The following entry was contributed by a Global Village team member.
Every day we are here it seems like we have been here for twice as long as we actually have been. By today (day 4) it seems as though our time here has been and will be endless, and I’m jealous of those lucky people who are staying here for more days. We got to see an example of what the houses will look like when they are completed today, which was both uplifting and not at the same time. We wish we could be here to see our three houses finished, but we have come reluctantly to the realization that we won’t get to finish the houses. (At least so says the engineers… surely there isn’t THAT much more left to do).
Today was a sort of break day for us (it is hump day after all), as we only did a half a days work. We did more digging and filling in the cracks of the walls with cement. We made even more corrections with the cement than we did yesterday. Even with only half the time, we still had time for a few accidents…that eventually led to the word/inside joke of the day. Long story short: two women walk into a bathroom, one with a pick axe and the other with some unprotected fingers. You can guess where it goes from there. (For those of you with no imagination, lets just say the pick axe had the pleasure of meeting those unprotected fingers at full speed.) Don’t worry, after a few PICK-ME-UPS, the fingers were fine. They even got PICKED to be on a soccer team for tomorrow. We also decided she gets to take her PICK for the jobs tomorrow.
As much as we were reluctant to leave the worksite after working for what seemed like only an hour or so (ish), that reluctance turned to relief soon after. When sitting on a bus with 24 other people in the steaming hot Costa Rica sun after a half day of sweating, a shady hike through the woods to a (really cold) waterfall is just about heaven. The water fall acted as a water slide, swimming treadmill and (unfortunately for a person with already damaged fingers) a glasses thief. The strong currents pulled everyone away from the falls and under the water, but it also pulled glasses off Rebecca’s face. Ironically, about 30ish minutes later, Mau, one of our fabulous bus drivers found a pair of glasses that he himself had lost on the trip last week. So we are convinced that the group next week will find Rebecca’s glasses. These series of events of course created not only more Pick-jokes, but also sight jokes. Like for example, tomorrow, when we begin working, it will be a SITE for sore eyes.
After sun drying on the burning hot rocks we headed back to the bus for the next cultural activity, the coffee tour! I don’t know what it is with Costa Rican women, but they have a knack for setting up associations that better their families, communities, and possibly countries. After taking us through the journey of a coffee bean, we ended in a store room where they had coffee for sale as well as plenty of jewelry and other accessories that were hand made and absolutely beautiful. There were bracelets, key chains, bookmarks, necklaces, handbags; made of colorful threads, beads, coffee beans, and even soda can pop-tops. To top off the day trip we ended with cinnamon rolls and croissants for appetizers.
Everyone was convinced that after the yummy appetizers, we wouldn’t be hungry for dinner, but we changed our minds as we were welcomed back to the hotel with the smell of the five Costa Rican food groups; rice, beans, plantains, yucca, fruit. Dinner as usual was fantastic, and everyone (but me, as I am diligently writing the daily journal) is still socializing, has watched and cheered at some soccer game on TV, or has gone to bed, to prepare for a full day of work tomorrow. Today we were fortunate for a day of playing hard, and tomorrow we have the privilege of another day of working hard.
-Karla Brady
Becky Engen
Becky Engen : 9:20 AM on February 26, 2014
