Day 9
Porto, Portugal
Reading: Catcher in the Rye
Songs on Repeat: Chris Pierce "Change Yourself"
I got all the cement out of my hair and ears. I donated a pair of jeans that could walk themselves to the site after a week of building. Got a disc of over 500 pics from everyone. Said good-bye (tearfully) to the group and our local friends. Getting ready to board a plane to Barcelona.
Our last day in Porto was pure tourism. It was a shift from the quiet we had been used to. Porto is the second largest city in Portugal and the birthplace of port wine. We walked for hours, had a long lunch, visited Croft to sample some ports, picked up Portugal souvenirs. I'm not the greatest shopper, I've discovered. I got a few things but anybody expecting souvenirs might be disappointed. (I hope not.) After dinner, Melissa, Carolyn, Steve and I sat at a cafe by the river, shared pitchers of sangria and watched it get dark. We played Bullshit and danced by the water. By the time we got back through Porto's crumbling winding streets up to our hotel, we only had a few hours until we had to leave for the airport. But at that point, no one cared.
I am ready to set my own pace for a while. But I didn't anticipate how sad it would be to leave here. This week surpassed my expectations in all ways. To quote Melissa, "It's a powerful feeling to laugh with strangers." There was a lot of laughing this week. I love this country. I love how much pride its people have in it. I'll miss Amarante. But I know I'll be back. I feel like I just got the first course of Portugal and soon I'll be back for the main course. I want to tour Braga and Porto more and take a wine trip through the Douro Valley. Who's coming next trip?
Excited to see Barcelona. The only way I can really enjoy what I'm doing is to focus on one place at a time. I got tips from our group on the best spots to go and I'll see what happens when I get there. Trading buckets and cement for sidewalks and new sights.
Not sure when I'll find an internet cafe so I'm updating from my phone. Crossed fingers this works.
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
Monday, May 31, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
The Habitat Workout Plan
May 28
Amarante, Portugal
Reading: Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Songs on repeat: Whistle While You Work from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
The Habitat Exercise Plan
Weight Training
Bucket swinging: Using buckets filled with 7-10 pounds of cement, pass to partner in assembly line fashion. Use biceps, forearms, shoulders and trapezius muscles. Repeat for 3 hours.
Beam filling: Use same buckets to pour cement into rebarb lined beams. Using gluts, biceps, and shoulders, lift bucket overhead and pour until bucket is empty. Repeat for 3 hours.
Passing the bucket: Using stairs and scaffolding, pass cement-filled buckets back and forth down assembly line. Use legs, not back, to lift bucket. Use shoulders to keep bucket steady when passing upwards. Repeat for 3 hours.
Rest: Pass empty buckets back down stairs. Do as needed.
Cement making: Fill buckets with assorted rocks, sand and mix using shovel or hands, as convenient. Focus on gluts, inner thighs and shoulders.
Cardio
Carrying buckets (either cement or rock filled will work) run up and down 15 steps repeatedly.
Balance and Flexibility
Focusing on proper form, balance filled buckets and walk carefully across scaffolding or wooden beams. Use core to balance.
Break at lunch
Repeat entire routine for another 4 hours. For added difficulty, use cement-crusted gloves and pants for resistance.
* * * * *
I came up with a new book idea. "The Philanthropy Workout". Highlighting volunteer jobs that include manual labor, it would be a book that shows you best techniques to use, which volunteer jobs work what body parts, how to pick the volunteer job that fits into your workout schedule and where to find them. I´m kinda excited. If I can structure it right, I think it´ll work. (Need to figure out how to copyright or pitch asap before someone takes the idea, since I´m putting it out there on the interwebs. Attn stealers: this idea is copyrighted me.)
Keeping in theme with the fitness title, I realized today that I have taken a lot of pictures of meals and bottles of wine. This is for a few reasons. 1) Food and wine make me very happy. 2) Sampling new things are a huge part of my "out of my comfort zone" mission. Hence, pictures of meals and wine bottles to remind me of what I´ve tried the last 6 days.
I´ve lost track of the number of wines we´ve tried. There is a local type called green wine. It´s not actually green and there are red or white varieties. It feels thinner than the wine I´m used to, but the locals really enjoy it.
I´m a big fan of the local chocolate. We´ve had chocolate mousse after almost every meal. Not just typical chocolate mousse. This is rich, decadent, velvety, enticing, mouth-melting, real cocoa mousse. I can´t get enough. The kind we had tonite tasted like brownie batter that had just been whipped and sculpted into the dish. I would feel guilty after polishing off my 3rd or 4th mousse in as many nights, but with the workout plan from above, my guilt suddenly disappears.
Tomorrow is our last day of the build and I´m really sad to go. Besides splitting from the team, there are some incredible locals that I will be sad to leave. I already know I´m returning to Portugal soon and will have the best tour guides on hand. Amarante is such a cute, fun town. It´s quiet but you can feel how close knit the people are. They have so much pride and care about their town. It´s inspiring to see. I can see myself visiting here often.
Boa noite!
Amarante, Portugal
Reading: Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Songs on repeat: Whistle While You Work from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
The Habitat Exercise Plan
Weight Training
Bucket swinging: Using buckets filled with 7-10 pounds of cement, pass to partner in assembly line fashion. Use biceps, forearms, shoulders and trapezius muscles. Repeat for 3 hours.
Beam filling: Use same buckets to pour cement into rebarb lined beams. Using gluts, biceps, and shoulders, lift bucket overhead and pour until bucket is empty. Repeat for 3 hours.
