Work Ethic

my family at my host mom´s bday...from the left...dora my aunt...veronica? i think her daughter...my brother david...my mom sofia...my dad and community partner agapito...my bro aleansur...anddddd nancy
with me there
this is only a drill!!! we did an earthquake simulation today and the colegio got really into it haha...I´m responsible for seeing that the kids at pre-school are safe
this is me pretending to give cpr
la doctora and my host dad

Got to be in the parade in Chivay for Tourism Day.
Raising the flag on Sunday morning.
Singing the Peruvian national anthem.
Shoveling lots of mud for the adobe bricks.
Thats about half of what we made.

So this past Sunday and Monday, I spent both days making about 1,500 adobe bricks in total. It was definitely some of the hardest manual labor I have ever done in my life. To make an adobe brick you first shovel about 4 shovel loads of mud in a wheelbarrow. You can imagine shoveling mud like shoveling wet snow but even worse than that. Then, you run the wheelbarrow, let me emphasize run, to where the people with the molds are. Then, you pour the mud into the molds and the molders perfect the mud in the mold and pull out the mold. Each mold makes about 2 bricks. After that you run the wheelbarrow back and start all over again. The thing about manual labor here is that it’s like a game to them. It’s like watching the great outdoors games on ESPN (chopping wood, sawing wood). So, they work incredibly hard and fast. For most of the time I was a wheelbarrow runner. I don’t think I’ve ever been so tired in my life. However, the great thing about this, is that they really never complain ever and always are smiling and laughing even the children who are doing the work. Now, I know if I were 13, that I would not be smiling and laughing all throughout this type of work. It’s hard to find a time when the people in my town are complaining even though they don’t have much. I think the only time they complain is when they aren’t getting water for their chacra, haha.