Had to say goodbye today
Trip Start
Nov 03, 2007
1
11
15
Trip End
Nov 16, 2007
Livingston, Guatemala
Monday, November 12, 2007
We were all so surprised and impressed when we showed up at the house today because of all the work our "Masons" had done on Saturday! I know I keep saying "wait til you see the pictures" and yes, I'll upload them as soon as I'm back, but it's amazing how high the walls are! So today, we had to finish moving all the blocks into Sandra's yard, so that the guys could continue laying the blocks and wouldn't have to do any hauling. The stack looked huge and after 2 days of REST and I mean, REAL REST, those blocks seemed a bit heavier today for some reason. lol
I found out a few things today. I guess I wasn't paying attention when this was mentioned but this is the first set of houses that Habitat is building in Puerto Barrios, so not only did we break ground, but we BROKE GROUND! LOL Ok, maybe my sense of humour is lacking today but we are the first people to do this for this community, so that's cool.
Another thing I learned today is the weight of those stinking cement bags. We debated among us and asked several times (to the delivery guys and our guys ) and maybe we just didn't understand the answers but we all thought that they were 50 lbs each... NA-UH! They are 42.5 kgs each, which is about 100lbs!!!!!!! It's probably a good thing that we didn't know that -- might not have been able to do it -- psychologically! hehe So lifting my suitcase tomorrow when we leave Livingston should be a breeze.
We finished moving all the blocks into the yard by 12:30pm and the party or "Dedication to the families" was to begin at 1pm. But then we realized that we didn't have a table and the only thing we had were blocks and planks that were used for the scaffolding, so we moved a few more blocks and took down some planks and we had tables for the food that the ladies prepared for us.
They made the biggest pot of chicken soup I have ever seen!!! And then we had the chicken of course, and home made torillas (like the ones we made the other day) and some really nice bread buns! Oh, and we also had cake -- can't have a party without cake. Everyone said a few words and the families were presented with some gifts and many pictures were taken. It was so nice, even though there was a tiny bit of rain.. no one cared about that.
Sandra gave each of us a little gift and it was so sad to say goodbye to her and her kids. They all hugged us endlessly and thanked us for helping and we were on our way. We all agreed that it was such a good thing that we were able to haul all the materials in to her yard and now, she won't have to pay someone to do that. It's all there for Carlos and Mynor to finish the house. And we think that the roof will be on that house within a week... it's amazing how such a small group of people have made such a difference.
The other house was well along as well and the local Mason will continue with the help of the Grandfather to finish up. We really have made a difference for 2 families!