Passing the bucket: Using stairs and scaffolding, pass cement-filled buckets back and forth down assembly line. Use legs, not back, to lift bucket. Use shoulders to keep bucket steady when passing upwards. Repeat for 3 hours.
Rest: Pass empty buckets back down stairs. Do as needed.
Cement making: Fill buckets with assorted rocks, sand and mix using shovel or hands, as convenient. Focus on gluts, inner thighs and shoulders.
Cardio
Carrying buckets (either cement or rock filled will work) run up and down 15 steps repeatedly.
Balance and Flexibility
Focusing on proper form, balance filled buckets and walk carefully across scaffolding or wooden beams. Use core to balance.
Break at lunch
Repeat entire routine for another 4 hours. For added difficulty, use cement-crusted gloves and pants for resistance.
* * * * *
I came up with a new book idea. "The Philanthropy Workout". Highlighting volunteer jobs that include manual labor, it would be a book that shows you best techniques to use, which volunteer jobs work what body parts, how to pick the volunteer job that fits into your workout schedule and where to find them. I´m kinda excited. If I can structure it right, I think it´ll work. (Need to figure out how to copyright or pitch asap before someone takes the idea, since I´m putting it out there on the interwebs. Attn stealers: this idea is copyrighted me.)
Keeping in theme with the fitness title, I realized today that I have taken a lot of pictures of meals and bottles of wine. This is for a few reasons. 1) Food and wine make me very happy. 2) Sampling new things are a huge part of my "out of my comfort zone" mission. Hence, pictures of meals and wine bottles to remind me of what I´ve tried the last 6 days.
I´ve lost track of the number of wines we´ve tried. There is a local type called green wine. It´s not actually green and there are red or white varieties. It feels thinner than the wine I´m used to, but the locals really enjoy it.
I´m a big fan of the local chocolate. We´ve had chocolate mousse after almost every meal. Not just typical chocolate mousse. This is rich, decadent, velvety, enticing, mouth-melting, real cocoa mousse. I can´t get enough. The kind we had tonite tasted like brownie batter that had just been whipped and sculpted into the dish. I would feel guilty after polishing off my 3rd or 4th mousse in as many nights, but with the workout plan from above, my guilt suddenly disappears.
Tomorrow is our last day of the build and I´m really sad to go. Besides splitting from the team, there are some incredible locals that I will be sad to leave. I already know I´m returning to Portugal soon and will have the best tour guides on hand. Amarante is such a cute, fun town. It´s quiet but you can feel how close knit the people are. They have so much pride and care about their town. It´s inspiring to see. I can see myself visiting here often.
Boa noite!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Gia...Jia....oh forget it.
Day 5
Braga and Guimarães, Portugal
Reading: Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Songs on repeat: pretty much anything Lady Gaga
Every team needs a break and ours came right in time. We hit a good place in building and part of the schedule is a day off. The whole team needed a shift to keep our momentum going. Today our local tour guys, Alfredo and Miguel, drove us into Guimarães, which is about 30 minutes away. Don´t ask me to pronounce correctly. I tried constantly through the day and Miguel just cracked up everytime. It´s something like Gui-a-mar-esh.
Guimarães is reportedly the first city of Portgual, where the first king took throne and conquered the rest of the area that is still Portugal. We started at the ruins of his first castle, which is really just a huge courtyard with a keep and moss-covered walls. We showed up right as busloads of schoolchildren arrived for field trips. Florescent orange hats everywhere. From there, they walked us through the rest of the city center and a palace that was used by the royal family up until about 200 years ago. So you know, a young palace.
While there wasn´t anything exceptionally remarkable about the places we saw (other than the beauty of these places), I always geek out at spots like that. Maybe it came from my dad, but I´m a bit of a history nerd. When you´re walking though a palace, you can see the tapestries from the era, maybe pieces of art they´ve strategically placed or furniture that "might" have been from the time. It all looks staged, like a museum. But if you step through the right doorway and are paying attention, the energy can just knock you over. You get to walk through hallways that have been used for hundreds of years. You look up at ceiling that have been handpainted by artisans ordered by monarchs. At some time, that place had a use. If you step right, you can feel it. Another soul walked through there and called it home. It just amazes me.
Ok, geeking out aside, the day was fun. Miguel has a quirky sense of humor and a good command of English. He gave us a brief story on how the first king took over and someone asked when Portugal became a republic instead of a monarchy. It was only in the last 100 years. She asked how it happened and he shrugged and brushed his hands together. "Pssh....It was very easy. We killed them." Air gun pointed at us. "Two shots, one for father, one for son. No more descendents. No more kings. Very easy. We win."
Walking through the center square was like walking through Fantasyland at Disneyland. Quaint buildings paired together, hugging each other with banners and laundry hung from all balconies. All the homes and business look exactly as they have the last 500 years. Miguel explained that anyone who resides in them is ordered to by law to restore them using the exact same practices as the original builders. They are not permitted to update the techniques or materials. So the town preserves its original look and feel. Portugal is a country that holds its traditions and history very dear. The downside is, it´s beyond expensive to do that, so most of the places stand empty for years.
We hiked a bit up to Bom Jesus, an incredible preserved church at the top of a mountian. I don´t know if I have the words or wits about me at the moment to describe accurately right now. Thank God for my camera. It´s stuck on top of this mountain with a lush forest on all sides that reminded me a lot of the higher regions of the Sierra Nevadas. How the hell did they get it up there? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bom_Jesus_do_Monte
We went into Braga then, and I´m actually bummed we didn´t get much time there. Hundreds of years ago, Braga was the capital of Roman occupancy for the region. They are mid a festival celebrating the Romans, so all over the streets there are carts, stands, bands and people just roaming dressed in Roman costume. It´s a massive toga party. Unfortunately, it was already late so we only got about 30 minutes there. Enough time to see a few of the cafes and the original library. (There I go geeking out again.) I definitely want to see Braga again. A reason to come back to Portugal.
