Happy Tuesday!
First of all, I'm sorry about all the spelling errors in my blog yesterday. I just reread it and that is the result of attempting to play Heads Up with the other volunteers, while writing that post.
But now I am happy to report that I am 100% focused on this blog post and this blog post alone.
TODAY. Tuesday. Construction day. Today was a scorcher. Hot hot hot. After loading up on the sunscreen, bug spray and water, The Cobras (renamed to The Goats), ventured out of The Elephant House (the place where we reside) and partook in a day full of sweat and agony. Ok, ok, not agony. It was hard work today though, I won't lie. It was physically exhausting but it was our last day of construction so we had to help each other push through and keep a positive attitude. Once again, construction is very rewarding because you can see the work you've done in the short time you're there. We shoveled sand and dirt, made the grounds even, and sifted the sand. But let me explain how construction here works. It's not anything like America. If we're lucky, there's a machine. We had one today which sifted the sand but we had to manually turn it to keep sifting. And shoveling the dirt and sand consists of using these weird hand shovels made from a thick stick and a piece of metal. We shovel into these metal pots and then we carry them to the best of our abilities (sometimes on our heads) to our destination. But their system works and it definitely gets things done. We worked with the Indians for a bit and that's always an experience because they just laugh at us the whole time but I am always so amazed at how they are such hard workers. Blows my mind. I feel like a little weak white girl next to them.
My high for the day happened during our break time. There is this row of like 5 poles that stick up out of the ground and when you talk in them you can hear it through the other ones. It's like telephone. I don't know why, but I found it highly entertaining and feel like I could do that all day.
After construction our group sat down and talked about what we've learned from construction. Here's what I've learned and here's something that stuck out to me: Attitude really is everything. My first day at Rising Star I started off doing construction and I'm actually so thankful that I did because it set the pace for the rest of my experience at Rising Star. Right when we got there, the construction coordinator, Nery, talked to us about how our attitude can influence ourselves and our group for better or for worse. So we tried to cheer each other on the whole time and not complain which I have to be honest, can be hard to do when it comes to construction because it's just so hot and physically demanding. But because I started off with that positive mindset, I carried that over to all the other groups and rotations. That has been the number one thing I've been working on here at Rising Star- having a positive attitude. It really can make or break your day.
Something that another volunteer said that I really liked was that construction is kinda symbolic. We sweat a lot and it's like we're sweating out all of our impurities. Like coming to India, we have gotten rid of a lot of our problems or have just focused on what's important and all the other baggage has gone away. We're like cleansing ourselves almost. And it's so true.
That is all I have for the day! My goal is to make tomorrow an amazing day because folks, as sad as it is to say, it's our last work day at Rising Star :( On Thursday we have a different plan. We are gunna make the most of it!
First of all, I'm sorry about all the spelling errors in my blog yesterday. I just reread it and that is the result of attempting to play Heads Up with the other volunteers, while writing that post.
But now I am happy to report that I am 100% focused on this blog post and this blog post alone.
TODAY. Tuesday. Construction day. Today was a scorcher. Hot hot hot. After loading up on the sunscreen, bug spray and water, The Cobras (renamed to The Goats), ventured out of The Elephant House (the place where we reside) and partook in a day full of sweat and agony. Ok, ok, not agony. It was hard work today though, I won't lie. It was physically exhausting but it was our last day of construction so we had to help each other push through and keep a positive attitude. Once again, construction is very rewarding because you can see the work you've done in the short time you're there. We shoveled sand and dirt, made the grounds even, and sifted the sand. But let me explain how construction here works. It's not anything like America. If we're lucky, there's a machine. We had one today which sifted the sand but we had to manually turn it to keep sifting. And shoveling the dirt and sand consists of using these weird hand shovels made from a thick stick and a piece of metal. We shovel into these metal pots and then we carry them to the best of our abilities (sometimes on our heads) to our destination. But their system works and it definitely gets things done. We worked with the Indians for a bit and that's always an experience because they just laugh at us the whole time but I am always so amazed at how they are such hard workers. Blows my mind. I feel like a little weak white girl next to them.
My high for the day happened during our break time. There is this row of like 5 poles that stick up out of the ground and when you talk in them you can hear it through the other ones. It's like telephone. I don't know why, but I found it highly entertaining and feel like I could do that all day.
After construction our group sat down and talked about what we've learned from construction. Here's what I've learned and here's something that stuck out to me: Attitude really is everything. My first day at Rising Star I started off doing construction and I'm actually so thankful that I did because it set the pace for the rest of my experience at Rising Star. Right when we got there, the construction coordinator, Nery, talked to us about how our attitude can influence ourselves and our group for better or for worse. So we tried to cheer each other on the whole time and not complain which I have to be honest, can be hard to do when it comes to construction because it's just so hot and physically demanding. But because I started off with that positive mindset, I carried that over to all the other groups and rotations. That has been the number one thing I've been working on here at Rising Star- having a positive attitude. It really can make or break your day.
Something that another volunteer said that I really liked was that construction is kinda symbolic. We sweat a lot and it's like we're sweating out all of our impurities. Like coming to India, we have gotten rid of a lot of our problems or have just focused on what's important and all the other baggage has gone away. We're like cleansing ourselves almost. And it's so true.
That is all I have for the day! My goal is to make tomorrow an amazing day because folks, as sad as it is to say, it's our last work day at Rising Star :( On Thursday we have a different plan. We are gunna make the most of it!
~This is so motivational Mary, and so very true about our Attitude!!! ...think I'll go sweat out my impurities! :)
ReplyDeleteI know this is late, but I really like this blog, you are an amazing blogger Mary, just saying
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