Buckets of Service

A ton and a half of rocks, gallons and gallons of water, 13 buckets, and 11 sweaty shirts later, we completed or first day of work. Preparing for the day, of course we were told to go to bed early, drink plenty of water, the whole nine yards. Of course, none of us really listened to the implied bedtime, and we definitely are paying for it after a long days work, running off to bed at 9 pm. We were told that we would be filling a row of stadium seats. We had no idea that it would take five hours to haul close to one thousand buckets of shoveled rocks into a hole. I came into the workday knowing that my tiny arms would give out, but I couldn't have been more surprised with how much I personally was able to accomplish, and how much we were able to accomplish when we worked together. We couldn't have done it without the help of one of our day laborers, especially Scratchy who was the biggest help with shoveling. The physical work was the most rewarding experience, and I have never felt as accomplished as I did when the giant hole was finally filled. The best art about the day, however, was the small hair salon that the students decided to open for me, Nicolette, Natalie, and Monica. They approached us with open arms the minute they stepped foot outside, and they couldn't have been more excited to be playing with us. They decided to give us all new hairstyles, calling out Nicolette's hair as being an "absolute distaster" while putting mine in about 7 different kinds of braids. Stopping and thinking about how much we take for granted was a huge part of our service today, and knowing what goes into building and construction in this country is unbelievable. I expected an extremely rewarding experience coming into our first work day, but I had no idea that I would feel this accomplished. - Gaby