working...

well, we came to the philippines to work, and work we did.  we carried bricks and buckets, mixed cement, made window sills, painted window frames, dug dirt, carried dirt and in genral, sweat like we'd never sweat before; due mostly to the fact that (as one guy kept saying) 'it's very hot in the philippines.'  as it hit 100 degrees, that mantra was the understatement of the century. too hot for lazy english teachers- that's for sure!  breaks that started out at 15 minutes got longer and fights over who got to paint windows in the shade got fiercer.  oh well.  when we left, two families had a new place to live, so i think it all worked out... =)

the construction site on our first day- when we were still genki.

one of many block passing lines. do you see the bulging muscles under my stylish pink shirt?

r: fumie and i present our beautiful window sill while aki and kato look on, wishing they were as skilled at masonry as us.

yuki, trisha, and their proud baby bucket.

morgan being 'tough'.

molly, me, lizzie and fumie enjoy the coveted window painting detail.

r: mixing cement.  of course, immediately after posing for this picture, i gave aki back his shovel- but it looked good when i showed my supervisor in japan!

fumie, trisha and i take a break with jessica and her friend, also volunteers.

crazed from the heat and his blistering sunburn, kato mistakes a block for fried chicken as aki smiles.

day 3 of work:  time for a roof.