im toasted like a roti bun (sweet inside!). not entirely a welcome change. 1) when people are commenting that im getting fairer (w/o glutathione, puhleese) 2) when i forgot my sunblock hence my arms look like i have those whole arm bands worn by tricycle drivers.
saturday we were at habitat for humanity site. we were going to build houses for the have-less.
it was an eye-opener for me, for fitness first-pumped me. no workout there could have prepared me for this!
we had to be there by 8am. a lady engineer oriented us on SAFETY (all caps supplied). and that meant wearing the hard hat at all times and gloves while working at the construction site. and we were shocked to realize that we were going to start from zero. we all had that notion that we were going to do the painting stuff. no way. we were going to (1) mix cement, gravel, water (2) pour them into the foundation (3) move the pre-made cement bricks closer to the house area, which they call 'hauling'. so we are talking about a site that has totally no shade. and the sun was so kind to be up the entire time. of all the cloudy and rainy days during the week, saturday had to be the sunniest of all days.
as haulers, we quickly became worker ants, forming a line from brick 'quarry' to the 'house site', a good 20 meters away. 15lb bricks went down the line. i assembled them into neat blocks. all in the blistering heat of the sun. after 20 minutes of that, i was already sweating like a pig. it was not easy. and it seemed endless. suddenly the time seemed AGONIZING slow.
we welcomed the morning 10am break! complaints were flying all over. what on earth was i thinking? and it aint over yet. after 15 minutes, it was back to work.
we then shifted and tried the cement mixing and pouring. no machines here. just us mixing the gravel, sand and cement with water using those heavy shovels. then we needed to pour them into pails, which were carried down to the foundation area and poured. this was definitely the hardest. my poor heart was pounding. it was so hard to mix and pour into buckets. i really had to stop from time to time. just too tiring.
1130 am break. THANK GOD. no amount of fitness first workout prepared me for this. lunch served. rest again. 115pm, back to work. more brick hauling this time. under the afternoon sun. HAAAAAY.
and then God smiled at me. well specifically one volunteer. a cute, bedimpled young guy with his companions arrived to help. actually earlier. but i was just too busy to notice him and the rest. and when God smiles he also makes a joke. They turn out to be seminarians. and this is their main advocacy. and as they chatted with me and found out i was ah single, dimples began to invite me to become one of them... something in his smile made me smell something else. but i wasnt about to steal God's property. so i let them be.
my colleagues couldnt be convinced to finish the work till 430pm. we had to stop during the 3pm break. And we left, not without handing dimples my card... 'in case he needs our services...' i was pooped.
building those houses aint no joke. now i know what hard labor means. i was literally baked in the sun and working my butt off. i have found new respect for laborers (for what used to be just lust. hehe)
im wondering how it would be if we were one big group of PLU's helping out? would probably be a riot, dont you think? a riot that serves a higher purpose!
8 comments:
if puro PLU's ang nandyan, baka magkatulakan pa kung sino ang magiging mason. agawan naman sa painting and decoration pagkatapos hehe.
"im wondering how it would be if we were one big group of PLU's helping out? would probably be a riot, dont you think? a riot that serves a higher purpose!"
That would be so much fun for sure! hehehe
I have always enjoyed volunteer work but never under the direct heat of the sun. I was content on handing out bags of groceries and books under the shade of a gym or covered courts. :)
Hay, mga PLUs? We'd insist on the post-construction work, including painting, landscaping, interior designing, and other beautification details! LOL (How very stereotyping, hahaha!)
I don't know if that is the right way how to handle the shovel, i just thought that it seems the guy on the pic looks awkward doing the shovelling.... Is it you CC? you seem to gain a little weight from the last time i saw you in NY.
Hi CC! I wouldn't mind doing hard labor, as long as I have my sunblock on I'm good to go... if I can find the time. I tip my fedora hat off to you dear friend, that truly is a labor of love.
That was quite an experience, ah. But it's nice to read that you found it to be some sort of an eyeopener.
I was also able to join a couple of house builds and though the manual labor is just so draining, I really leave the place with a different kind of fulfillment.
P.S. Enjoyed reading the part of "dimples." Hehe!
- Angelo
It would be nice doing something like this...with proper outfit. Singlets, shorts, and steel-capped boots. Sexier and comfier.
hi mm! that's the kind of riot that people would love to see! hahaha
hello joaqui! do you still get to do volunteer work like that? sounds better than this! hehe
mcvie - stereotyping yan! pero feeling ko, totoo!
hi ralph! =)
hey frodofan! thanks! how's it going with you and... frodo??? hihi
it was a wonderful experiencing. tiring but great! thanks, angelo. im still waiting for heavenly text. haha
as much as I would have wanted to do wear that, too, quent, they wouldnt let me... id cause a commotion! and expose my skin to more damage from cement, bricks, etc!
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