Day 2.....sunny and HOT!!!!.....and no breeze to speak of.

The team at the end of the first days work!

...but first some unfinished business. After dinner, Dani [yup, one "i" ...his name is actually Daniel but the locals didn't know how to handle that, so it was just shortened. He is our Habitat International contact....a great guy, originally from Seattle and working here for a number of months. he is another who can't do enough for us and a valuable asset to have around as he knows the "lay of the land" so to speak....but I digress]
Anyway, Dani suggested we check out "Moby Dicks", a beautiful upscale bar settled amidst lush tropical vegetation.
This is where I introduced the rest of the group to the aforementioned "Caiprihinas"and needless to say a good time was had by all

This particular house will have a living/dinning room, 2 bedrooms, a small modern bathroom, small kitchen and an outside [covered] food preparation area/ cleanup area c/w a sink. I'm guessing it might be around 530 sq/ft.
The typical builds here range from 250-530 sq/ft and designed so that it can be added to in the future.
Houses cost anywhere from $5,500 - $7500 usd and does not include the cost of the land, which in this case cost $7000 usd. It is ~40'x100'....a nice sized corner lot. The lot has to be owned for 4 years prior to the build and is part of the qualification process.

Alixe and son.

Our family is comprised of Alixe and her son [shown here], her husband and two older kids presently away at school.
Her husband Carlos works about 500km away and only gets home about once a month.

They have a combined income of roughly $400.usd a month.

Other family members include her mother who is living in Spain and her sister, currently studying medicine in Cuba.

Paraguay itself is the third poorest country in Latin America with fully 20% of the population living in slums or slum like conditions.

...but back to the main story!

...a beautiful day dawned....a beautiful day to laze about the beach and take a dip from time to time....manual construction work?...not so much....but it is what it is.

Sadly, one of the crew was struck down with a bug...but that too happens.

Azu and Claudia, our Habitat Paraguay connection

Work proceeded at an astonishing pace.

It never fails to amaze how 14 perfect [or imperfect in my case] strangers can come together and gel as a unit in such a short period of time.

Each member is assigned a task and that's about it.

If you tire of the task at hand or otherwise need a rest someone will swap or fill in. It's almost a sixth sense whereby you just look around and note what needs to be done and like "Nike"....just do it.

Everyone has limitations or are better at somethings than others and that's ok too. If it needs to get done, it will get done. ....Note to self....I must remember to chat with Lydia, who is an accredited psychologist about this "team work" phenomenon, but I suspect it just boils down to a group of people, of a like mind, participating in a common cause.

As mentioned, work proceeded at an astonishing rate in spite of the heat and humidity.

Fearless leader Murray suggested that if he were to do it again, he would research climatic conditions more closely and perhaps delay further into fall, or even winter.

But again.....it is what it is.

It also amazes that within two days a group of Canadians can be laughing and joking, in two languages, with spanish speaking masons.

Who said there are language barriers.

One member, [Jen], who struggled with basic spanish phrases the first day, immediately picked up  

"Alberto esta caliente", or "lindo culo Alberto".

I think we should get Jen out of Fort Mac more often! ....admittedly though, Alberto, the head mason, is indeed an attractive fellow.

....site clean up at the end of day 2

As you can see, the structure is beginning to actually look like a house.

 Alixe is thrilled at the progress.

....btw, as part of the Habitat agreement, the home owner must contribute 500 hours of what is referred to as "sweat equity".
I'm thinking that she will fulfil the obligation with ease....never seen anyone work as hard as she does!!!



....a post script....

Joc commented about the overhead wires in an earlier photo of old Asuncion.
....well, the technical term, in the lines trade, is "a dogs breakfast", and very common throughout latin america and the caribbean.
Usually caused by lack of pre-planning or just laying circuit after circuit, willy nilly and as required.
That same method of line construction, multiplied by 3 [power, telephone and cable] leads to the aforementioned dogs breakfast!

My name is Dan ....and the Saturday excursion to a local "futbol" game has been  confirmed and I'm excited!!!!