mixer was getting harder to with the oil drying up. I went to drink my water and I could have made tea, it was so hot.

UNO MAS! One more floor. Something we kept repeating. Uno mas. Supplies loaded up, I felt like I was going to pass out... I opted for shotgun in the truck to give myself a break. Paco took it easy through the very uneven terrain. I swear the first things to go one cars around here must be in order:

1) Breaks

2) Suspension

3) Transmission

We made it to the last site and it seemed easy enough. Then we had to figure out how to get the mixer in position near the supplies. Paco did his best to get the truck turned around in the narrow street. The mixer jackknifed and flipped on it's side. A group of us ran down to right it. Luckily it had been attached with rebar, which had a lot of give, the bumper was shockingly not ripped off. I guess there is something to be said for FORD trucks after all.

The last one went pretty smooth. Good team work. Decent route to the site. There was a building blocking the sun and a place to stand in the shade. People busted their butts. The closer we got to done the more the pace picked up. Finally, it was the last mixer load. 5 of gravel, 5 of sand 1 half bag of concrete. All counting it down in spanish as the ingredients brought us one step closer to completion. 

When we were actually finished Lisa decided to dump a bucket of water on Gardencio, like at the end of a football game. Sisco decided to invite the guys to the hotel for pizza and beer. 

We are all tired but we are all proud and we are done.

a small selection

Here are some photos. The connection is so so, but I am able to upload things. 

Click here to check out some photos from our trip.

Nicole was kind enough to provide Donna and I with a 7 30 am wake up call. Yesterday we "overslept" and woke up with 10 minutes to get ready. Today... I have time to get some breakfast, check the internet, and upload some pictures. (Insert happy sigh here)

Last night we went to the local Freddy's, Gigantico. It was awesome! The fruit looked great. Donna went a little crazy in the pastry isle, but they did look tasty, so who can blame her. We kind of split up into two groups last night. It was nice to be able to get some one on one time with people. 

We grabbed more water for today. When you drink a couple 24oz bottles of water, a couple cokes and you still don't have to urinate... yeah, no hydrated enough. So more water. Some pastries for the kids. I found the amazing liquor that we had on a resturaunt desert, Rumpopo. OH WOW, that stuff us great!

Then it was back to the hotel to chat for a bit and then watch Tarantino's DEATH PROOF. Donna and Nicole were up for the movie every one else wandered off to bed or other hang outs. It was fun to be able to bring some movies and wind down in a very "American" way. So far we have watched Kill Bill, Vol. 1, The Incredibles, and Death Proof.

I have also exposed some people the 30 Rock. 

My work here is done.

The Long Hard Day

The skin is wearing through on the tips of my fingers. They are rougher than they have ever been. Mixing and pouring concrete for a few days in 90-degree heat will do that I guess. We completed 6 floors today. We are over half way done.

 

When we go to the community center we were greeted by Paco and some of his students. Walter and I were greeted by Rambo the Boxer, during his morning petting session Rambo put a paw on my leg and another massive paw on my chest so I could better pet his chin and chest. Walter was drooled on as he pet the pups forehead. It’s kind of interesting that the dogs there seek us out for affection more so than the local folks.

 

Megan spoke about how she had the overwhelming desire to locate a team of vets and a set of clippers to fix up the pups. They are all so sickly looking and matted.

 

Then it was off to our first house. There was a steep hill and a sharp turn in the route to the site. For a little while we thought we may have to chain gang 5 gallon buckets of cement through the narrow opening and up the steep hill. But there was a back way around and we ended up being able to use the wheelbarrows. It helped to have a couple of guys with crowbars hooking the wheelbarrows and helping guide them up.

 

When that was completed, we had to move the mixer up hill to the next location. We gathered up the concrete bags and set to work. This one was done in pretty short order. Good teamwork and clear shot to the location helped out a lot.

