Day 8 and 9 - Hard Labor

I was not able to get a post for yesterday so todays will be extra inclusive. Titled "Hard Labor," this post starts with the description of the work we did yesterday. We started out working on the school by shoveling big barrel full of rocks and then carrying them to the second floor of the new school building. I don't know if you have ever shoveled rocks before, but it is not the easiest manual labor to do. The only thing I would say is harder when it comes to shoveling would be shoveling rocks out of dirt and mud which is what we did after. 

Essentially, there was a road and that road was getting flooded every time it rained so to fix the problem, the road was dug out and a big concrete tube was put in to let the water go through. Mine and the teams job was to put all the dirt and rocks back in the whole to recreate the road. This is very difficult when all you have is shovels and no bobcat or tractors. We could get one of those but they are expensive, and why do that when you have a team of college students to do it for you? haha. So it was fun shoveling rocks back into this whole that was probably 30 feet long, 6 feet deep, and 10 feet wide. The rocks we were shoveling were some of them even to big to pick up with just one person. Since there are only two guys in the group, all the heavy lifting naturally fell to myself and Zach. 

It was a good time though. All in all it wasn't that bad either because after lunch, I was done and got to go teach PE. The team was not so lucky. After their lunch, they start working some more. Now in my defense, I have been here longer and will remain about 7 more weeks after they leave on Saturday so I don't feel too bad. I do feel a tiny bit bad though leaving them after lunch to teach PE haha. However, as any mom will tell you, wrangling 10 elementary age kids that don't speak your language and trying to teach them a sport is not the easiest thing in the world either. 

Also, since I have been here a while and know all the maestros, Freddie, the head construction worker, told me to be in charge of the team. It felt good that he trusted me to "steer" as he called it (He was looking for the word manage which I taught him). So that was cool kinda being the go to guy for questions that the team had. I was really just keeping them from asking Freddie all the questions and in truth, I probably don't know much more than they do but as the weeks go by I will know more and more. I am seen as having a little more experience, even if it is only one or two days. I have learned a lot too and am actually thankful for the hard work. It builds character as my parents say. The rock digging went on yesterday and today and now I think we are finished. It does feel nice to step back and look at the road now and know that we accomplished something so that is really good. 

For dinner last night, all the longer workers went over to Meagan's house for pasta. I swung by the store to grab some noodles then headed over to help cook them. They were really good. Meagan made homemade meatballs, marinara sauce, pesto sauce, and alfredo sauce, all of which were amazing. I ate way too much. Dwight has a calorie counter on his phone that he uses and he figured that he ate about 1900 calories for dinner. I had 4500 hahaha. So much for loosing weight and getting in shape huh. I have already gained the reputation of the guy that cleans everyone else's plates. . . just like back home. Lol (especially with the group of 7 girls, I get lots of extra food).

Tonight for dinner, Kelsey, Powell, Melissa and I are going to grab some food somewhere here in town and then you cannot wait to hear what we will do next. We are going to do Ecuadorian Zumba. hahahahaha!!! Every day from 630 to 830 pm and am, a lot of the females in the town, and a couple males all meet in this big gym and do a form of Tyboe like stuff or Zumba. I have not gone yet but a few of the little girls at the Casa want Powell and I to go. Melissa told them we would so now we are stuck. It should be interesting and slightly embarrassing but who cares. I have done worse stuff and I'm alright, right? Haha, no it will be great. 

Last thing to tell you is that Powell and I started working out with Dwight early in the morning. I am now waking up at 5 o'clock every day to do P90X with Dwight in his back yard. Today was our first day and he forgot his computer so we just did our own arms and shoulders workout. It wasn't too bad except that it was so early. Actually though, because I worked out this morning, I think I have been less tired throughout the day so that is pretty cool. We plan on it again tomorrow. So in short, with 5 o'clock workouts, work all day, and dancing at night, I think I'm just fine to eat at least 10000 calories a day which I think is about where I am right now. I like food here. . . and everywhere. It is so cheap here too which is part of the problem. I am very blessed. 

Well, we are about to head out for dinner. Ecuadorian's normally don't eat until around 8ish every night but when I wake up at 5 in the morning, that calls for an early dinner. I'll let you know how the dancing goes and how many little girls laugh at us tomorrow. Thanks again for reading.