Wednesday - Worksite

Today, we worked a "half" day -- we left the church around 2 p.m. so that we could go to the market in Guatemala City for a little while. We managed to make some progress though before we left. The work was somewhat repetitive of the last two days in that we first had to sweep the rain water off of the roof (sweeping it to the roof drain on the roof), cut rebar and assembled rebar structures for columns and th bond beam. We mixed a little mortar but no cement today. A team of 4 busted up the leftover concrete from yesterday that had hardened overnight so that it could be recycled. We also made the form for the bond beam on the long wall. On the second floor, we also swept much of the rain water off of the roof -- but here we did not have a horizontal roof drain to sweep the water to; instead we had an open drain that we created a "funnel" of sorts to help us get the water off of the roof. Here are a few pictures:

Margaret recycling the unused (and hardened) cement from yesterday

Lu carrying someone needed tools to work . . .

Kim, Dale, and Krystal cleaning 2nd floor roof
Linda Kaye sweeping rain water from work site with short broom towards roof drain


Kellye and Linda Kaye cleaning 2nd floor; make-shift funnel at downspout / drain


tools to bend rebar (and small c-shape that has been bend on jig)
putting rebar assembly in place prior to setting forms for bond beam
Jodi anchoring rebar bond beam assembly to column assembly
Cleaning boards so we can make forms: Dale, Kim, and Melissa
and Patty
Melissa and Barbara working to prepare for bond beam


section of form for bond beam in place . . . took some ingenuity in more than one place to install


Pat cutting block for pitched roof at one end of building

Toni and pal . . . he enjoyed looking at her pictures . . . (She works too -- but she had bonded with this little fellow and today he had no other playmates his size on site . . . so Toni gave him some personal attention and he enjoyed it,)

Grilling steaks . . . grill is an old tire rim

Macaroni salad being prepared
sitting down to lunch



person selling fresh goat milk . . . He had a herd of goats that he walks through the neighborhood and then milks for whoever wants to purchase fresh milk.


Barbara and Celso singing Christmas songs in Spanish

Tuesday work progress

Our filled van on the way to work . . . three across (using the fold down seat) and four rows of folks, then one more in the front with the driver and Gabriel (our very helpful translator).

Today, we did not seem to get quite as much accomplished, but we still made good progress. We did not have to unload 3 trucks of sand and concrete blocks -- so maybe that was much of the difference! We also did not sift sand today -- we sifted much of it yesterday and still had some left by day's end.

When we arrived, we had to sweep the water from the rain out of the way and towards the roof drain. (It rained much of last night which was a wonderful sound to wake to when one turned over!)
We continued many of the same tasks as yesterday: cutting rebar, bending ties in two different shapes (C's and rectangles), assembling rebar structures for the columns (corners use 4 pieces and rectangles whereas mid-wall columns use 2 pieces of rebar and C shapes), mixing both mortar and cement on the concrete slab which serves as the roof of the second floor and will be the floor of the area we are working on, and laying concrete blocks on the walls. Today, we did not have quite as much local help, at least in the afternoon, but again, we still made progress.

Yesterday, teams of two generally worked to assemble the rebar structures; several times today, there were multiple people working together as they were more in a hurry to have a completed assembly which could be put in place.



We made progress on the wall as we added several more courses on the long and end walls.

Lu pouring water on the block before the next course is added.
Setting the important corner block (making sure it's level and plumb).
Success laying block as the clouds were rolling in.

Kim spent all morning chiseling out an area of previously constructed wall so that we can insert a column to help carry the roof; Pat and Kim worked on chiseling away part of the stair case so that we can make connections there as well. No easy way to do either -- just working slowly chipping away bit by bit.
Timing ended our day a little early as the rain came and we had just finished a course of block as well as the bulk of the mortar we had mixed.
Pat working away at chopping away on the existing stair tower so that we can make some connections with new rebar and concrete.

We all had time to take a break today at some point in the day . . . no breakroom anywhere around, but plenty of spots to rest for a few minutes before proceeding with the next task. The morning was quite warm / hot; the afternoon was much better as the clouds with the rain formed.

concrete blocks standing on end work for seats . . .


the top of the stair was okay to lie flat for a few minutes but only if the person(s) at the corner is not making too much noise with the chisels and hammers.

Even the pile of rocks is okay for a few minutes . . .

Like yesterday, the ladies of the church fed us very well. For morning snack, we had fresh fruit. For lunch, we had beets with onions, rellenos, and rice. For afternoon snack, we had tostados and plantains / beans. (The rellenos were the best I have ever eaten!)

Tonita (the cook in charge of the other ladies helping) with some beets and onions . . . She and the other ladies have shared many smiles and lots of good food with us so far.

the clouds rolling in with the afternoon rain showers

We only had two young children on site today . . . they had a good time playing with each other and a rolling chair. The little girl went to the dentist this afternoon, and the dentist removed her first tooth (yesterday, she cried and cried but she would not let anyone help her pull it; no, they do not have a tooth fairy here . . .)
Our neighbors behind the church . . . keep in mind that what you are looking at is one floor off the ground . . . not sure how they keep the chickens out of the house :)

Tuesday: A bit about our hotel

Posada Belen is a nice small hotel in Zone 1 of Guatemala City . . . We are working in zone 6, but we only travel in zones 1, 2, and 6 to reach our work site. The hotel is an old home that was built in the late 1800's and converted to a small hotel. A skeleton key is used to access each room . . . and no two rooms are alike other than each has a private bathroom.
There are 2 courtyards within the hotel to allow light inside and since there is no yard per se; the front courtyard has a hammock on which many have found a few minutes rest as well as at least 3 resident turtles.

