Wednesday Continued

(We had guests join us for our evening meal, the pastor, his wife and son, the translator/driver, the cook/housekeeper and the four cloacal construction workers. So I was not able to continue writing last evening, besides since then several things have changed, for example it rained last night.)

The day started with two of us being assigned to dig trenches for additional footings. One trench required a pick to break up the hard ground, the other required more shoveling as the soil continued to slide back into the trench. It was filled with broken tiles, glass and softball-sized old concrete chunks. The sun was hot and direct on our back but fortunately it was early morning. Others were moving dirt other places, cutting wires and bending rebar.
Mario, the foreman and the one who the wood working for concrete forms and scaffolding, gave each of us a chance to pound a nail into a scaffolding frame and cut a board. From that point on I was high jacked as one of his helpers deducing my chances to take excessive water breaks. Mario is a great one to work with. I am so blessed to learn from him.
Another new task was to straighten the nails. They have a box of new nails but they save by reusing the old ones. Those bending the rebar also broke the jig used for bending. Oh, those strong women and they don't even come from Lake Wobegon where all the women are strong.
After lunch six persons were assigned to moving the gravel from on top of the driveway down to inside the existing building to where the mixer is located in wheelbarrow. This was very physical and exhausting so we quit for ice cream and naps at 2:00. And we did all nap.
About six we rearranged tables on the patio - yes, there is a patio where we are staying; apparently this was someone's house originally - so we could all sit around the same table. Brian and Julie translated. We thanked them, they thanked us. Each of the workers told stories about their families. The pastors had some interesting stories about gangs and the time gangsters broke into his house. I'll try to write more of these stories later. Now it's time for breakfast.