Still alive and yeah, its waesome!!!

Tuesday – Isla Popa. Let me summarize. Flew in to Panama City, arrives Monday night, stayed overnight in a hostel then got up at 4 am on Tuesday to catch a 6 am flight up to Isla Colon punctuated with a layover in . We then finished up our flight into Isla Colon where we spent the day purchasing all of our construction materials including the two 600 Gallon tanks. We schlepped all this stuff through a dark warehouse and loaded all of this stuff, including about 4 tons of sand and cement onto a barge. We then caught a water taxi for a 45 minutes trip across the channel to Isla Popa. Midway across the channel the skies opened up on us and we were drenched to the skin. As we arrived at the dock, fortunately, the downpour ceased; the barge had arrived before us and the locals had started to unload it, but we still spent about two hours unloading the barge and hauling it all up the hill to the pavillion where we are working. We got our bags and settled in to our shack then headed off to the “restaurant” where we met with our hosts, lead by a man named Ambrosio. The only snag we hit was when Ambrosio asked how much we were planning on paying his men for their labor. Unfortunately, this is not a part of EWB program and caught everyone off guard. After a few moments of awkward silence I asked Ambrosio how much he thought was fair and I explained we did not really have money set aside for this, but understood that his workers needed to be compensated. I threw out a figure of $5 per man per day and this proved agreeable. I was pretty happy with this. Went back to the shack (no electric, no running water, communal toilet up the trail) and crashed. Dead to the world.

Wednesday - Woke to the call of the roosters, a fairly common staple in these parts of the world. We headed up to the pavilion and started staking out the tasks to be done. WE divided into two groups – one for construction and the other for biofilters. The tanks stands were first priority as well as digging the footings; this ran in tandem with sieving and cleaning sand and gravel for the biolfilters.

Thursday – Working in a sea of mud. Rained all last night and has been raining on and off throughout the day. We have made very good progress - both tank stands are finished, the footing holes are dug but the rain and mud has slowed us down. Also, lack of sun seriously limits my electric situation. Thank goodness for the Sherpa – Gail you rock! My big contribution of the day was to recognize that our work area was smack in the middle of the drainage channel for the roof which just kept pouring water into the footing holes. I figured a way of using some lengths of PVC piping to divert the water away. Our first serious casualty occurred when Scott snagged his arm on a jagged piece of steel mesh. He took 5 stitches to close it. I have decided to write today at the pavilion where we are working. I have meeting a new friend named Eduardo. I am going to try to post this soon and sacrifice detail for getting something out to everyone. I will modify it later as circumstances allow. More later, depending on power and internet access.

Friday Morning – Sitting down at the fishing shack hoping ot get a signal out. I had thought that I had overpacked but so far I have had to use everything I have brought with me. I am extremely grateful for all the gifts and supplies everyone has given – believe you me, they have come in handy and are too numerous to list now while power and wire service are limited. Work is coming along well – we finished building the two tank stands and setting them on their footings. Each tank will weigh over 5000 lbs when full. The biggest problems have been with the weather (non-stop rain and deep mud) and materials. The local wo00od, called nispero, is the hardest densest wood I have ever seen. Even after pre-drilling, nails ben and standard wood screws shear. Making for rough going.. I promise to add more details when time allows. Love you all.