Waking up in Usulutan, El Salvador

I set my alarm to be up early for my first work day. I went into take a shower and what a wake up that was. The hotel did not have hot water. They did not even pretend to have hot water. There was only one faucet in the shower and sink. It made for a very quick shower. Breakfast was served in the courtyard. It was eggs, bacon, refried beans, fried plantains and plain toast. There was plenty of hot coffee and fresh juice. Once breakfast was over we all boarded the bus for the drive to our work site.

The bus drivers in Usulutan are interesting to ride with. We went down those residential streets just a flying and honking the horn. Somehow we made it each day to the construction site without hitting anyone. We met  our masons Alberto and Edwin. Edwin did not say much and rarely smiled. He explained the tasks through our interpreters. So we started on our house. He asked "The Ladies" to move the dirt away from the foundation. We mixed the concrete for the foundation in the street in front of the house. It was all mixed by hand. There seemed to be a method to how to mix the two kinds of concrete in the street. A pile of dry materials was stacked in the street with a area hollowed out in the middle for water. It was then mixed with shovels with everyone taking turns.

Some of us tied rebar together to make ladder type structures. The use of rebar in the build helps to insure the house will be earthquake proof. The time went by very quickly. Lunch was catered by a local restaurant. Lunch included chicken, coleslaw and beans. Every meal included hand made tortillas. Several of the group brought snacks along with peanut butter. So no matter what was prepared we had peanut butter tortillas.