Back to Basics

Today was a hell of a first day back to work from the holiday. In the morning I went to school six and spent the whole time sifting sand. It has become a forte of mine and I have, thus, become a go-to-guy when it comes to sand sifting. And when I say it has become a forte, I mean it's something I've done a few times (there is not really much skill involved). There were a TON of kids on site, and it got a little crazy. On one hand you want to involve the community as much as possible, but on the other hand, they can slow the progress and create more work. It's a delicate balance, but we still got a good bit of work done. While I was working with the sand, others were mixing concrete and rendering the backside of the school.

In the afternoon I came back to base for lunch and went out to my very first rubble site of this trip! Picking the sledge back up felt great. Plus I got to do some shoveling, picking, and wheelbarrowing. Getting a good sweat going with all these tools in hand was nice. In a lot of ways, in coming back, I feel like I hardly skipped a beat.

After coming back from work for the day I went out behind our base, to the Joint Logistics Base (JLB), which is a huge backyard we rent out to various NGOs, and went for a jog with one of the base managers, Jolinda. I had dinner and a quick shower. Then it was meeting time. But this was a special meeting in that it was Short Shorts Monday (the last one of 2010), and this one was judged by an esteemed panel. There were four contestants, me being one. We all got up, walked and danced around a bit, were subjected to cat-calls, etc. It was great. We all won in a different category. I won the "classic" award. A former All Hands volunteer, Tim (big ol' Aussie guy), used to wear short rugby shorts (and nothing else) everyday. In homage of him, I wore short rugby shorts (and nothing else). It was a fun experience, getting a little extra skin in the breeze and all. I know the picture above is a little dark, but you get the idea.

I just had my beginner Creole class taught by a local volunteer, Peterson. I'm sitting around now waiting for the Saints-Falcons game to be projected on the big screen. Then it's off to bed good and early. It's back to rubble in the a.m.!

Hope everyone had a good start to the week.

Love,

Daniel