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

Out of the hole

It's Dhara here again! Today was the quiet after the storm; a great day if I had to say! We stripped the formwork for the wing walls and they look great. The men worked really hard. Some stripped the form work, others took out the nails and piled them nicely, and others cleaned the form work. It was an amazing sight and the men were awfully quiet hence the quiet after the storm because yesterday was crazy! We poured four wing walls and things went wrong but everything worked out. The issues were all revolving the generator and concrete vibrator...go figure. We can't seem to find a working generator in Guatemala. But it all worked out, like it always seems too. But today was another day and we started the deck form work. It actually looks like a bridge! But as lucky as we are to be this far, there are other issues holding us up! We first need to get all the wood by tomorrow but it doesn't seem like it..people here just aren't punctual. They told us we'd get it today but we didn't even get half of it today! We are so frustrated! But we will handle it tomorrow as well as getting a working generator and concrete vibrator! We've got our work cut out for us tomorrow and the next couple of days but we're out of the hole at least!

Dhara

GOOBLE GOOBLE GOOBLE

Well Hello!

It's Dhara here! This wonderful title is dedicated to our wonderful team member BRITTANY. WE MISS YOU AND YOUR TURKEY NOISES!!! But also, the team was making fun of me for speaking Gujarati! They said I sounded like a turkey. :( Anywho, I have a lot to update you on! So much has happened since the last post. It feels like a month has gone by already! Everyday is an adventure but our team never seems to give up! It's absolutely amazing! On a side note, I realize that the photobucket site is not working. Here is the new link: www.photobucket.com/ewbguate

So since the last post, we didn't actually pour the wingwalls on Thursday because we weren't ready. This doesn't mean we are behind schedule, though! We are now pouring both wing walls tomorrow morning hopefully! If everything goes smoothly, that is! So for the past few days we have just been getting the rebar and formwork ready for the wing walls. I have added those pictures to the photobucket, so now you can go see them! We did run into some issues with the materials though this week. We found out on Friday that we ordered way too much aggregate. In a way it is good because we can use it as backfill but besides that we really just lost money! (The company doesn't refund) So we are working on selling some of it so we don't lose money! Since we met Ernesto, he has been a GREAT help! He is helping us sell it as well as Melvin. The other issue we faced in the past couple of days was regarding the formwork! I had let the community take control of the wood (bad idea), so I didn't really think we would be short! Well the community doesn't have any more trees to cut so we can get wood! This is where we had to figure out how to get wood for the super structure by MONDAY! It was only three days notice! Dr. Veness and I, called Ernesto and asked him if there was any lumber mills anywhere! He really helped us out! He sent one of his workers with us to go to one of the lumber mills so we could get all the wood we wanted for a Guatemalan price rather than a "gringa price." Gringa is what they call us Americans. Leonel, Ernesto's worker, was an awesome guy and we got it all done and figured out in three hours! Another success! We truly have hit a lot of potholes on this project and we've overcome every single one. I am so proud of my team they have stuck by me and helped me out in every single way they can! So now this leads us to the concrete pour tomorrow. It will be an early day tomorrow! We are leaving at 6:15 (that's when Chelsea and I wake up on a normal day). But I am very excited to finish the sub structure and move onto the super structure! Hopefully we finish everything before we leave! :)

Now the fun stuff!! We had a pretty awesome dinner last night at La Estancia. Ernesto is a great cook and Gary even got to help out! He made some great vegetables with pineapple in them!! Gary is a great cook as well! Everyone else enjoyed the chicken, which is a special of Ernesto. The food was great and so was the conversation. We really have an awesome group of people who are ALWAYS sarcastic. They are making fun of me as we speak but I am too involved in writing the blog to have a reaction. I can never tell when Rod and Gary are sarcastic so I usually think they are serious and I freak out because I am just like that but I am slowly learning their ways. Ben on the other hand is obviously sarcastic so I don't take it seriously. (which is good). Anyway back to my dinner information. We had a wonderful dinner conversation, everyone was cracking jokes. We even got to see Ernesto's home, he built it himself. It is three rooms combined: a bedroom, living room and kitchen! It is filled with crazy art! It's also very unique!!! We all enjoyed seeing it and it added the finishing touches to Brittany's going away dinner!! Tonight we just ate at the hotel and that is where I am writing my blog. But everyone is paying their bills now so I should go. I hope this has been a great update! Comment :) and visit the photobucket!!

Dhara