mondays

Monday is always a busy day, mainly because it's the first official day of the week & the groups don't have the lay of the land quite yet.  I start early, 4:00 am to be exact, and check the coffee (to make sure the timer actually worked & we didn't blow a fuse) and go for a run. I run, and run, and run around the hotel.  Not the most exciting thing, but it's better than the treadmill in the gym (or sauna as I refer to it...it's usually warmer inside than outside that room).  Afterwards, I begin preparing for breakfast.  The morning cooks, David, Elida & Marta, arrive at 5:00 and do most of the work. I cut bananas, put out condiments, and chat with folks as they arrive.  The morning construction meeting is at 5:45 for all construction staff, construction coordinators & group leaders.  Once they finish, usually around 6:00, we "circle up" in the parking lot for announcements &  a blessing to lead us into breakfast.  Monday breakfast is cheese quesadillas, oatmeal, bananas, assorted cereal & juice/milk.  The staff eats together, discusses the day, and does a short devotional each day.  We go through that routine every day of the week...and it works well.

On Mondays, the groups leave for the worksite between 7 and 7:30.  They'll work until 12 or 12:30.  I usually stay around the hotel and get odds and ends done (and to be honest, sometimes take a morning nap if I'm really exhuasted) and go out to the bodega to help load stucco for the groups around 10:30.  This is a great way to see the sites, as we deliver the bags of stucco after we load them.  This is my first arm workout of the week...each bag weighs about 40 pounds.  Today they loaded 180!   Instead of the usual Monday morning routine, today we crossed the border to run some errands- bank, post office, Walmart, Dairy Queen- you know, the essentials.  We actually were finished with errands before DQ opened but really wanted blizzards, so instead of waiting in the car, we went downtown and met Alfredo's cousin, a District Judge.  After a short chat and a very tasty Oreo Cookie Jar blizzard (Oreos, cookie dough & hot fudge), we returned to Mexico.  I took a long siesta, then a shower, then ran some errands around Piedras- changed money from dollars to pesos, looked at an outdoor pottery yard for heavy, but beautiful souveneirs, bought bollilos (Mexican rolls) from the grocery store (they are much fresher, and cheaper in Mexico), and dropped off someone to pick up one of the trucks that was in the shop.  The groups head back to the worksite between 3:00 and 3:30 and work until 7:30 or so.

At 5:00 pm, the evening cooks, Marta & Ruby, arrive and begin dinner preperations.  I made drinks (pink lemonade & sugar free lemonade- 5 gallons of each), cut the bolillos (I cut 70 total- 140 pieces), fixed the coffee for tomorrow morning (140 cups of regular, 10 cups of decaf & 10 cups of hot water for tea), and chatted with my friends a little.  The language barrier is always pesky, but are able to get around it most of the time.  Dinner is at 8:00- we'll circle up again for announcements & a blessing, then eat. On Monday nights we eat King Ranch Chicken over rice, ranch-style beans, salad, bolillos & my own dessert creation, Fiesta Limón (basically a very large key lime pie).  Afterwards, I'll help clean, then go to bed, usually between 9:30 and 10:00 if I'm lucky.

Now ít's on to Tuesday!