There’s this certain line graph that tends to make an appearance whenever individuals or groups are preparing for cultural immersion. It purports to show the emotional “roller coaster” that many people go through, beginning with the “high” of the new experience, which inevitably gives way to a “low” once the shininess has worn off and reality sets in. Habitat is fond of this graph, since not only are their trips cultural experiences, but they’re based on manual labor which increases the stress level.
This afternoon I was thinking about that graph. I was sitting in the barber shop across the street from our guesthouse watching Heinrich get a little taken off the top. Mr. Provencher was with most of the students down at the beach. It had been another brilliant, productive day of work and I was thinking, That low hasn’t come and I don’t think it will.
It was another warm morning when we fanned out to our work sites. Typical jobs awaited: building walls, filling in foundations, passing up roof tiles. The projects we began on that first day are beginning to come into focus. Where we found empty yards and debris we now start to see the fruits of our labor—and maybe this is why that emotional dip hasn’t come: progress.
Along the way many of us have had wonderful interactions with the local population. At each site the families have been heavily involved in the labor and once school lets out the children are always found swirling about. As best we can and in our own ways we communicate. Yesterday a small girl taught me a song. Anna Clara and Renzo can count to ten in Singhalese. Marieke had her hair braided by some eager children. And so on.
We’re on the backside of a trip that suddenly feels like it will end too soon. There was a raucous dinner at a local restaurant; I could feel the glee radiating off the team as we swapped stories and laughed off three days of hard work. Sunday is an off day, so we’re off to Colombo for a bit of sight-seeing and shopping. Emphasis on the latter, if I understand everyone well enough. Oh brother.
Marieke spends some quality time with the village girls
Mr. Provencher, kicking butt!
Working with (and admiring) the masons
He's clipping out Heinrich's gray hairs. Err, I mean, THE gray hair.