We have 2 days left on the build, then one in Porto before we all part ways. It seems unreal that it´s gone so fast. I´m looking forward to the next leg of my trip and being able to plan my own schedule. We´re on the move constantly. But I´m going to miss a lot of this country. It´s been incredible so far.
Braga and Guimarães, Portugal
Reading: Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Songs on repeat: pretty much anything Lady Gaga
Every team needs a break and ours came right in time. We hit a good place in building and part of the schedule is a day off. The whole team needed a shift to keep our momentum going. Today our local tour guys, Alfredo and Miguel, drove us into Guimarães, which is about 30 minutes away. Don´t ask me to pronounce correctly. I tried constantly through the day and Miguel just cracked up everytime. It´s something like Gui-a-mar-esh.
Guimarães is reportedly the first city of Portgual, where the first king took throne and conquered the rest of the area that is still Portugal. We started at the ruins of his first castle, which is really just a huge courtyard with a keep and moss-covered walls. We showed up right as busloads of schoolchildren arrived for field trips. Florescent orange hats everywhere. From there, they walked us through the rest of the city center and a palace that was used by the royal family up until about 200 years ago. So you know, a young palace.
While there wasn´t anything exceptionally remarkable about the places we saw (other than the beauty of these places), I always geek out at spots like that. Maybe it came from my dad, but I´m a bit of a history nerd. When you´re walking though a palace, you can see the tapestries from the era, maybe pieces of art they´ve strategically placed or furniture that "might" have been from the time. It all looks staged, like a museum. But if you step through the right doorway and are paying attention, the energy can just knock you over. You get to walk through hallways that have been used for hundreds of years. You look up at ceiling that have been handpainted by artisans ordered by monarchs. At some time, that place had a use. If you step right, you can feel it. Another soul walked through there and called it home. It just amazes me.
Ok, geeking out aside, the day was fun. Miguel has a quirky sense of humor and a good command of English. He gave us a brief story on how the first king took over and someone asked when Portugal became a republic instead of a monarchy. It was only in the last 100 years. She asked how it happened and he shrugged and brushed his hands together. "Pssh....It was very easy. We killed them." Air gun pointed at us. "Two shots, one for father, one for son. No more descendents. No more kings. Very easy. We win."
Walking through the center square was like walking through Fantasyland at Disneyland. Quaint buildings paired together, hugging each other with banners and laundry hung from all balconies. All the homes and business look exactly as they have the last 500 years. Miguel explained that anyone who resides in them is ordered to by law to restore them using the exact same practices as the original builders. They are not permitted to update the techniques or materials. So the town preserves its original look and feel. Portugal is a country that holds its traditions and history very dear. The downside is, it´s beyond expensive to do that, so most of the places stand empty for years.
We hiked a bit up to Bom Jesus, an incredible preserved church at the top of a mountian. I don´t know if I have the words or wits about me at the moment to describe accurately right now. Thank God for my camera. It´s stuck on top of this mountain with a lush forest on all sides that reminded me a lot of the higher regions of the Sierra Nevadas. How the hell did they get it up there? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bom_Jesus_do_Monte
We went into Braga then, and I´m actually bummed we didn´t get much time there. Hundreds of years ago, Braga was the capital of Roman occupancy for the region. They are mid a festival celebrating the Romans, so all over the streets there are carts, stands, bands and people just roaming dressed in Roman costume. It´s a massive toga party. Unfortunately, it was already late so we only got about 30 minutes there. Enough time to see a few of the cafes and the original library. (There I go geeking out again.) I definitely want to see Braga again. A reason to come back to Portugal.
We have 2 days left on the build, then one in Porto before we all part ways. It seems unreal that it´s gone so fast. I´m looking forward to the next leg of my trip and being able to plan my own schedule. We´re on the move constantly. But I´m going to miss a lot of this country. It´s been incredible so far.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Icing brick layer cake
May 25
Reading: Catcher In the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Songs on repeat: Disney medley sung by brick laying crew
I´m beyond tired tonite so don´t know how coherent this update will be. It was rainy and cold, which added a degree of difficulty. We worked on site all day, mainly getting the bricks for the outer walls up. This is not exciting work, but there is a precision to it. I have a whole new respect for people who do construction professionally. We´re working with a team of local construction workers, who I think are donating their time and supplies. I´m not sure, as none of them speak English. Could tell they were starting to get a little frustrated with us. Little disheartening to work on laying bricks and painstakenly ice the cement in between the layers, only to have one of them come over, shake his head, then take down all your bricks, scrape the cement off and put it up again in a quarter of the time. But by the end of the day, we got the hang of it.
Besides working on the site, I did a little (very little) shopping with a few of the girls and then we had dinner at the local youth center. Alfredo, I learned, works with the youth center and the center works with Habitat, which is why he´s been driving us and providing lunches. It´s the only location in town that has an all vegetarian menu. Lucky for me, seitain with cheese melted on top is delicious.
Our team had low energy today. Must have been a combo of the cold and rain. Hoping for a more upbeat, energetic team tomorrow.
I realized I haven´t said much about the team, who I´m really starting to appreciate.
Erick- the team lead and an old friend of mine from high school. He´s the one who told me about Habitat.
Janet-a project manager from Boston. This is also her first Habitat build.
