Time to catch up.....Asuncion and Day 1 of the build

I believe I mentioned that the bus ride to Asuncion was uneventful.
If I didn't, it was.
Claudia, our Global Village contact down here had a cab waiting for us and we were whisked away to our hotel.....but you already know that.

We arrived a day early and took the opportunity to explore the old part of the city with a few of the other early arrivals.

Asuncion is a city of ~1.2 million yet it has the feel of a small colonial spanish town....especially the old part.

-preparing "Yubba Mate"

Again, the square is a treed mish mash of vendors selling lace and shoeshines, "Mate" [mah-tay] and jewlry, tatoos and artwork.

"Mate" is a traditional drink in Paraguay as well as Uruguay and Argentina.
Served hot or cold [terere mate is cold] the herb mixture is placed in a cup like vessel, traditionally a bulls horn and hot or cold water is poured over the herb mixture. It is sipped thru a [usually silver] metal straw with a spoon shaped sieve at the end called a "bombillo".
Tradition dictates that the "Mate" be shared among friends. It is supposed to be a healthy "cure all" that invigorates and refreshes.
I don't know about the cure all but it was indeed refreshing.
The cold version I sampled reminded me of cold Camomile tea with a hint of mint and a touch of sweetness. You will see people sipping everywhere!

street vendor - but note to her right, a "Mate" cup and silver "bombillo"

There are a wide assortment of herbs to chose from and many people develop their own personal medley.
The Yubba leaf itself is very bitter but is the prime "medicinal" ingredient.

The containers for the hot [or cold] water are similar to a large thermos but usually wrapped with stitched and intricately embossed, or hand tooled leather.

The next day dawned a bit overcast which, in my mind is ok for the first day of a build in a sub tropical country.
...but first, a bit of housekeeping.
There was an "orientation/ safety meeting" held at the hotel where Claudia introduced us to other members of her "Habitat" team and went over the usual construction site safety rules as well as how the house will be constructed.
In this regard, the build here is more organized than the one I attended in Guatemala.
Then, off to the worksite about 20 minutes away where we would meet "our family" [more about that in a bit] and participate in an opening ceremony along with a short prayer of thanks and safety. [did I mention that Habitat is a Christian organization but they don't overdo the worship aspect at all.....but I digress]

The jobsite that greeted us.

That ancient chinese proverb about many hands making light work could not be more true.

The foundation lines were already laid out and with 14 eager navies toiling away [perhaps too eager considering the heat] , it wasn't long before the foundation was excavated.


Once the masons were satisfied with the excavation, the trenches, we so carefully burrowed were filled in again with rock and rubble. [counterproductive?]

The trench was then filled with a slurry of concrete, sharp sand and mortar sand.
[ah...ok...now I get it!]

I'm not sure which job was messier, adding the components to the cement mixer or the pour of the slurry [yes, we had a mixer....what a novel concept....one that Guatemala should adopt]



    ...very messy as it was a slurry remember, and prone to splashing about as it was mixed or and as you can imagine, the pouring of the sludge was just plain messy by default.

By the end of our day all were astonished by what was accomplished.
Foundation dug, footings in place, the first course of foundation block pretty much in place.

Time to clean up the job site in preparation for tomorrows activity, head home to a hot shower and a cold beer.  [woo hoo!!!]