 

I realized, after being lovingly mocked last night, I called out everyone by name except Megan and Nicole. Megan’s mom actually called her and asked if she was sick because she didn’t see her mentioned in the blog. No. Megan and Nicole were not sick. They busted they butts taking a hand at every type of job they could. They did the same thing today. Sorry Carol… your daughter ROCKS be proud. Same to Nicole’s momma.

 

Anyhow, the third house was a little different. Odd layout. Narrow path to the site. We set up and did the best we could. The guys helping us are amazing. Seriously amazing. I think their names are Jose and Lorecio. They don’t talk much but they are both wonderful men. Jose has a beautiful 2 year old daughter. He brought her to play with Pablo at lunch.

 

Lunch smelled good, I ate a little, chicken sopa with green sauce. My stomach has decided it has no idea where I am and it should shut down a little until it figures out my geographical location or I return home… whichever happens first. Everybody else ate up. I played with Pablo. Then there was a small rest and back to work.

 

The next house was more house-like. Neat, well kept. A high solid fence blocked it off from the surrounding homes. The floor we poured there was small and we finished it in pretty short order. My arms felt like jelly from running the mixer, “driving” as Gardencio calls it, I managed to dump a bunch of concrete the wrong direction and bang up my thigh on the machine. We were able to get a large amount of the spilled cement up, but I still felt like a putz from dumping it.

 

We moved the machine and started on the last floor of the day. It was in the home of a kindly older woman whose plot was well kept and had a decent view. The belt broke on the concrete mixer half way through. She was so greatful that we were there and even more grateful considering we did the last half of her house mixing concrete by hand. Sisco was a champ today. He organized the concrete mixing after the mixer went down.

 

It was back breaking and I felt pretty ill so I sat out the part of that. There was really only so much room and too many cooks really messed up the rhythm. We all cleaned up our tools and after some pictures, at the request of the kind woman, we headed back to the community center and then back to the hotel.

 

We have gone out to dinner the past few nights and it has been great. I really appreciate the fact that Rejuvenation is taking care of us… but tonight I just want to upload photos and eat my Odwalla bar that magically made it through Customs.

 

Photos soon.

 

 

humble pie.

Today was amazing. Humbling. Eye opening. Awesome.

We got up around 7 30 am and had some breakfast, some of us more than others, my stomach decided to flip flop on me again. Paco picked us up around 8 30 am, and from there it was to the job site.

We stopped first at the community center where Paco works. Classes are taught there, there is a dental office and a small medical clinic, modest but enough. We met some of the kids who go to school there. Got a tour of the facility and then it was off to ACTUAL work.

We grabbed wheelbarrows, shovels and buckets and treked a short way to the first location we would be working at. We met the families we would be helping and got to take a look at their homes. It was a shanty town. The air was thick with the smell of burning trash. There were chickens, some pigs, a few very sweet dogs, and some great cats and kittens. It amazes me how different the animals look here. More angular and thinner. A little more sad maybe.

Then it was training time. 2 buckets of water. 5 buckets of gravel. 4 buckets of sand. Half a bag of concrete. Mix well. Dump into wheelbarrows. Rinse and repeat. Sisco coordinated the troweling inside the homes. He was awesome! Donna and Lisa did a ton of shoveling. Toby, Channy, Christopher, and Steve manned the wheelbarrows for the most part. Walter and I manned the cement mixer and muscled the ingredients into the mixer. It was great when we got a system down. I think we finished faster than even we thought we would.

After taking care of our tools, cleaning up and taking some pictures with the families. We trucked our supplies down the steep hill and headed back to the community center for lunch.

You ever want to try soemthing fun... try rolling a huge cemennt mixer down a hill by hand. It´s awesome for the adominal muscles and forearms.

When we got back to community center we were early for lunch. We played soccer with Jose, an awesome 12 year old boy and a member of one of the families we did work for. He was a huge help, loading sand into buckets and getting water from huge 50 gallon drums. I played a little but I cuold tell he was going soft on me. I told him I knew he could ¨school me¨if he really wanted to. Walter had to explain what ¨being schooled¨meant. That was fun.