Rosa-I haven´t spoken much with Rosa yet but I know she lives in DC and works in diversity. I learned tonite she has 4 grandchildren, even though she looks about 35.
Lillith-pronounced "Ly-lith." She works for Butler University in Indiana on medical research in gene therapy. Some of the work she does is on the foreground of cures to cancer and Parkinson´s disease. She´s fascinating to talk to and has run over 12 marathons.
Steve-a documentary photographer/videographer. He is documenting every minute of the trip and I´m a little scared of what he´s been catching of everyone when we´re not watching. You can´t go 2 feet without his camera aimed at you.
Dan-From Portland, OR, Dan is a tech designer for pacemakers and other heart machines. Very interesting to know that if you have a pace maker, it´s probably because Dan designed some part of it.
Melissa- aka "Frik", a college sophomore from NY, who goes to GW University.
Carolyn- aka "Frak", a college sophomore from NY, who goes to a school in PA. She and Melissa have been best friends since they were kids and they are hilarious together. Carolyn is also my roommate.
Samantha-Just graduated from USC.
Holly-works at Augusta State University in GA as the VP of International Studies. She has been and lived literally all over the world. If you can think of a country, she´s been there.
I don´t know a great deal about our local crew, but there is:
João- the local Habitat for Humanity coordinator
Paolo-the build arcitect who I think works for Habitat as a job now. He´s also very handsome and every girl has a massive crush on him.
Alfredo-our man about town who helps with everything. He works for the local youth center.
Vielo-I believe he is the construction crew leader, although it´s hard to tell. He reminds me a little of my grandfather for some reason, although they look nothing alike. Maybe it´s something about his eyes. I introduced myself to him when he was sighing over my brick work and now apparently, I´m his personal assistant on site. I think he just likes that he can understand and pronounce my name and yell it across the site.
Carlos-one of our construction guys. Day one I worked on rebar with him. He would show me what to do and I would give him a thumbs up to show I understood. That, apparently, was hilarious to him, and now he gives me a thumbs up whenever he sees me, no matter what I´m working on.
There are two or three other construction guys I am slowly getting to know. One was laughing at me when I couldn´t scale the scaffolding like a monkey the way he did.
As we worked today, one thing struck me. I´ve been involed with non-profits for a long time. I like staying active. I´ve volunteered with Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Girl Scouts, Young Storytellers and a few others I can´t remember right now. But they have always been local. What struck me was how many walks of life have lead us all to this place, this build. We´re all so different, but still we are all working on the same thing. Working on something like this makes you realize that a unifier of the human spirit is our desire to help. We´ve all come together and put aside our own lives, troubles and agendas to achieve something. It´s an empowering feeling.
That´s as coherent as I can be tonite. Boa Noite.
Reading: Catcher In the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Songs on repeat: Disney medley sung by brick laying crew
I´m beyond tired tonite so don´t know how coherent this update will be. It was rainy and cold, which added a degree of difficulty. We worked on site all day, mainly getting the bricks for the outer walls up. This is not exciting work, but there is a precision to it. I have a whole new respect for people who do construction professionally. We´re working with a team of local construction workers, who I think are donating their time and supplies. I´m not sure, as none of them speak English. Could tell they were starting to get a little frustrated with us. Little disheartening to work on laying bricks and painstakenly ice the cement in between the layers, only to have one of them come over, shake his head, then take down all your bricks, scrape the cement off and put it up again in a quarter of the time. But by the end of the day, we got the hang of it.
Besides working on the site, I did a little (very little) shopping with a few of the girls and then we had dinner at the local youth center. Alfredo, I learned, works with the youth center and the center works with Habitat, which is why he´s been driving us and providing lunches. It´s the only location in town that has an all vegetarian menu. Lucky for me, seitain with cheese melted on top is delicious.
Our team had low energy today. Must have been a combo of the cold and rain. Hoping for a more upbeat, energetic team tomorrow.
I realized I haven´t said much about the team, who I´m really starting to appreciate.
Erick- the team lead and an old friend of mine from high school. He´s the one who told me about Habitat.
Janet-a project manager from Boston. This is also her first Habitat build.
Rosa-I haven´t spoken much with Rosa yet but I know she lives in DC and works in diversity. I learned tonite she has 4 grandchildren, even though she looks about 35.
Lillith-pronounced "Ly-lith." She works for Butler University in Indiana on medical research in gene therapy. Some of the work she does is on the foreground of cures to cancer and Parkinson´s disease. She´s fascinating to talk to and has run over 12 marathons.
Steve-a documentary photographer/videographer. He is documenting every minute of the trip and I´m a little scared of what he´s been catching of everyone when we´re not watching. You can´t go 2 feet without his camera aimed at you.
Dan-From Portland, OR, Dan is a tech designer for pacemakers and other heart machines. Very interesting to know that if you have a pace maker, it´s probably because Dan designed some part of it.
Melissa- aka "Frik", a college sophomore from NY, who goes to GW University.
Carolyn- aka "Frak", a college sophomore from NY, who goes to a school in PA. She and Melissa have been best friends since they were kids and they are hilarious together. Carolyn is also my roommate.
Samantha-Just graduated from USC.
Holly-works at Augusta State University in GA as the VP of International Studies. She has been and lived literally all over the world. If you can think of a country, she´s been there.
I don´t know a great deal about our local crew, but there is:
João- the local Habitat for Humanity coordinator
Paolo-the build arcitect who I think works for Habitat as a job now. He´s also very handsome and every girl has a massive crush on him.
Alfredo-our man about town who helps with everything. He works for the local youth center.
