Day 5: Saturday, June 1st
Recap… last night, we received officially Janet-approval to move cots to the breezeway and the roof! Since it has always been a weird fantasy of mine to sleep up there, I took full advantage. Definitely the most comfortable sleep I have had since coming to Sirupinayur. I actually needed a blanket - wild huh. Check out the view from the roof breezeway!
Coming to the site in the morning, we saw the construction workers completing the groundwork from yesterday for the “feet” of our grade beams. The “feet” allow the grade beams to be formed on a level surface, and overall helps with creating/dimensioning forms.
Also, they started cutting rebar for the grade beams! It’s slowly starting to feel more real with each addition to the building.
Meanwhile, children sporadically popped up throughout the site, yelling “Ana!” or “Aca!.” Took me a hot second, but we realized those terms meant older brother and older sister, respectively, like kuya and ate in my native language, Tagalog. As per usual, Ayah distributed the jump ropes, frisbees, and our slowly deflating volleyball, and we played with the kids during our downtime on the site. Over the course of a couple days, they have become surprisingly good at tossing and jumping rope, showing us tricks/rhythms we haven’t seen before.
Coming back, the midday nap was a struggle as always. Besides being used as slingshot target practice (long story), we passed our time by visiting a nearby town to get cold drinks and the long anticipated INTERNET.
That venture was Sweet Sweet BLISS. Janet treating us to Coca Cola plus an air conditioned van ride makes for a happy PUC India team :)
After a failed venture at Ken’s (a petite internet cafe not to be confused with our advisor, Ken Hanks), to complete our journey for the coveted WiFi, we visited the office of the project engineer, Kumaresem. He welcomed us to his office with open arms, and it was definitely a high indulging and catching up with people after a long break.
After lunch, we returned back to the site, and the workers started mixing and farming the concrete grade beams. Quick engineering lesson: grade beams strengthen structures by adding lateral stability. Ayah and Zia tried their hand at mixing concrete… BY HAND. It was definitely a struggle, but they made it look eaaasyy. Thankfully, the Irula women contributed to the construction by helping us concoct a human conveyor belt system for more efficient concrete placement. It was exciting finally being able to substantially contribute to the project!
Finishing up, we customized one of the grade beams with our signatures. Even though we gave SOME people a lot of grief for their handwriting, it became our own little masterpiece :D
Moreover, the village women added beautiful, hand-drawn patterns as finishing touches.
Going home, after everything that happened today, felt ridiculously rewarding. Fried plantains, 7-up pow-wow session, and high & lows (or merits & demerits) was a perfect was to end off such a productive day.
Funny thing… later that night we realized how fragile cots are. Let’s just say that Sirupinayur cots are a powerful 3 PEOPLE MAXIMUM.
R.I.P. Zia’s Cot (5/30-6/1)
Day 6: Sunday, June 2nd
What’s up! Michael coming at ya with another stellar blog post ;)
Culture and heat shock has seriously been striking a couple of us hard (definitely not me haha), so we collectively decided that today was our first “break” day! We would sleep in, explore the surrounding area slightly more, and return to the village during golden hour.
Erica, Jane, and I joined Janet to our first ALL-Tamil Catholic Mass. We traveled to a beautiful petite church, and thankfully I felt right at home (trying not be cheesy, but forreal tho).
It was reassuring seeing how similar everything was despite the language and cultural barrier. Women and men are separated, sitting criss-cross applesauce on the floor, and all the Tamil hymns were legit BOPS, complete with bass and sick beats. Even though we definitely didn’t understand the words, it felt surreal returning back to familiarity despite how different life is here.
After taking communion and finishing up with service, we were invited to speak with the priest. Skilled in English, he spoke about his experiences as a priest, answered our cultural questions, and shed light on how the church was named. All the while, he treated us to cold good ol’ Coca Cola (not complaining!).
Returning back, midday struggles continued and only got worse. Today was a record high heat… joy. Pitching ideas around to alleviate ourselves from the heat, we decided on visiting a nearby multiplex called Cinema Hall! The mall we went to in Chennai was definitely a highlight, so high expectations on Mall Day Part 2. Oh boy, that was a mistake hehe.
No A/C to dangerously confusing activities (bungee jumping where harnesses costs extra and soap dodgeball - ‘nuff said) to extremely disappointing “Tutti Frutti” ice cream left mixed impressions in our heads. Least I can say is that it’s a 100% unforgettable experience.
Returning back to the village around 5pm, we noticed that the workers have added “feet” to our columns. Similar to the grade beam “feet” they provide a level platform for column construction and assists with guiding form fabrication.
New faces popped up throughout the village. Usually we played with all of the younger kiddos, but this time there were a bunch of teenagers lurking about! Personally, it was entertaining seeing how aloof and “cool” they were trying to be, but after throwing a frisbee-shaped invitation at them, they gladly turned the other cheek. They played frisbee TO WIN, and it was exciting having a challenge ;D
We brought new toys for the little children too ~ CHALK! They had so much fun drawing to their hearts’ content on the streets, and showing us intricate Tamil patterns. It was amazing seeing how gifted they were, and it was even more shocking seeing how energetic they became as soon as sunset hit. They were literally having jump rope races on the streets, using Ayah and Zia as the start and finish lines!!
After playtime, we got down to business, talking more the Irula community about the community center logistics. They raised important issues such as center ownership, and via Janet, our Tamil translator, we quelled their worries, saying ownership of all center activities belongs to them :)
Winding down after another day’s work, PUC India bought ourselves some more soda, trying Mirinda (orange Soda - Ayah’s fav) today. Dang, it be quite tasty ~ nice going, B!!
With the day slowing down, Ayah and I headed downstairs to talk with CASA casa kiddos about their lives, what they do for fun, and future aspirations. That really chill night of talking with the family about religion, passion for education, and most importantly, DANCING is another experience I will never forget.
Michael signing off! Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog post!!!
Michael Ramirez
PUC India 2019