Tanzania Day 4

Trevor knocking down a wall.

Today was fun, but I am wiped out.  I will be really sore tomorrow.  We started at 7am.  The first task for me was knocking down a block wall with a hammer.  Having the right tools is pretty important.  :o)  Then we hauled cement bags with 50 kilos.  That is about 90 lbs.  Ugh.  That all took a couple hours and then we spend time hammering nails on roof tresses and making bricks.  Some of the women painted window frames and a group of locals tiled a floor.  It was pretty much physical work all day.  Definitely not worried about our calorie burn.  It has been really hard to count calories here as well so I am abandoning that effort.  Still not overeating and avoiding dessert.  Getting hydrated is a challenge because they don't seem to always have enough clean water.  Hopefully that will change tomorrow.  Eating lots of peanut butter.  

We worked right along side local men all day.  Only a couple spoke English.  Starting to learn a few Swahilli terms.  Jumba is hello. The men could definitely use a little deodorant.  :o).  They are definitely hard workers.  A pastor and his family live there right now in one room.  I think 6 people live in a space of our master bedroom.  They cook and clean their dishes outside.  The toilet is a hole in the floor.  Thankfully, I didn't have to use it.  They had two younger boys and one was teaching me how to use his homemade sling shot. 

A group of kids...probably fifty or so in total came by on their way from school.  We had a great time.  They were shy, but I brought them over with animal noises and acting scared.  It as fun and they were very playful.  They had nice little school uniforms, but beat up shoes and some had just bare feet.  Some of their teeth looked like they had never brushed....plaque was built up, but it didn't seem to effect their smiles.  We were told not to give them anything until the last day because it could create chaos.  Fifty kids could turn into 500.

We actually walked home from the site.  It was about a mile and a half.  It was kind of an adventure because no one really knew the way.  It was neat to be out in the town.  People actually set up food stands selling all kinds of produce to their neighbors.  There were even guys having a makeshift car wash.  Funny, because most the roads are dirt.  There are few cars here actually.  Many people are on bikes.

Alright...got to go to dinner.  Love ya all!

Trevor