Final bridge!

La ultima dia!

Hello again!

We have safely arrived to Guatemala city and have had the best, most relaxing day this month! It feels so great not working at seven am! We even got to go shopping today at the artisans market which was absolutely beautiful! For dinner, we went to the miraflores mall and ate at a diner! It was quite the change from tortillas and beans!! We even got to walk around the mall and see what was there! It's such a nice mall with four floors and a movie theatre! Chelsea and I even got manicures! We finally feel like girls again! Our nails were so disgusting from all the dirt, rebar, wood and concrete! It felt really good to get a manicure and it cost only ten bucks! Sweet deal!!! But more about our final day at the community!!

As I mentioned our last day consisted of building the wooden railings of the bridge! The last major component of the bridge! It was great last day because we had the right number of men and the right amount of materials for once! It was a long busy day but it ran smoothly and we got to finish!! We even had time for a photoshoot on the bridge! It was only the Ewb team though! Guatemalans didnt want to take pictures! Around six, though, we packed up and went to the school! We came back to a lot of people just standing around waiting for us! It was mainly all the men who had worked with us for the past month! Seeing them just made our day be ause we truly have developed strong bonds with these people! It's nice too see that they care and want to say goodbye! Due to our starvation, since it had been a long day, we didn't go to the school to have a formal meeting! Andrew and I said a couple words to express our gratitude and excitement and then the Guatemalans took over! It is a custom for everyone to get a turn speaking if you such desire! And so we listened to about ten people give heart felt thank yous for the bridge! It was nice too see that they appreciated us and wanted us back very soon! They even asked for us to do more projects with them! After the meeting we Took some more pictures and were finally on our way out! It was our final very bumpy journey back to our hotel! It was quite sad but it was understood between the team that we were all speechless as to what had happened just now. This day had marked the end of a roller coaster ride, which we didn't know would end. Only four weeks ago we were sitting with the leaders of the community telling them we are trying our best but his bridge might not happen and you'll be left with two holes. Now we were in our van on our way home to the hotel, knowing we had finished what we thought was unachievable four weeks ago. All of us were extremely speechless and not yet relieved! Haha we were basically waiting to tackle one more problem but in reality there weren't any left. We had beat all odds and made a miracle come true for his community. It truly was the perfect team effort, on part of both the Ewb team and the Guatemalans! The Guatemalans worked hard every day along side our guidance and the Ewb team utilized their creativity to solve problem after problem. I cannot say that we had a single day without one problem besides the last day. This Ewb team is ready to take on the world and definitely can trouble shoot anything! Not only that we also know how to build a bridge now :) practically in any country :). Hahaha. This effort on both groups of people has been tremendous and I don't have enough words to explain it! All I can say is it has been a miracle! One of which we are still trying to figure out.

After this glorious day at the community, we returned to the hotel to clean up and then head to Ernesto's for our final dinner! And let me tell you he did not let us down! It was the best meal yet and we were so thankful for him. Not only did he give us home cooked meals every time we went! He took on a significant role in the project when we needed him! And best of all he became our friend! W can now officially say we have two great friends in malacatan! One is our community and the other is ernesto! It feels so good to have made some awesome connections! Friendships were made everywhere! Within our Ewb team and within Guatemala! After our meal we returned back to the hotel to pack and get ready for our travels today! And I mentioned earlier, we arrived safely and are now in hotel miraflores! Chelsea's sleeping but I'm still posting hahahah.

In my opinion, I could not have asked for a better month. Yes there was chaos at first, lack of materials, lack of help some days, and multiple misunderstandings due to culture as well As soil issues the first week. But despite all that, each and every day was extremely productive and that is why this bridge was built in its entirety. This team never gave up; we all supported each other in every moment of discouragement! We kept pushing and it all paid off! There was no way we were returning back the united states without a complete bridge! Determination and love for the project and each other got us through this month of difficulties! We laughed and cried together. We enjoyed the happy days and supported each other on the not so hot days! It was all I could ask for as the project manager! Could not have brought a better team down or asked for a better community. Those men worked their butts off! It was incredible to see how much 20-80 guatemalan men can achieve in one day. Congratulations to the community and ewb team for the completion of the bridge! Si se puede ( yes we can).

I will be posting pictures of the bridge on photobucket. But for now if you go to Ben berwick's blog you will be able to see preliminary photos!!!

Over and out.

Dhara

Esta terminado. Si se puede!!!

And we're finished! We can't believe we're saying that! Yesterday we finished the railingsand that means the whole bridge is officially completed! The only thing the community needs to do is paint the railings. They have the paint and the paint brushes so it will be done quickly, hopefully today!!! They also have to maintain the bridge meaning putting water on bridge for a week to help cure it and not stripping forms until February 22nd. The community has agreed to this and promised they will follow our guidelines!! I will post more about our findings and our final emotions tonight! But we really finished everything in four weeks! It's the best and fastest bridge ever built.