On the roof, there is a small laundry area which contains a typical concrete sink as well as a washing machine and some clothes lines to hang items for drying.

There is a small kitchen from which comes some very good food -- we enjoy breakfast and supper here daily. Breakfast is a choice of Guatemalan breakfast (eggs, refried beans, plantains, and cheese), pancake with fresh fruit, or cereal. One supper, we had a tamale like item (with chicken inside what seemed to be masa), small piece of corn on the cob, and dessert which was plantains wrapped around beans (and then fried and had some sugar and cinnamon on top). Last night, we had a chicken rice meal which was also good. We don't yet know what is on tonight's venue, but no doubt it will be tasty.
finishing breakfast
Francesa speaks English, and all of the staff are very friendly and helpful. It's much nicer than where Patty and I stayed last year in many ways. There is access to a wireless internet system in each room and dining room which works much better than where we were on the beach and could never make a connection. We have met several Americans who have found themselves staying here; and they are all complementary as well. It's a good place with lots of charm and warm Guatemalan hospitality.

Monday, the 4th of July!

No fireworks here -- but had plenty of concrete chips flying throughout the day as folks tried to cut out U's in some of the concrete blocks (with hammers, picks, chisels, and machetes) while others chipped out concrete at the column locations on the existing walls where they had come to a stopping point.

Shortly before lunch, an electric saw magically appeared . . . by the end of the day, we had a welding machine (but no official welder or welding rods) and a generator, power saw, and even cell phones working at the work site -- so much for doing things like "100 years ago" like we started the day with. Not to say we had 100% advancement into 2011. We still cut ties and bent rebar to make assemblies . . . After we managed to break several concrete blocks by "carefully" chipping away the "U" shape for a designated course of block, they decided they had better just order some concrete blocks that were already in that shape -- they came in the second load of concrete blocks that we had to unload and get up 3 flights of stairs (which was after a pick up load of sand that we carried in bags up the same 3 flights).

We were very well fed by the ladies of the church today. They started off "light" with fresh fruit for morning break . . . then a chicken stew with potatoes, green beans, some kind of squash that we do not have, and ??? (it was VERY good -- esp. with the tortillas and rice); we had fruit for dessert and thought we were done eating until we got back to the hotel . . . not so, the ladies fixed us a delightful snack of plantains with chocolate / mole sauce and sesame seeds. We hardly had room for our "light supper" of chicken fried rice. We worked hard all day, but I am not sure that we burned off any where close to what we consumed. An added bonus at lunch was being sung two by two young missionaries who help Pastor Celso (Zaqueo - alias Zach - and Mario . . . also known as Duo Missioneros de Cristo); we have not yet checked it out, but we think you can hear some of their music at www.lavidtv.com -- this is the website we were given when we inquired as to whether or not they had a CD.



a few of the good cooks at the church . . . laughing as they prepared our lunch.


Our van driver, whose sole duty was to take us to and from the job site, elected to help us the entire day. He was a very good addition to our 3 man - 10 woman crew . . . in addition to several of the church members and Gabriel helping us out -- we were about equal in terms of male and female folks doing the construcion work (in addition to the 6 +/- cooks that did all of the hard work in the kitchen.) This afternoon, we had an eager 92-year old member of the congregation come to the jobsite (on the roof) with his son (his grandson was one helping us already) and helping to move some of the concrete blocks in addition to sharing some of his stories with us via translator. It was neat to see 3 generations of one family helping build the church addition.



Here are some images for you to get a glimpse of what we tried to do:
moving buckets of sand from the second floor to the third floor
chiseling out so that the new work can be joined with the previous work

assembling rebar
sifting sand
moving block from one area to another

cutting rebar to form into C's or rectangles to tie other rebar together . . .


tying rebar

bending rebar with a form
connecting new rebar with existing to make wall higher (in column location)



sharing M & Ms (they do melt in your hand -- in addition to your mouth!)



pencils provided by Lonnie at TH Rogers (they are coming in very handy -- and Dale can sharpen with his knife.)

Sunday - Welcome at the church

Upon our arrival in Guatemala City, we stopped at the church where we will be working this next week to meet Pastor Celso and walk the site. On the roof, we were given a small 8.5 x 11" paper which had the roof plan on it. While we were looking around at the construction work the church has started -- and made progress on after hearing that we were coming to help them, a rainbow was placed in the sky behind us for us to take time to pause and observe. It was a good sign for many on the team.

team at work site
the plan . . .
Pastor Celso and the Maestro who will be helping us . . .

the rainbow to the right of Pat


Then, we went to the sanctuary on the first floor where there were many of the church members. We gathered together for a short welcome service in which we were greeted very warmly with both words and song. The pastor's family was introduced to us, and then we introduced our team to the congregation.
(This was the second song the group sang -- we recognized it and were singing with them, but not in Spanish!)



Augusto let the church know it was Dale's birthday, so the church also sang "Happy Birthday" to him in Spanish and then the pastor prayed a prayer of blessing for Dale. After the worship service, we were served coffee, cake, and pastries. Interestingly when they sang to him in Spanish, they acknowledged his age as they counted up by 10's and then added the last 2.

Sunday in Antigua

Antigua was the first capital of Guatemala . . . It is an old colonial town which is one of the top three tourist destinations and a local get-away from folks from Guatemala City on the weekend. We had lunch at a nice restaurant where the team sang happy birthday to Dale; then we walked around town and to the market area where a few bargains were found . . .