Content by Megan
I am sitting in the lobby of the hotel and listening to Justin Beiber. The girl at the front desk has his song "Baby" cranked and is folding fresh laundry. I am very happy to be just out of a hot shower and enjoying a cool beverage. I am lucky in this life.
It was a busy day on the build site. It started at 8:30am. I was lucky enough to try Gautemalan porridge. It was sweet and a perfect breakfast.
We pulled up to the site and Timoteo was already hard at work. Our trenches from yesterday needed to be 64 cm and the dirt piles by the side of the house needed to be moved to the river, so our first job today was to start shoveling. I took a hold of a shovel and my muscles screamed. I did not want to shovel anymore. I grabbed the wheel barrow and began to carry load, after load down by the river and dump. By lunch time I was up to 64 loads of dirt. My arms are throbbing and my back aches.
The sun dips behind the clouds and then comes back out with a vengeance. No matter how much sun screen I apply, it sweats off. The heat drys out everyone. The sun dips again behind the clouds. Thank God!
School finishes and the family of 6 beside us come running up the road. I sit down and feel the force of the girls as they run into my arms. They hug me tightly and say "Ola, Maggie!!!" Georgina kisses my cheek. Her older sister Anna hugs me again and they run into the house. I love these girls!
As the afternoon grows I am up to 100 loads in the wheel barrow and the girls jump in after so I can push them up the hill.
I have been informed about how our family received a house from Habitat. Hurricane Agaitha came threw in the Spring and took our his two story house down. there is NOTHING left but a small pile of rubble. He also lost his 1 year old baby and 12 year old son in the storm. He has survived with the rest of his family by pure strength. They are truly homeless, but very happy. I find it humbling that someone can go though so much and still laugh.
We taught him some English words today, like shovel, saw, hoe and lunch. He waves his hand at one point and says "Maggie, hoe! Maggie, hoe!" The entire team looks at each other and laughs aloud.
I have learned so much about this culture. Everyone here has upper respiratory infection, because they cook inside with a wood stove, and no vent to the outside. They don't flush toilet paper. It goes in a bin beside the toilet, due to how old the city's plumbing is. I find this horrifying. You can see everything in the garbage. The children are only in school for half of the day, and the rest of the day is spent with family. You cannot drink the water from any tap. The woman have a local "bathing area" which is in the middle of the city and everyone uses it. The dogs are nothing like the dogs in Canada. They are feral, breed like rabbits and almost all look the same. As though a German Sheppard had puppies with a pitbull.
The day is winding down and my team all relaxes together, talking about the day. Dinner will be soon. Served hot and fresh. I am warm in the hotel and very clean. I think about my day and the people I have met. I am very lucky in this life
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