Vielo-I believe he is the construction crew leader, although it´s hard to tell. He reminds me a little of my grandfather for some reason, although they look nothing alike. Maybe it´s something about his eyes. I introduced myself to him when he was sighing over my brick work and now apparently, I´m his personal assistant on site. I think he just likes that he can understand and pronounce my name and yell it across the site.
Carlos-one of our construction guys. Day one I worked on rebar with him. He would show me what to do and I would give him a thumbs up to show I understood. That, apparently, was hilarious to him, and now he gives me a thumbs up whenever he sees me, no matter what I´m working on.
There are two or three other construction guys I am slowly getting to know. One was laughing at me when I couldn´t scale the scaffolding like a monkey the way he did.
As we worked today, one thing struck me. I´ve been involed with non-profits for a long time. I like staying active. I´ve volunteered with Families of Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Girl Scouts, Young Storytellers and a few others I can´t remember right now. But they have always been local. What struck me was how many walks of life have lead us all to this place, this build. We´re all so different, but still we are all working on the same thing. Working on something like this makes you realize that a unifier of the human spirit is our desire to help. We´ve all come together and put aside our own lives, troubles and agendas to achieve something. It´s an empowering feeling.
That´s as coherent as I can be tonite. Boa Noite.
Monday, May 24, 2010
A Dog Named Creepy
May 24
Amarante, Portugal
Reading: Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger
Songs on repeat: Bonjour from Beauty and the Beast
Forget what I said about Amarane being a village. It´s a metropolis compared to our build site. Ok, maybe it´s a town. The area we are building in, which I can neither pronouce or spell, is really just a mountain road with very old, derelict houses and shacks. There is really nothing up there but the view. (Which is breathtaking.) I´m tempted to carry a notepad and paper and have our local guides write things down any time they answer my questions about the area.
Portuguese is a hard language. It´s a blend of Spanish, French and Romanian. I haven´t worked up the courage to really say anything but "Obrigado." (Thank you.) Anything I have tried just ends up as a Spanish/Portuguese/English hybrid and the locals either laugh or stare. They really don´t know what to do with us yet.
The build went a lot better than I expected. Some of the experienced GV members told me horror stories (or maybe pride stories) of Habitat builds with no water, balancing over scaffolding off cliffs and mixing cement by hand. Our is in a pverty stricken area but we have electricity and a cement mixer. Posh.
Very little time to go over anything before we dove in. We´re rebuilding on the old house´s location so at least it´s not from scratch. A fair chunk of the outer walls made it up today. I spent most of the day working with rebar. (No idea if I spelled that right.) Basically we were bending and securing iron beams that supports the corners and ceiling. Thank God for leather gloves. I would have been shredded to pieces by 9:30am without them. Got a good layer of rust dust from head to toe.
One of the best parts about the Habitat crew is the kindness of the team. Our lunch was made by Alfredo´s family. I´m not exactly sure what Alfredo does, but so far he has been our driver, built on site and he brought us lunch. And his brother owns a bar across from the hotel. Lunch was a fantastic filling pasta salad with eggs, olives, tomatos, peppers, cheese, cashews, sardines, zucchini and a few things I didn´t recognize. Like I said, no questions.
After lunch we walked up the mountain to a tiny cafe for cha and cafe. It´s run by an ancient couple with huge smiles. It looked like we had been their first customers in about 15 years. As we laughed and relaxed in the courtyard, a tiny dog snuck over to investigate us. He let some of the girls get close but was skittish around the guys. I named him Creepy for the way he crept around the yard, going from spot to spot without letting anyone touch him. Any loud conversatin would send him under the stairs. He liked me and chilled at my side for a while. The old woman who ran the cafe came running out and started gesturing and speaking loud Portuguese. Through pantomime I guessed he was her dog and he lived at the cafe. Afterwards, her husband led us through their garden vineyard and chicken coops as a short cut back to the site.
Evertyhing I´ve seen so far of Portugal is a strange mix of modern and provincial. The house next to the site had a woman scrubbing and banging her wash in a stone basin. But then she answered a cell. I am trying to picture what day to day life is like, but it´s hard to do. I´m used to comfort and gratification, especially when it comes to wear I live. It´s an education to see what other cultures regard as normal.
The build went well and I didn´t even get sunburned. Just some rosy cheeks.
As we left the build and were coming down the mountain, I realized how relaxed I was. Even after 2 days of annoying travel and a hard build today. I feel great. That got me thinking on why I am so tense all the time, and if it´s my lifestyle that makes me so tense. Why do I choose to live in LA, around all the choas and panicked energy and traffic, when it makes me crazy? But when I picture living anywhere but LA, I feel hollow. I know if I left LA, I´d feel like there was something missing. I know I won´t always feel that way. Someday I´ll probably want to live somwhere else and have a different lifestyle. But it feels good to know that my life and the way I live it are by choice and are a part of me. It´s a realization I can only have when not mid-crazy LA.
Relaxing evening. I love the way the Portuguese do dinners. It´s a production. Tapas on the table: prosciutto, bread, breaded meat pastries, olives, octopus salad. Meat in general is a big thing here. Almost no vegetarian choices anywhere. (Not a bad thing for me but some of our team are having a hard time figuring out what to eat.) After tapas and wine, then the entree, which is huge. Tonite I had salmon with green beans soaked in something and more roasted potatoes. Then desserts for the table to share and more cafe. Everything has been really tasty but I´m not used to the huge dinners.
A few of the girls took a long walk after dinner and snuck into the palace-turned-hotel. Gorgeous old place called Casa da Calcada. Very regal and formal inside. I´ve been playing with my new camera, trying out all the new settings. I´m getting some good shots of the town, but none of my pics have people in them. Really need to start getting some of the team.
