THE CEMENT DANCE

Since we are on the top of a very high and steep cliff we could not get a cement truck on top so all the cement for our project has had to be mixed by hand. What we have is a round portable cement mixer that the workers have used to hand mix every bag of cement used to build our dream.

The process is so perfectly executed it is like watching the most fabulous dance team in competition.

First there are two men who fill large buckets with fine sand.
There is another man who fills the same size bucket with large, very loose rock. One man fills buckets with water and one man carries the 50 lb bags of cement to the mixer. One man runs the machine to create the cement and then dumps it into a wheel barrel.

So the dance begins....
As quickly as you can imagine human beings move the dance occurs. A load of heavy gravel is dumped into the mixer...then one bucket of sand, while the original “rock” dumper runs to get another bucket. . This is dumped in followed by another bucket of sand. There are three buckets of water added while the cement bag is being dumped into the mixture. The machine runs continually while all the dumping happens.

When the materials are turned into actual cement, which happens rather quickly, it is dumped into the wheel barrel. Then all this has to be put into other buckets to be passed to the people using the cement.

























Yesterday they were laying the roof on our private area. This is the only two story building in our project. On the main floor is our bedroom. We then have a loft on top which will serve as Maurice’s “man cave.” He will have his office there, all his books, desk and if we have a TV it will also be there. The ceiling of this room, is obviously the roof. It is high. About 36 ft up. How do Mexican workers get cement up there to create our roof? They do it bucket by bucket, passing it from person to person, up a scaffold...Actually three scaffolds...on top of each other. This to me is the most beautiful part of the dance.
The noise, the laughter, the shouting, all creates such an excitement it is palatable. While these 16 workers are busy passing the cement up the scaffolds, the cement “makers” go back to filling their buckets for the next mixer full.

The movement is fluid and flawless. The strength and effort it takes to do this work is awe inspiring.

The roof/floor/ceiling is done. This is the last of the major construction to be completed on our project. Now we begin the finishing and the prep work for the terracing around the buildings. Tuesday we celebrate. The guys are making “Carne Asada” on a fire inside our main room. We will pay for the food and bring drinks and I am making brownies. When we told them we were celebrating on Tuesday they asked if they could cook the Carne Asada, their favorite.

Even when they had a chance to not have to work, and have their meal “catered” to them, they still chose to not sit by and do nothing. They will cook their own lunch to celebrate their accomplishments.

I think these men are amazing, and there is not a hard hat among them!!