Primer dia de trabajo en El Salvador
This post was written by undergraduate student Tazmun Nahar ’12
8:00am this morning officially ended our rest and restore period as we pulled away from a gorgeous resort in La Paz, El Salvador. It was fun, relaxing and exactly what we needed after traveling all day on Saturday but we were all anxious to see and experience the real El Salvador. The bus ride to La Libertad, which is where our worksite is, was about an hour. The ride was very windy and I could barely keep my eyes open but I did not want to turn away and miss out. Seeing the conditions that these people are living in was a very humbling experience. It hit close to home for me as the conditions here are very similar to those in my home country of Bangladesh. Staring out that bus window brought me back down to earth and made me start putting everything in a different perspective…
When we finally arrived at the place we would be lodging, we were pleasantly surprised. Actually, we did not know what to expect. Originally we were to be staying at a hotel but at the last minute we were informed that we would be living in a convent instead. (Oh yeah, I said convent.) Anyway, we get there and it is a place atop a hill with a great view. The best part of it all is that we each get a single room with our own bathroom. Pretty sweet! We then get our room keys, quickly drop off our luggage in the room, go to an orientation and head off for the worksite.
Today was only a half work day. There are two houses we are going to be working on. One already has the bricks for the walls up while the other does not. Our work consisted of sanding the bricks (a very tedious and dusty task), sifting pebbles, lugging buckets of water to the worksite and wheel barrowing dirt up a hill. At the end of the day we were all covered in dust and dirt and could not wait for a cold shower.
At dinner we continued the tradition we started the previous day of handing an award to a team member. The first recipient of this “prestigious” award was Sharon Yardley because of her monkey business. As a result she had to present the next award and decided to give it to me for “wheel barrowing two times my weight” and “declaring the workday over ten minutes to four.” Now I have the tremendous responsibility to pick the next recipient of this prestigious award. I feel like Atlas (almost).