Almost midnight, time to crash. I think I finally figured out a good routine with the internet cafe so I hope I can keep updating.
Boa noite.
Amarante, Portugal
Reading: Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger
Songs on repeat: Bonjour from Beauty and the Beast
Forget what I said about Amarane being a village. It´s a metropolis compared to our build site. Ok, maybe it´s a town. The area we are building in, which I can neither pronouce or spell, is really just a mountain road with very old, derelict houses and shacks. There is really nothing up there but the view. (Which is breathtaking.) I´m tempted to carry a notepad and paper and have our local guides write things down any time they answer my questions about the area.
Portuguese is a hard language. It´s a blend of Spanish, French and Romanian. I haven´t worked up the courage to really say anything but "Obrigado." (Thank you.) Anything I have tried just ends up as a Spanish/Portuguese/English hybrid and the locals either laugh or stare. They really don´t know what to do with us yet.
The build went a lot better than I expected. Some of the experienced GV members told me horror stories (or maybe pride stories) of Habitat builds with no water, balancing over scaffolding off cliffs and mixing cement by hand. Our is in a pverty stricken area but we have electricity and a cement mixer. Posh.
Very little time to go over anything before we dove in. We´re rebuilding on the old house´s location so at least it´s not from scratch. A fair chunk of the outer walls made it up today. I spent most of the day working with rebar. (No idea if I spelled that right.) Basically we were bending and securing iron beams that supports the corners and ceiling. Thank God for leather gloves. I would have been shredded to pieces by 9:30am without them. Got a good layer of rust dust from head to toe.
One of the best parts about the Habitat crew is the kindness of the team. Our lunch was made by Alfredo´s family. I´m not exactly sure what Alfredo does, but so far he has been our driver, built on site and he brought us lunch. And his brother owns a bar across from the hotel. Lunch was a fantastic filling pasta salad with eggs, olives, tomatos, peppers, cheese, cashews, sardines, zucchini and a few things I didn´t recognize. Like I said, no questions.
After lunch we walked up the mountain to a tiny cafe for cha and cafe. It´s run by an ancient couple with huge smiles. It looked like we had been their first customers in about 15 years. As we laughed and relaxed in the courtyard, a tiny dog snuck over to investigate us. He let some of the girls get close but was skittish around the guys. I named him Creepy for the way he crept around the yard, going from spot to spot without letting anyone touch him. Any loud conversatin would send him under the stairs. He liked me and chilled at my side for a while. The old woman who ran the cafe came running out and started gesturing and speaking loud Portuguese. Through pantomime I guessed he was her dog and he lived at the cafe. Afterwards, her husband led us through their garden vineyard and chicken coops as a short cut back to the site.
Evertyhing I´ve seen so far of Portugal is a strange mix of modern and provincial. The house next to the site had a woman scrubbing and banging her wash in a stone basin. But then she answered a cell. I am trying to picture what day to day life is like, but it´s hard to do. I´m used to comfort and gratification, especially when it comes to wear I live. It´s an education to see what other cultures regard as normal.
The build went well and I didn´t even get sunburned. Just some rosy cheeks.
As we left the build and were coming down the mountain, I realized how relaxed I was. Even after 2 days of annoying travel and a hard build today. I feel great. That got me thinking on why I am so tense all the time, and if it´s my lifestyle that makes me so tense. Why do I choose to live in LA, around all the choas and panicked energy and traffic, when it makes me crazy? But when I picture living anywhere but LA, I feel hollow. I know if I left LA, I´d feel like there was something missing. I know I won´t always feel that way. Someday I´ll probably want to live somwhere else and have a different lifestyle. But it feels good to know that my life and the way I live it are by choice and are a part of me. It´s a realization I can only have when not mid-crazy LA.
Relaxing evening. I love the way the Portuguese do dinners. It´s a production. Tapas on the table: prosciutto, bread, breaded meat pastries, olives, octopus salad. Meat in general is a big thing here. Almost no vegetarian choices anywhere. (Not a bad thing for me but some of our team are having a hard time figuring out what to eat.) After tapas and wine, then the entree, which is huge. Tonite I had salmon with green beans soaked in something and more roasted potatoes. Then desserts for the table to share and more cafe. Everything has been really tasty but I´m not used to the huge dinners.
A few of the girls took a long walk after dinner and snuck into the palace-turned-hotel. Gorgeous old place called Casa da Calcada. Very regal and formal inside. I´ve been playing with my new camera, trying out all the new settings. I´m getting some good shots of the town, but none of my pics have people in them. Really need to start getting some of the team.
Almost midnight, time to crash. I think I finally figured out a good routine with the internet cafe so I hope I can keep updating.
Boa noite.
Churches and phallic pastries
May 23
LAX » IAD»FRA»OPO
Reading: An Education by Lynn Barber
Songs on repeat: Lady Antebellum "Need You Now" and Band of Horses "No One´s Going To Love You"
I´ve arrived safe and sound. More importantly, so did the turtle pack. After a harrowing dash through the Frankfort airport, I was afraid I´d be doing the build in my chucks and t-shirt I had worn for 2 days already. But we both arrived safe and after 8 hours waiting in the Porto airport for the rest of the team, now we´re all in Amarante.
I had been worried about the language barrier, but like everyone said, a good majority of people speak English or at least understand it. What was surprising is the number of billboards, signs, even menus that are also in English. Not so much in Amarante because it´s out of the way, but elsewhere, English is everywhere. Really makes you think about how Americans view our tourists. Not only that, but the fact that in Europe, it seems they all speak at least 2 languages. It´s just a completely different mentality than Americans have.
