Roofing and 'Septic Tank'

I've been slacking on the blog, but for good reasons. The net is slow here, and honestly, I haven't worked this hard physically before. I am happy to report that I have accomplished much this week, plus learned a ton.

First, on Tuesday and Wednesday, I helped nail in a wooden roof covering. We used the cement gridded walls to climb our way up to the wooden beams up top. Then for the next eight hours, we hammered away and nailed the roof together. I managed to catch some sun and a tan up there as well. It is tough work.

More challenging though, were the past two days. The new houses we are building all need their own waste disposal systems. That is where we volunteers come in - especially with all the sewage system experience someone like I have...

Anyway, so along with four others, I helped to dig a hole in the ground about 150 cm wide and 1.6 meters deep. My clothes, face and hands have been sloshing around in mud and water these past two days. On the way down, we hit the water table so were soon drenched. We shoveled and shoveled, but every ten minutes or so, the hole would fill with water. That is when the handy pump came into play. So it would alternate between shoveling and pumping.

But one big component of this whole operation was the bucketing and dumping. Two people would be at the bottom of the hole, filling buckets with mud. Two people at the top would be holding onto rope attached to these buckets, and pulling them up then dumping the brown gunk into piles. My lower back and upper back and shoulders are through right now.

Anyway, this weekend we go to some Estancia for R&R. I am looking forward to that.

As for tonight, we are going out to eat then out to explore the Santa Fe nightlife. David met some girls at dinner last night who told us the hot spots, so I guess we are headed there tonight!

I hope to upload pics tomorrow...