Day 3 (2/24): Pull/Slack

     Flexibility has been an underlying theme for our trip so far and we were told up front to have a positive attitude and be as flexible as possible.  Numerous examples of our team members being flexible were shown on our first day on the worksite.   Rick started the morning out with Holy Communion as we forged a makeshift altar atop the mound of concrete bags that are destined to become the floors in the buildings in the missions center.   Another example was Jack showing up to the worksite with no belt, but for some reason he had a neck tie with him, which he then tied into a rather fashionable double-Windsor knot belt.   Almost everyone else had to make due in some way, but we all kept our spirits up and minds focused on the tasks of the day. 

      Wil gave us a tour of the facility, which at this point consists only of bunk houses and the foundation for a kitchen and dining hall.  After he explained his vision for the site and exciting new possibilities, the group was divided up into 3 teams to work on 3 different projects.  The first project involved putting concrete panels in the perimeter wall.  The second group was making and pouring cement into the columns of the retaining wall.  The third group was preparing and applying the outer stucco for walls in the bunk houses.  

     The first and largest group was taking 200lb concrete panels and guiding them into place using a pulley system.  Trevor was in charge of getting them lined up and would constantly be yelling “Pull! ....Slack!” to the team members hoisting up the heavy panels.   Most of the team couldn’t hear him and they thought he was saying “pull, you slackers”.  By the end of the day, they say he was “speaking in tongues” and impossible to understand.  But regardless they worked together well and finished their project on time with a total of 60 panels completed.  It turns out they only installed 14 fewer than the last crew, a group of retired women Ma-Jong enthusiasts from Del Boca Vista Phase 4. (joke)  

     The second group got to work with Hugito and Pedro who had been preparing columns on the retaining wall to get filled with the fresh cement mix.  This group had to do a lot of shoveling, lugging cement bags and cement mix buckets, and hammering.  Most if not all of the hammering was done by Connie who must have had some practice before coming to Costa Rica.  

     The third group, who was applying stucco, was busy doing a lot of shoveling and sifting of sand.  This team worked so hard they completely wore out one of the sifters.  (Unfortunately, no shark's teeth were found in the process.)  The sand mound that they were using did yield a nice harvest of iguana eggs, which had to be moved to a safer location in an attempt to preserve the natural surroundings and ecosystem.  (Breakfast tomorrow?!)

     After a long productive day on the job site we were all in desperate need of a shower and late afternoon snack.  The ladies from the church, who cooked us lunch, sent us on our way with a huge plate of empanadas in an unexpected gesture of thanks and hospitality.  We got back to the church in high spirits, feeling grateful for what we had witnessed during the day at the worksite and looking forward for a fun evening of food, devotionals, conversation and much needed rest!  We all looked forward to Tuesday morning, where we would pick up where we left off and continue serving and being served.