Having figured that due to my presence in Guatemala being for many more weeks and me wanting to record all the different activities that I do at my placement, I have decided to keep updating weekly all the goings on, to make sure nothing significant slips my memory. This week bar Friday, 4 volunteers(including me) and Freddy were present. This week we continued to work on the wall on the third floor with some other miscellaneous tasks. Friday was my busiest day since all other volunteers were away on trips and Freddy had to leave early for a meeting. Victor, the head of the international section, or in my experience the guy who accompanies new volunteers to their construction placements and devises schedules and plans where future placements will be, aslo accompanied us. He was sick on my first day at my placement, but had joined us several times at the placement site and like Freddy, his company was pleasurable and much laughter would occur in all of our daily interactions.
This Friday, me, Freddy, Victor, and Juan Jose, the person who requested the construction project and occassional helper, first sat down where I with my line of questioning in Spanish, sparked a lively debate about Guatemalan and US history and politics. Having started the conversation I was content to listen, and despite me not being able to understand anything, I knew enough in general to be able to recognise what was being discussed, and understand what points were being developed by the participants. After an hour, we finally got to work. Cement was mixed with sand, and upon addition of a moderate quantity of water, the resulting mix was used to place the final row of blocs on the north side of the third floor. Since this was a new row, first the corners of the row were placed carefully to ensure that they were exactly even to the blocks beneath and opposite them. Then two lines were strung across the row to be built, allowing for future blocks to be aligned along the string. The final row also needed U shaped cement blocks, along with cuts along the shorter sides to accentuate the U shape. After an hour Victor and Freedy left for their meeting, and with Juan Jose's whereabouts unknown, I proceeded to work alone for an hour, placing more blocks along the row. Little water was available to me to add to my cement mix, leading me to struggle to align the blocks precisely. Juan Jose returned and was able to assist me greatly, to the point that now only one more block is needed to complete the row and the wall. The previous days I was kept busy either by making concrete mixes, using a pick and a hammer to create a gap along the wall on the left side for the water pipe to fit in and using the same tools to create an indent in the floor, allowing water to flow along it off the floor through a carefully placed hole in the wall.
This week was also the last for Robert, an older and more mature volunteer than the typical college student or recent graduate. In fact he was unique because his path in life did not feature university at all, rather an apprenticeship in cabinet making. Having worked with his hands for 15 years, he was more skillful and adept at any of the tasks assigned to him at the site. He was also a perfectionist and always aimed to do the best job possible. It took some time for me to warm to him, since he was also quite reserved with his emotions, making it difficult for me to read his stae of mind. He was also quite honest at times, perhaps a bit too honest but as his final day at placement approached, i was able to distinguish more and more cracks in his shell. This was aslo aided tremendously by Rachel, the sole female volunteer at our project, with whom he had formed a strong friendship. On his last day, taking pictures of the site, receiving his certificate and hugging the people who lived beneath us as we worked, realising he would probably never come back, he almost teared up. Watching him, hearing him say how everything looks different when you look at it for the last time, made me think ahead and wonder just how sad I would be when I would leave. He had spent only 8 weeks in Guatemala and despite his learned ability to control his emotions he had almost cried. How would I react after 12 weeks?
