This blog post was guest written by Habitat Wake volunteer, John Twomey.
Hola!
We again leveraged our commute to engage in some "reflections". The topic was how did our experiences and perception of Argentina so far meet or not meet our expectations. For the most part we felt that Argentina has an image of being a somewhat wealthy country. Certainly not like the poverty one finds in Malawi or Cambodia where some of us have built in past trips. Yet, there is clearly Argentine poverty when you get outside the city.
The morning started with a group game on the football field. I have to admit that I approached it with some trepidation. You know how those things can go. But, it turns out that Zip-Zap is easy (at least to start), fast paced and fun. I think it should be a keeper for use in NC.
After games the real work began. As yesterday, we spent the day laying brick, making and pouring concrete for the floor and finishing off the rebar columns to support the roof. The first three rows of brick are the standard solid red brick that you see in the US. However, above that base, the brick is very different than anything I've ever seen. It's made of terra-cotta (I think), think classic flower pot but thinner and harder. It's actually this honeycomb block about 12x4x8 very lightweight but strong.
Lunch
Who knew Collards were not just in the southern US! We had a muy deliciosa small pie of collards with cookies for dessert.
The afternoon was more of the same, driving hard to complete the floor and get a good start on the walls. We accomplished a lot!
Dinner was a unique experience. We had a selection of empanadas - beef, chicken, ham and cheese and vegetarian and dessert was a very rich Catalan Cream. But, the real dessert was a young couple who showed us (and taught us) Argentinian Tango. We had no idea the sensual depths we all possessed. :) I for one, had two left feet and could never master even the most rudimentary step. Andrea, however, proved to be quite adept at both Tango as well as taking on the task of teaching all of us to Hip Hop. Shout out to Andrea for contributing to a wonderful evening for all.
