Today is Wednesday and the two days of heavy work so far was just to get us ready for what would be in store for us today. Now that the re-bar has been installed, the plan for today is to complete the foundation by filling in the trenches to grade with concrete. We get to work right away on mixing the first batch – aggregate, gravel, concrete mix and water – with six guys and six shovels. As fast as we could mix it, the wheelbarrow drivers would cart it away and pour it into the trenches. In a little over three hours we have foundation completed. The head mason tells us that same job would have taken the three masons working alone two full days to do. Many hands make quick (though very heavy) work, I guess.
Once the concrete is poured one of the volunteers comes up with the idea to celebrate the completion of the foundation by laying a coin in the cement “for good luck”. This, she insists, was a very long-held tradition in Canada – or at least since 2002 when a Canadian entrusted to oversee the preparation of the hockey rink for the Salt Lake City Olympic Games surreptitiously embedded a loonie in the ice at centre ice to bring good luck to the Canadian teams. Bree donates a twonie for the occasion ($2 is twice as much good luck as $1, no doubt) and Mirna does the honours.
After a well deserved rest at lunch we hand-bomb the cement blocks that were delivered the previous day and the head mason begins laying the first blocks into place.
As each block is laid into place, a group of volunteers follows behind to do the mortar work.
After a pretty exhausting day, we return to the motel for dinner. Ken, one of the volunteers has brought with him on this trip a mini guitar (it fits in his suitcase!) and we spend the evening in an impromptu sing-song. Ken and I trade the guitar back and forth taking turns leading songs. I guess we must be pretty good as the volunteers egg us on with more requests and the motel’s armed guard – armed guards are ubiquitous in El Salvador – makes no menacing move toward us with his sawed-off shotgun.
sedativegunk 