It finally came ... work! And we were pumped!
We got up early, some of us at 5 am. The mornings here are beautiful: that gentle tropical breeze, the palm trees rustling, the parrots and various Central American birds searching for their breakfast, the sun rising.
Coffee was prepared in the Dining Hall at 6 am. The coffee here is the best, much better than Starbucks! Smooth and rich. And the breakfasts: rice and beans, fresh white pineapple, freshly made fruit juice, and various breakfast items. The breakfast was so good that we knew our team leader was up to something.
He was. Ron fed us, then he set us to work. And work we did.
The team divided into various sub-parts. Some of us cut and ground pipes, others used an auger to dig post holes, a couple painted the freshly cut pipes to rust proof them, and our most "highly paid" members welded the sections together.
The prior team had made amazing progress, adding a good deal of fencing to what the initial team laid in 2010. They had picked up on the south side of the complex, and then began heading north along the east side of the twenty-two acres. Our job was to carry on, and head as far north as we could, towards the road on the north side of the complex.
From around 8 am until noon we continued the work, making excellent progress on digging new three foot deep holes, and assembling the fence posts and materials to enclose the east side.
At noon we broke for lunch: rice and beans, a meat stew on top of the rice, fresh papaya fruit, fruit juice newly squeezed ... an outstanding lunch. And, we were hot and ready to chow down!
The temperature on the first full day of work was hotter than any of us returnees could recall ... very hot, with an actual degree of humidity ... unusual for the dry season.
Following lunch our team leader, whom we fondly refer to as "the Admiral" due to his running a "tight ship", gave us a siesta time, prior to hitting the work hard again in the afternoon.
The work continued all day. And by the end of the first day of fencing we were tired ... bone tired. An early night of bed looked fantastic.
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