Welcome back Mesquiters (our new term for you lovely followers)! Hope you all have been enjoying our Instagram stories and blog posts so far. Per our blog’s rotation order, today is my turn to write, and I sure do have a lot to share!
The day started off a bit slow while we patiently waited for some much-needed coffee to brew, but the group’s yawns quickly turned into laughter as we began a competitive game of hot potato which then morphed into a makeshift basketball game that consisted of a ball (rolled up plastic string) and a net (Ryan’s safari hat hanging off of a tree branch). After numerous attempts to dethrone our only successful shooter, Gaby, we transitioned into our first planned activity of the day, The Human Knot. The rules are simple: Everyone gets into a circle, you cross your arms, grab other people’s hands, and then work as a group to get into a circle again. You’d think we’d be able to complete this simple game at least once, yet somehow we did not prevail. After restarting a round because Gaby and Ryan somehow managed to hook arms with just one another and then ending another round because I was being turned into a human Gumby, we ended up giving up on the big group version and splitting into subgroups (we were able to get out of those knots at least).
The subgroups consisted of two teams: Equipo de Base (Team Base) and Equipo de Madera (Team Wood). Everyone chose whichever project they preferred, and the teams went off to work!
Equipo de Base overview: EQUIPO DE BASE IS THE BEST TEAM! It’s not an opinion, it’s just a fact. Equipo de Base, which consisted of David, me, Hannah Myers, Petri, and Ryan, was in charge of starting the Polyhouse’s structure and creating a wooden frame to add more stability for inclement weather. There were a few hiccups along the way: Ryan took measurements in inches but then forgot and cut all of our initial wood pieces in centimeters (but we were able to use the pieces anyways so no need to stress), I tripped over a piece of our structure and broke it and had to super glue it back together (along with a few of my fingers), and poor Ryan had to drill holes in the wood with a dull drill bit that produced an alarming amount of smoke and took far too long. While the process wasn’t complex, the work sure was tiring, but seeing our base ready to go for tomorrow morning was so gratifying.
Equipo de Madera overview: This mighty team consisted of Antonio, Archik, David, Gaby, and Minerva. They began by talking about essential dimensions to ensure that the Xuchil team could maneuver the racks and trays as easily as possible (such as how high the racks could be and how long the trays could be). After brainstorming, they drew out a design, measured the wood, and started cutting! As always when working with wood, there were a couple bumps along the road, but the team was able to work around them and came out at the end of the day with a solid 8’ x 2’ x 4’ drying rack. Tomorrow they plan to finish the trays, attach the wheels, and take it up to the roof to test how it moves within the Polyhouse’s space!
Besides the oval shaped sunburn I have on my back due to the fact that I forgot my shirt had a weird hole in it, I would definitely say that today was a success, and I know that our team is more than excited to keep building, keeping having fun, and keeping learning about the wonderful people and things we’re experiencing around Suchilquitongo.
Peace, love, sunscreen,
- Hannah Ilan y Team Mexico
Timeline Summary:
8am: Wake up & eat breakfast (Oatmeal tea, eggs, tortillas, and papaya)
9am: Head over to the worksite
9:30am: Impromptu game of Hot Potato and makeshift “basketball”
10am: The Human Knot (didn’t end well)
11am: Broke into groups: Equipo de Base y Equipo de Made
1pm: Lunch at Carlos’ Dad’s house (Guava juice, chicken with rice and tomatillo sauce, tortillas, and desert (which consisted of bananas, amaranth, cream cheese, and chocolate sauce))
2pm: Get back to group work
5:30ishpm: Head back to the hotel (Walk through Suchil!)
6pm: Power nap
7pm: Dinner! (quesillo with veggies and chicken, tortillas, toast, and lemongrass tea)
9:00pm: TEAM TIME