The village is old and hilly and very beautiful. Erick, the team lead, swears it´s a city and it´s only my LA perpective that assmes it´s a village. I´m sorry but if you can walk it in under 15 min, the cars give way to pedestrians on cobblestone paths and every store, shop, or restaurant shuts down for mass, it´s a village.
Our local team lead, João, took us for a tour of this event. At that point I had been up since 3am LA time on Saturday with nothing but 20 min cat naps to keep me going. But I love tours and went anyway. He led us through all these narrow....well I guess you would call them streets but really they are just 8 ft wide cobblestone paths between the shops. Even so, cars race through them like it´s nothing. Every where we went, we were stared at by the locals. I don´t think it´s a very touristy area. A troupe of blue-shirted, overly excited Americans must have been hilarious.
Every inch of Amarante is just soaked in history. We walked through the ruins of a convent that has been there since some of the first kings and there is a local palace that has been converted into a hotel. There are churches everywhere. Almost all of Portugal is Roman Catholic and we peeped inside St. Gonçalo, the largest church, mid mass. The detail and care on the interior was astonishing. I wanted to take pictures but it wouldn´t do it justice. And this is just a typical church, not even a well known one.
Outside all of the churches, there are old ladies selling fresh pastries, bread, and cookies. I guess one thing that is tradition for the area are these penis shaped pastries. I have no idea why but Holly from our group mentioned she had read it somewhere. So on all these stands outside these majestic Catholic churches are these little old women selling pastries in the shape of penises. They have penis towers on the tables. They look delicious. I wonder how well business does after mass.
All of the Americans were starving by about 6:30 but in Portugal, most don´t eat dinner until 8:30 or after. The menus are heavily carnivourous. Lots of fish, veal, beef, goat, even octupus. I had an amazing roasted veal with butter-soaked roasted potatoes, these bite-sized meat pastries and spinach in some kind of sauce. I think I´ll be better off on this trip if I don´t ask what is in most of the dishes. Sardines are really popular and served on the table fried. Erick and I split a bottle of a great local red wine,Esteva Douro. The alcohol content must be less here. Normally if I split a bottle of wine, I´m on the floor. But after the whole bottle, we were both fine. It was ridiculously cheap, only about 8 euros for the whole bottle. If that´s the norm for the region, I think I´ll be sending home many more bottles than I had originally thought.
Our team is a really fun one. 8 girls and 3 guys and everyone gets a long really well so far. Even the hotel is better than expected. Comfortable rooms, hot showers, a fantastic buffet for breakfast and a patio that looks out over the whole village. Apparently this is one of the cushier Habitat builds. I´m the only one who hasn´t done some sort of Habitat build before. Everyone else has done at least one in the US and a few have done multiple GV trips. We´re from all over the country and a wide variety of jobs, so it´s been fun listening to everyone else´s stories.
I crashed hard after dinner and slept the best I have in my entire life. First build day is tomorrow and I´m so ready to get started.
LAX » IAD»FRA»OPO
Reading: An Education by Lynn Barber
Songs on repeat: Lady Antebellum "Need You Now" and Band of Horses "No One´s Going To Love You"
I´ve arrived safe and sound. More importantly, so did the turtle pack. After a harrowing dash through the Frankfort airport, I was afraid I´d be doing the build in my chucks and t-shirt I had worn for 2 days already. But we both arrived safe and after 8 hours waiting in the Porto airport for the rest of the team, now we´re all in Amarante.
I had been worried about the language barrier, but like everyone said, a good majority of people speak English or at least understand it. What was surprising is the number of billboards, signs, even menus that are also in English. Not so much in Amarante because it´s out of the way, but elsewhere, English is everywhere. Really makes you think about how Americans view our tourists. Not only that, but the fact that in Europe, it seems they all speak at least 2 languages. It´s just a completely different mentality than Americans have.
The village is old and hilly and very beautiful. Erick, the team lead, swears it´s a city and it´s only my LA perpective that assmes it´s a village. I´m sorry but if you can walk it in under 15 min, the cars give way to pedestrians on cobblestone paths and every store, shop, or restaurant shuts down for mass, it´s a village.
Our local team lead, João, took us for a tour of this event. At that point I had been up since 3am LA time on Saturday with nothing but 20 min cat naps to keep me going. But I love tours and went anyway. He led us through all these narrow....well I guess you would call them streets but really they are just 8 ft wide cobblestone paths between the shops. Even so, cars race through them like it´s nothing. Every where we went, we were stared at by the locals. I don´t think it´s a very touristy area. A troupe of blue-shirted, overly excited Americans must have been hilarious.
Every inch of Amarante is just soaked in history. We walked through the ruins of a convent that has been there since some of the first kings and there is a local palace that has been converted into a hotel. There are churches everywhere. Almost all of Portugal is Roman Catholic and we peeped inside St. Gonçalo, the largest church, mid mass. The detail and care on the interior was astonishing. I wanted to take pictures but it wouldn´t do it justice. And this is just a typical church, not even a well known one.
Outside all of the churches, there are old ladies selling fresh pastries, bread, and cookies. I guess one thing that is tradition for the area are these penis shaped pastries. I have no idea why but Holly from our group mentioned she had read it somewhere. So on all these stands outside these majestic Catholic churches are these little old women selling pastries in the shape of penises. They have penis towers on the tables. They look delicious. I wonder how well business does after mass.
