From SATA-Peru-2007
Today we had an early start for a full day of work at Azul Wasi. We left the hotel at around 830, and packed into Alcides’ compact minivan somehow fitting two more people in than we had with us on our trip last weekend. Half an hour later we lurched our way down the long dirt road to Azul Wasi. We split up in order to maximize the number of things we could get done, the majority of us were set to working filling in a ditch while the rest set up the framing where the cement for the well would be poured later in the day. I had my share of both types of labor and both were, in short, back breaking. During this whole time I felt pretty close to death owing to my recent bout of dysentery the night before that had left me drained of energy and bodily fluids. We spent a couple of hours working and taking breaks to rest and play with Adrian’s, the man Alcides has hired to help him with the construction, kids. I took many more breaks than anyone else and certainly more than Adrian who probably works harder than anyone I have ever seen.
The work was hard and each completed task left us with a feeling of accomplishment. We broke for lunch and some much needed rest. We ate a lunch of Andean hot dogs, ham, ketchup, mayo and mustard, in Azul Wasi’s dining room along with some refreshing Inca Colas. Back to work, we had the mixing of cement awaiting us. This was the first time that I have ever mixed concrete and it was, as could be expected, an arduous task where a good deal of cement was inhaled.
During a lot of this time that everyone else was hard at work I was splitting my time between mixing and speaking Spanish with Adrian’s son Milan. I like speaking with kids here because their Spanish is perfectly clear and their sentences simple, like mine. At the end of the day Adrian’s and Alcides’ wives made us a delicious barbeque chicken dinner which everyone enjoyed. We pushed and squeezed our way into the van for the ride home. Because everyone was tired we attempted to play the “see how long we can be quiet game.” It lasted five minutes until Shana shared with us her favorite new phrase, “llamadas, llamadas, llamadas”…over and over again.
September 14, 2007 September 16, 2007
