It feels like a long time since I last wrote. In regards to my ankle - all is well again. I'm a little weary of the ramp that I fell down but other than that, me and my ankle are doing a-okay. Now all I have is a soccer field turf burn to show for my physical activities these past few weeks. That and the countless scratches I have from working at the construction site. The construction site, also known as Boni's house, has become my baby since Christmas. Ever since I returned from the States, I've been working at the house every day, and I am shocked to say that I have loved just about every minute of it. Who would've thought that I would find my niche in a construction crew? |
Every day, Rachel and I walk the three fourths of a mile to Boni's house where we're greeted by the guys - depending on the day a combination of René, Jaime, Ramiro, José, Abraham, Marcos, Juan, & Manuel. Everyone takes on a task, no matter how insignificant a task may seem (eh hem, chipping at walls). Sometimes we play music, or chat, or the guys scare us with ghost stories. The best is when we try to teach each other different languages. Rachel and I tell them words in English, and in return, they teach us phrases in the Mayan tongue Kachiqel. I thought learning Kachiqel was for sure a lost cause until I realized how challenging even simple English words are at times. The other day, José asked Rachel and I what "ahmer mich" is. All we could do was continuously ask him to repeat it because we had no idea what he was talking about. After some charades and several attempts at descriptions, we realized he had looked up the word for welder in English. He was curious because he's been in charge of welding at the house, and he wanted to know how you would say it in English. I'm not sure how or why, but he found "hammersmith" as translation. Rachel and I didn't know what that was even in English (we're still wondering if it's an actual word or not). This is one of many miscommunications and hilarities of working in a bilingual setting. Something is always bound to be lost or confused in translation and it never ceases to make me laugh.
Anyway, the reason I wanted to write this post about the house is because we just finished putting the roof on this past week. It looks incredible and I still can't believe I was such a big part of it. This house, in a sense, gave me a project to call my own. I look forward to work every day because it's familiar, I love the workers, and it's improved my confidence in my Spanish tremendously. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not fluent but I can hold a conversation without fear of messing up because the guys are going to give me a hard time whether I pronounce everything correctly or not. They're like brothers and family, I expect that of them at this point.
In order to fully appreciate the house project, you have to understand the conditions Boni's family was living in prior to the new house. He lives in a flood zone at the foot of the mountain, so every rainy season they were at risk. They actually had built up their floor over the years in order to keep out the running water that flows in the street. This was successful for keeping water out, but they didn't raise the roof, and therefore it was impossible to stand in their house without hitting your head on the ceiling. In December, all of the long-term volunteers helped them move out their possessions into a different house they're currently renting. We rounded up chickens, ripped down the corroded metal roof, chopped down a tree, and removed the termite infested wooden home they had lived in for so many years.
Luckily for Boni and his family, an American volunteer named Nicole met him awhile back. She fell in love, deciding he is just the bees knees and decided to fundraise to build him a new house. So low and behold, here we are - me with a new found love of construction and Boni with an almost-complete, beautiful new home. The house has 2 bedrooms and one front living space that they may make into another bedroom, plus a bathroom. They'll have a brand new wood burning stove and pila to wash their clothing. It's a really incredible project and gift for the 7 people who will be living there. So, without further ado, pictures of the house!