Haiti Day 4

Words of Wisdom from my fellow volunteer, in response to me being scared of getting sick:

Everyone will get sick, Everyone will go through hard times, and Everyone will die.....you can either spend that time in the safety our home, living a sheltered "Safe" life, or you can get out and experience the world and it's people.

As for today...well, I've noticed that as the day's go by they continue to get a little bit easier....which is a great sign!!! 

Let me start with....SOUNDS OF THE NIGHT (last night)....or maybe trying to get to sleep last night with the sounds of the night!  Last night's sleep was the most difficult yet....went into bed at about 10....fell asleep at 1:45am....probably because it was so hot out.  While awake in my bed (NOT SLEEPING) I experience the sounds of loud crickets, spanish radio music, continued snoring, and what I thought was some mischievous dog snickering through bags (which I have been told would not be possible)!!!  I woke up this morning yet again at the crack of down....5:30am, and prepared for my second work day.


Today's project....ROOFING.....and let's just say, I have decided my new nick name is POWER TOOLS GIRL..Heck Yeah!  This was my first time building at a school sight so I was a little nervous.  I was the only person working at this site for the first time.....everyone else was returning to the school for their 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc days!  Since I have NO experience with building ANY significant structures, I figured I'd be pretty lost...but I wanted to give something new a try!  So, I headed out to this site (site of the 11th school) via tap tap yet again arriving a little later than usual (8 am)!  Upon first arrival it appeared as everyone already had their tasks ready to go...and I looked like a fish out of water...wandering around trying to figure out what to do!  But, that's where the project leader comes in....he was able to find me a task that was just enough out of my comfort zone, that I HAD to give a try.....attempting to use an electric circular saw on sheet metal!  In case you have never used the combination of sheet metal and an electric saw, let me tell what these two pieces of equipment create.....LOTS OF SPARKS!!!!  This was pretty intimidating to me....and first time power tools user, but as we all know PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT....and so it did! 

More specifically my first job entailed cutting 40 sheets of sheet metal in half, and then dividing them into right and left sides!  Just so you know, sheet metal is VERY HEAVY....so lugging this pieces back and forth with definitely fatiguing on the body.  Also.....a work horse does not exist here....so to cut these pieces of metal, I had to crouch down low...basically UP and DOWN, UP and DOWN!!  I quickly learned that this job was going to take a lot longer than I had anticipated....the up and down was making me very dizzy....so I solicited the assistance of a fellow (Californian) volunteer.  This task took me from morning until lunch....and I was beat!  It was however nice today to be working on a task that had a start and end point....I had a goal that I needed to meet!!

Now, since I was once again at an All Day site, lunch was provided by the local's there....and I decided to eat their meal!!  This meal consisted of some corn meal mush + beans, and vegetable mush....I opted for the cornmeal.....not too bad, however on a warm day, also not super refreshing.  Our meal was accompanied by homemade juice...which was COLD....so it was a MUST have (seeing as the warm water is still not sufficing my thirst needs)....and this juice was DELICIOUS!!!  At this site, lunch time also equals nap time....so I attempted nap time....but with no shade, nap time, turned into people watching time!  We happen to be building this school right next to a current running school, that is, as I would describe inadequate to many standards.  The school is a tent, with not much seating, and also used to store the tools that we use.  Further, the children seemed to be running around all day long, so it was difficult to comprehend how these kids are learning.  Often times they would run into the area that we were building and just start (as they did yesterday)!  The children are so energetic and vibrant....they love it when you talk to them!! It makes so happy that I am getting to help in rebuilding the school that will benefit them.

Lunch/People Watching Lasted about and hour, and then back to work!  I was feeling a little weak, and my productivity relative to the morning was drastically diminished!  That was until the Popsicle man came around.....ICED POPSICLE'S were just what the doctor ordered!!  While we only had an hour left once they arrived, I suddenly got this burst of energy.  I was able to now complete DRILLING!!!!!  This job was to drill holes into the sheet metal I had cut, so that we could then line up the sheet metal holes to put nails in them.  I wasn't able to completely finish this, but that was fine since these pieces weren't needed for the today's work.

Our day ended at about 4:45pm, and we headed back to base!  At that time dinner was already prepared (more rice and means), and it was just about meeting time for the night!  This meeting was very important to me!!!  WHY....well, you sign up for your project for the next day....and I happen to know that on Friday's one of the groups working with the kids...and this was VERY interesting to me!  I then learned that the only way to secure this slot was going to be to sign up for HOUSE-KEEPING :(....as well as more LUNCH DISHES!!!  That's because working with the kids is only a half day project....and you have to have another half day project (and there aren't many....basically just house-keeping)....thus, I did what I had to do, and it worked.

Following dinner I had decided that it was imperative I get a nice COOL drink....so I headed down to "Little Venice" once again for some SPRITE....very refreshing too!  Then back for yet another HOCKEY GAME!!!  This game however did not work out as well as last night......but I do believe I have a reason why!!!  This would be caused by my team's choice to rotate goalies, as opposed to keep me in goal....and we payed the price (I guess you can't win every game)!  After a long game....and being very hot and sweaty, the shower was just what I was looking forward to....this one even better than before...and very interesting.....as I was showering in the DARK!!! 

The shower was followed by another monopoly card game....in which my beginner's luck had run out!  I lost miserably....in partial because everyone seemed to gang up on me, in bitter revenge for their terrible loss yesterday.  Last stop for the night was Joe's....the next door bar...in which another sprite was excellent!!!  I headed back to base about 9....hoping to complete my blog by 10...however 2 lengthy conversations now have kept me up until....WHAT...it's MIDNIGHT.....okay....I think it's bed fore me!!!  Hope you've enjoyed for the night and I'll leave you with some "Other Stuff" to go:

Interesting Stuff:
1) I've met one girl who is applying to PT school, so she's been asking me for some advice....which has been awesome....because it makes me realize how far I've come, as well as reflect on my previous experiences.
2) One ladies daughter is interested in applying to PT....and she was asking me for advice.

In response to some questions:

1 - The reason I won't be returning home with anything is because it is INCREDIBLY DIRTY and GROSS!!!  No reason to bring that stuff home.
2 - I can't take pictures on the base for the most part because it is consider "people's home," so they want to maintain the volunteer's space and privacy.

Alright...Nighty Night!!!  I love the questions....and the comments (Becca)!!!  We miss you and will be bringing back lots of pictures for you!  Oh, and I showed our video to one of my friends, who gave us some great feedback!!!

Love,

Bec