Canadian Work Team

The first week our schedules were relaxed. It was the last week of summer break. We got to the job site by 8:00 am and stayed until around 5 pm. The subtropical sun was warm enough for some tanning. The mosquitoes were a little bit annoying, but one could deal with the bites. The Paraguay trip was an adventure. Friday’s trip to the Iguazu Falls was also a bit of a treat.
Monday’s back-to-school schedule was rough. For Oscar and me it was the beginning of a 4:45am routine that wouldn’t end till December…something I was dreading! We thought that the Canadians could handle the early hours but after knocking...then banging on bedroom doors, we could only get them stirring at 6 am. So, with Oscar and the kids on the road at 6, the company staggered out of bed for the smell of Starbucks.
After a full day’s work (with temperatures registering 47º C in the sun.) we all trooped home…just to find…NO WATER! Hot, dirty, sweaty guys and no water. They handled it well. No one complained. Some got in the small canvas pool we have set up…at least it was water. After day 1 of no water, the pool still looked amazingly clean. Well, by day 2 the water was not looking good, but at least it was wet and cool…I was so hot even I JUMPED IN! At about 9 pm, Oscar took our guests over to a neighbor’s house on a different water line and they all came back smelling like perfume.
I don’t know too much about the job site. (I had my own job site…in the kitchen!) I do know that they worked very hard and our locals were amazed at their physical stamina…even the girls worked hard in the hot sun. The bricks and the iron rods were moved, dirt and gravel was hauled to new areas, bricks were laid and the wall was painted.
The locals were wearing long-sleeved shirts and white shirts tied around their heads so the sun wouldn’t burn their arms and neck making them darker. The Canadians worked a couple of days without sunscreen to take nice tans (or sunburns) home with them. The locals thought that the Canadians were crazy to want so much sun exposure and the Canadians thought that the Paraguayans had too many layers of clothes on. The dark-eyed, dark skinned Paraguayans tried to avoid working in the sun and the Canadians chose to sit in the sun and lay out after work trying to get a little color.
I have many days to keep writing so…more about the work team tomorrow.