Day 9: Wednesday, June 5th
Eid Mubarak!
It was the first time in my life that I was away from my family during Eid Al-Iftar. I felt a little homesick, however that feeling was quickly swept away by the gracious hospitality of our host family and all those who assisted us daily to make our stay was as comfortable as possible. Arul our cook, Mani the owner of the home, and Hemouthi who is Mani’s daughter, all repeatedly wished me a Happy Ramzan (spelling in India)! They have such open hearts. There is this saying in India, “unity in diversity,” which stresses that no matter someone’s religion, skin color, or origin they are all still united through the commonality of being a citizen. People here are comfortable with diversity and I think it’s beautiful.
Okay, so I’ll step off my soapbox now and tell you the good stuff! After breakfast the team headed to site. We had begun pouring the columns and hoped to complete all of them to allow time to cure. The columns were cast to a 7ft height using steel forms that were bolted together. Wooden planks that seemed to be the trunks of small trees were used to fix the steel form in place and to ensure the column was leveled. Two wooden planks were added to each side and minor adjustments were made until the plumb bob (a leveling tool) showed the correct signs.
Before construction work the team always ensures that the work we will be assisting with does not hinder the process or speed of the construction workers. The team only helped when the labor involved wasn’t necessarily skilled. We also checked with our cultural advisor and contractor that our assistance doesn’t replace spots that other laborers could be hold (such as the women in the village who constantly helped us) and doesn’t impact their daily wages. Don’t worry!
We began pouring the columns! Just as before we created an assembly line to pass down the buckets full of concrete. The head masonry worker would dump the concrete into the column form and use a large wooden rod to consolidate the concrete. The process was repeated four more times until all the columns were poured! A day was needed for the concrete to cure. Then the forms would be removed and burlap would we placed to ensure humidity. Humidity is important since it allows the hydration process to continue and strengthen the concrete.
The team returned to the house for lunch. This time was always individual time and I tended to spend it playing with Hemouthi and her brothers (Mani’s children). Michael and I had challenged them to a game of volleyball where a clothing line acted as our net. They were kicking our butts! After a while, Arul felt pity for us and joined our team. To cool off we ended with a card game of ERS. It gets pretty competitive. Mani’s sister comes out during that time and to show us how to weave flowers. Many of the women here wear these long beautiful chain of jasmine flowers that are hand weaved through string. I tried it myself and completely failed! In my efforts, Mani’s sister placed a small chain in my hair. I got to smell jasmine for the rest of the day.
The team headed back to the site! The kids were about to start school again and we wanted to spend as much time with them as we could before it became difficult to do so. We skipped some rope, we threw some frisbees, and we danced some more Macarena (thanks, Sarah)! As the sun began the set we headed back home for dinner and Pepsi (yea Pepsi is better than Coke, fight me).
We closed the night with a game Michael taught us called Contact and Sarah shows that she’s too good to play with! After our highs/lows team debrief we all head to bed. That day was such a good day. It was definitely one of the best Eids I have ever had. Eid Mubarak!
Ayah Alomari
PUC India 2019