Lunch was awesome. A home cooked meal. Super simple. Super filling.

After lunch we had to wait for our ride. Which meant more time to play basket ball, hang out with the kids, and pet the dogs. Walter, Donna a Sisco played a game of HORSE. Explaining the ¨rules¨HORSE was interesting... but like all things, it worked itself out and people had fun. Great pictures to come soon.

Driving home, the van stalled going up a steep hill. Paco had to turn the van around and go the wrong way down the street because the van just couldnot make it up the hill. No one honked. Some other drivers look confused. But all in all, we needed to do it... so we did it.

Now we are back at the hotel. Showered. Freshly clothed. Drinking a beer or two. Soar and tired but some how I feel better than I have in years.

I got into my room. Took my shower and then couldn´t stop crying. Might sound kinda funny. Ian in Recieving may make fun of me when I get back to work... but I am glad for what I have at home. I am glad that my work gave me the chance to do this. I am glad that we all work so well as a team. The kids were amazing and the people smiled and were so gracious.

What a day.

Seriously. What a day.

Juxtapose

That is Mexico so far. BMW dealerships sitting right next to slums. Malls near buildings constructed almost 2 centuries ago. Glittering shop windows with piles of trash infront of them.It is strangely beautiful and so very different than home.

Unfortunately, pictures may have to wait. The wireless is pay-per use here and the credit entry is not secure by my computers standards. So it will have wait.

Today was tourist central. We went to a cathedrial built in the 15 hundreds, a free museum full of Myan ruins, had lunch at a roof top cafe over looking the square, and shopped in an open air market near a giant park. It is all pretty intense and I was really dioriented this morning when I woke up after sleeping nearly 15 hours. My room over looks a HOME DEPOT parking lot. This world is strange.

Tomorrow we are up early and truck off to the job site. We will be split into groups and are expected to do 2 concrete floors per day. If we can go at that pace, we may get friday off to explore some more.

More tomorrow.

PS I am tired and may have misspelled things... sorry Greg.

Tiny bags full of tiny things.

We are at the gate. 

We are waiting to board the plane. 

As of right now it's me, DK, Megan, Toby and Steve.

I am a little more comfortable now. The idea of traveling with these people is actually more reassuring than I could have hoped for. People are on their cell phones, waking up loved ones and saying good bye.

I left my phone at home. But I inadvertently brought my KEYS. Oops. They will do me a ton of good in Mexico.

Since I have time I wanted to talk about why I choose to do this. Partly, because I think it's important and partly because I need to remind myself. Around 2 this morning all I wanted to do was stay in bed, pet my cats and sleep a few more hours. I wanted to have my weekend. 

But I chose to volunteer for this because I am so comfortable just living my life the way I live it. I am not a bad person. I am just more likely to do things that are familiar. I have never been outside the country. I have thought about what it would be like, but I have never put forth the effort to wonder boundlessly.

NICOLE is here! Chris, Sisco, Chan. Still no Walter and no Lisa. But there IS a camcorder! w00t!

Where was I? 

I want to help people. I think we all do. People kept telling me "You'll come back and you will be different" I don't know what that means but it scares me a little and it's also kind of exciting. 

Lisa and Walter are here. Something about chugging gatoraide?

Toby has an XO laptop, check it out when you get a chance.

I am going to go socialize. Talk to you from Atlanta.

Now THAT'S service.

DK is picking me up around 3am and heading to the airport. 

Right now, I am packing. I was chided at work for not packing sooner... but this is not stressful. I am not a complicated person. I think I packed 11 pairs of underwear. I have sunscreen, gloves, pants I don't mind thrashing, a handful of shirts and other assorted items. 

Orange Kitten finds my finds my mess displeasing. She is swatting at things and generally being a fuzzy pain.

Where was I? Oh yeah... PACKING.

I think my checked bag is too heavy. Might need to move some things around. 

Oh man, am I a little sick to my stomach.

More later... have to finish the epic event of packing for a week of the unknown.