The Construction Site

As you know, there is a building going up right outside our windows. It's truly amazing to watch these guys build this building pretty much by hand. They have the help of cement trucks and a backhoe, but that's about it as far as equipment goes.

Yesterday, they were building some tall towers of rebar inside of some scaffolding. Here's a picture.

 

While I was making lunch, we heard a huge crash and lots of whistling. I looked out the window and saw that one of the towers of scaffolding and rebar and fallen over. It looked like this. 

 

Unfortunately, one of the guys was hurt.  All work stopped and the entire crew, including Mamacita, Papacito and Poochito, stayed around him, keeping him cool in the hot sun, holding his hand and comforting him until the ambulance arrived. Mamacita and Papacito went with him to the hospital. (More on Mamacita and Papacito in a moment.) Hopefully he was not hurt too badly and he will be able to return to the job soon.

Ruth tells us that generally these construction workers have no job security and they earn only about $70 per week. If they can't work, they have a problem because there is no workers' comp here and they are simply out of a salary. So we truly hope this man is not hurt badly and can return to work soon. Although we don't know any of these guys, since we watch them everyday, we kind of think of them as "our guys" and don't want anything bad to happen to them.

Now for Mamacita and Papacito. As you know, there's a German Sheppard that lives 24/7 at the construction site. We have christened him Poochito. He is a lot of entertainment for us. He's a really good dog, and as far as we can see, doesn't have an aggressive cell in his body. He waits patiently every morning for the guys to show up so he can greet them with much enthusiasm. Some he likes more than others because they will play with him and he really gets excited when they show up. We watch him as he goes on expeditions in the surrounding area and tries to befriend other dogs (there are some real snobs in doggyland around here, and poor Poochito sometimes has a hard time convincing them to play.) He's really just a big puppy, probably about a year old.

The construction guys really like him, and even tried to get him into a group picture on New Year's when Mamacita and Papacito threw a party for them at the site. But, alas, Poochito wasn't sure what they were up to since they were holding him by the collar (an event that usually means a bath or some other such indignity) and would have none of the group picture thing.

Poochito's favorite people of all are the couple that we think are probably the owners of this project (Mamacita and Papacito). It appears that he once lived with them before he came to live at the construction site. We call them his Mama and Papa because he looooovvvveees them muchisimo!! When they are on site, he shadows their every move and gets very excited when they arrive. In Cuenca, we add "cita" or "ita" to a feminine word, and "cito" or "ito" to a masculine word to make it a term of endearment (like we added "cito" to "Pooch" for Poochito's name.) So, Mama is Mamacita and Papa is Papacito.

So here is Poochito following close behind his Papacito as they inspect the day's work.

Hold good thoughts for the injured worker and let's hope he will be able to return to the job soon.