Dhara

Curb your enthusiasm!!

Two days ago we finished the curbs on the bridge!! That was the last concrete pour of this trip! For Chelsea, Andrew and I we were so happy it was the last because that meant no more rebar and concrete! It was a great moment! We didn't have to cut or tie any rebar! And I didn't have to make sure mixers and water were at the site during each pour! I would say it was a great day! We finished forming the curb in the morning and poured at two! It took all of twenty minutes to pour and then we waited till it was dry enough to strip so we could put a broom finish on it!!! After we finished the touching up we called it a day! Unfortunately it was our last night with Melvin and we had to say good bye to him too! But the best part of the night was after dinner at the hotel when Yvonni, our waiter, gave us presents! He gave Chelsea and I coin purses and he gave Ben and Andrew saddles! It was so cute and Chelsea and I "awwwwww-Ed" forever!!! Hanaha

Well that was two days ago stay tuned for more.

Dhara

Pour = Success

Today we poured the deck! We got to the bridge site at six am and began work by six thirty! That's a whole hour earlier than the other days!!!! But we needed to start early, here was so much prep work to be done!! It was crazy butwe'll got it all done two and a half hours! We then started pouring the deck! And within an hour things were kind of iffy! The bulkhead at the end of the bridge was slightly bulging! We had to deal with that as soon as possible so more problems didn't ensue. Then the deck ends also started bulging out!!! It was a crazy moment then because if we let it go we'd have a wider and crooked deck! So Ben quickly braced it some more! During that time we stopped pouring but the minute he was done we began again! We did not run into any more problems after that; it was great! The pour went smoothly and we finished in about five hours! It was great! After we finished all the men had their lunch break but the Ewb team kept working!!! We were putting the final finishes on the deck, putting in curb rebar and getting it ready to cure! Around three o clock the community had brought in a new reporter who pulled me away from my work and asked me questions about our organization and university! It was great! Then he took a picture of the Ewb team! We were all covered in concrete though, especially Rod!!! But it's okay this project will be published in the Guatemalan newspaper on Friday!--and according to Melvin it's one of the bigger newspapers in Guatemala!!!! So I would say we had a pretty awesome day! So now were gonna celebrate by having a big feast at Ernesto's!!!!

See ya on the flip side.

Dhara

Home stretch!

Well i haven't blogged in a while! I am very sorry!!! But on the good news we only have one more week!!! Woooo! So excited! But even though we goop home so soon we have so much left to do! But before I talk about that let me tell you about the last four days.

I mentioned on Wednesday that the wood wasn't arriving on time! Well it hasn't arrived on time yet! We didn't get the 2 by 10s until Thursday so we didn't finish the boardwalk of the deck till then! Then on Friday we really had to hussle to get everything we needed to get before Gary his skills left! We had a great work day on Friday after waiting for the wood all day Thursday! But unfortunately our luck wasn't that great! On saturday, the generator broke on us. The meant we lost three hours of work on Gary's last day of work! It was unfortunate but we still did get a good amount done! Btw we bought a new generator for one week! I know crazy huh! And then today, we didn't have Gary but the five us worked extremely hard and all the formwork is completed! We will be putting in rebar tomorrow and hopefully pouring the deck on Wednesday! It's been quite a ride this past week but let me tell you that the whole team knows how to troubleshoot in any situation! We have learned so much about how different life is here and how to deal with different situations on the spot! We have made it work this far and we are almost done! Wish us luck!

The daily construction is one thing but community interaction is the other thing! The comite and the mayors group wanted to take us out to dinner before Dr. Veness and Gary left! It was great, we got to meet all the leader and express all of our thoughts. After we ate, the communityleaders went around and each of them had a little speech. They all basically said they were very surprised with us and the project as well as very thankful for giving them this bridge. The mayor even asked us to continue helping the community with other projects! We said we'd be open to it but we want to finish the bridge first. Dr. Veness also spoke and thanked the community for having us! Then I finally made my speech! It was scary but I said what the team was thinking! It has been a great group effort even though it was bumpyat first! They really appreciated it and the dinner wasa success!

For Gary's and Dr. Veness 's last dinner we ate at Ernesto's on Thursday! It was great; the potatoes were to die for and everyone but me loved the shrimp! ( I don't eat fish) the dinner was awesome and a lot of fun! We had another dinner at the hotel on Saturday and we all said our goodbyes! It was so sad! I cried! They are both awesome people and a huge help in the project! It couldn't of succeeded this much without them! I hope they make it back safe and hope they email us to let us know! We miss you guys already!!!

Well I guess I should stop talking now it's been a really long post with really bad grammar! So excuse me, I'm writing on my iPad! I'm posting more pictures of the bridge tonight! So be on the look out for that and wish us luck on our pour this Wednesday!

Dhara

PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES

HI EVERYONE PICTURES ARE UP ON PHOTOBUCKET!!!!

www.photobucket.com/ewbguate

Dhara