All of the Americans were starving by about 6:30 but in Portugal, most don´t eat dinner until 8:30 or after. The menus are heavily carnivourous. Lots of fish, veal, beef, goat, even octupus. I had an amazing roasted veal with butter-soaked roasted potatoes, these bite-sized meat pastries and spinach in some kind of sauce. I think I´ll be better off on this trip if I don´t ask what is in most of the dishes. Sardines are really popular and served on the table fried. Erick and I split a bottle of a great local red wine,Esteva Douro. The alcohol content must be less here. Normally if I split a bottle of wine, I´m on the floor. But after the whole bottle, we were both fine. It was ridiculously cheap, only about 8 euros for the whole bottle. If that´s the norm for the region, I think I´ll be sending home many more bottles than I had originally thought.
Our team is a really fun one. 8 girls and 3 guys and everyone gets a long really well so far. Even the hotel is better than expected. Comfortable rooms, hot showers, a fantastic buffet for breakfast and a patio that looks out over the whole village. Apparently this is one of the cushier Habitat builds. I´m the only one who hasn´t done some sort of Habitat build before. Everyone else has done at least one in the US and a few have done multiple GV trips. We´re from all over the country and a wide variety of jobs, so it´s been fun listening to everyone else´s stories.
I crashed hard after dinner and slept the best I have in my entire life. First build day is tomorrow and I´m so ready to get started.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Without a Hair Dryer
Tomorrow I’m boarding a plane at 6:00am. I’ll be traveling for almost 24 hours straight. When I finally touch ground, I’ll be in Porto, Portugal.
This is a big deal to me.
Be careful. I’m about to get sappy.
When I signed up for Habitat for Humanity Global Village, it was following a whim. I was feeling claustrophobic in LA. It was the very start of 2010 and I knew that I couldn’t make it through another year living the same way I did in 2009. I needed something solid and totally selfish to grasp onto to get me jumpstarted. So when an old friend from high school raved about his amazing Habitat trips, something resonated. It wasn’t something I had considered before, but after hearing about it for one evening, I just knew it was something I was going to do. It was just a fact. I never had a question my year would go any different.
And so began half a year of planning and plotting and saving. I fund-raised my butt off. I sold a ton of my stuff. I campaigned with every person I know. I babysat a million hours. I did focus groups for cash and invented book and DVD drives. I threw garage sales. I got donations from EVERYWHERE. What I thought was going to be the most difficult part- raising the money to go- ended up being the most enlightening experience. Once I put it out there that this was something I was going to do, the support that came back blew me away. Some of it was surprising, from places I never expected. Those I did expect to support…somehow didn’t. The people in my life lifted me up and I have never been so grateful. Already I have received what I wanted—a life changing experience and to feel connected to something again. I’m connected to every single soul who has wished me luck or sent their support. For that, I am eternally grateful.
Ok…..now on to the fun part. The trip. It somehow ballooned past doing a Habitat for Humanity mission into a life mission.
The first part: I’ll be in Amarante, Portugal for 10 days. We’re building for the Costas family, a family of four who live in a one bedroom hut with no plumbing. This part of the trip is the most mysterious for me. I have no idea what to expect. Can I swing a hammer? Should I have been schlepping bags of cement around the last few months in preparation? I’m not the first one you’d see doing manual labor. But the best part about it is that I’m actually excited to get away from my desk, my blackberry and my comfort zone. I’m excited to just BE in a place and see something I had hands in benefit someone else.
The second part: After Portugal, I’m taking another 7 days to travel to Spain and Italy alone. I picked Barcelona, Venice and Rome after getting tons of suggestions. This is the scary part. I hadn’t anticipated traveling alone when I started. I’m a social animal. I love people and energy and most of all, I love support and to share experiences. Traveling solo seemed like an intimidating and lonely idea. I wanted company. But it seems the Universe had other ideas. But now, as I’m about to embark on this crazy journey, traveling solo seems….perfect. Liberating. Even enticing. Answering to no one. It feels….fantastic. I’m sure there will still be moments when I get lonely and I want to share my experiences with those closest to me. But that’s why this blog is so handy.
The next part of the process is where it gets tricky and where my blog title came from. This trip is a real departure for me. I like creature comforts. I like my routines and picking out my outfits based on my mood. I over-pack for a trip to Target. I like to take my time to get ready and get attached to my favorite things. But that mentality doesn’t mesh well with a 17 day trek across Europe. Granted, I’m not going on a safari through desolate wilderness. I’ll be in lovely, popular cities. But still….caravans full of HFH volunteers, foreign airports, hostels, trains and lots and lots and lots of walking doesn’t work well when carting around 3 suitcases, even with the traveling wheels. So I’m backpacking it- trading comfort for convenience. I’m leaving the hair dryer at home.
Part of this “life mission” is seeing if I can do something new and completely out of my comfort zone. Traveling without a hair dryer is definitely out of my comfort zone. Don’t laugh. If you had grown up with crazy curly hair with a mind of its own, you would be uncomfortable too. Someone in my family made a joke if I was aware that on Habitat trips, you don’t always get to shower every day and there’s no time for make-up. You know what? Thank God. When I heard that jab, after my initial offense, I was just happy that I not only knew that this trip meant changing and letting go of my habits, but that I also didn’t care. I welcome it.
I’ll be updating this blog periodically. I haven't planned out what I'm blogging about so they could just be random musings from a displaced LA girl. (Watch out, typos and misspellings and awful grammar abound!) Or they could be pics of pigeons. Who knows? I’m using this time to detach from my routine here and hit the reset button. Remember what I love doing and discover new things I hadn’t considered liking. Pushing myself to write because that “I’ll do it someday” clause is up. Seeing what exists outside the LA bubble.
I’m really friggin excited.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
