#VollieLyf - A Day in Huarmey
For all those who are wondering what I'm up to on the day to day here in Huarmey, here is what the volunteer lifestyle is like!
6:30am: Get your ass up! Possibly the hardest time of the day
6:30-7am: Breakfast spread of rolls, avocado, jam, porridge and coffee. Not the worst way to start though supplies are pretty limited of everything but porridge.
7-7:30am: Load up! Team leaders count out the shovels, picks, wheelbarrows and helmets and everyone piles in the back of the big trucks to go out to the sites. If you miss the truck you're on housekeeping and dishes!
7:45am: Depending on which driver you got either get out of the truck ready to work or get out of the truck and breathe the fresh air and feel glad you made it out alive
8am-11:30am: Work work work work. Sites vary between straight mud, demolition, rubble or all of the above. A portable speaker makes a site much better and lets you laugh at your mates' weird taste in music.
2pm-ish: Ice Cream shows up! There is a cabal of old blokes with ice-cream bikes who always manage to hunt us down. Reason being, a cold ice lolly for less than a dollar is very appealing in the heat of the afternoon. They're all probably looking at Ivy League universities for the grandkids by now.
6:30am: Get your ass up! Possibly the hardest time of the day
6:30-7am: Breakfast spread of rolls, avocado, jam, porridge and coffee. Not the worst way to start though supplies are pretty limited of everything but porridge.
7-7:30am: Load up! Team leaders count out the shovels, picks, wheelbarrows and helmets and everyone piles in the back of the big trucks to go out to the sites. If you miss the truck you're on housekeeping and dishes!
7:45am: Depending on which driver you got either get out of the truck ready to work or get out of the truck and breathe the fresh air and feel glad you made it out alive
8am-11:30am: Work work work work. Sites vary between straight mud, demolition, rubble or all of the above. A portable speaker makes a site much better and lets you laugh at your mates' weird taste in music.
12pm-1pm: Lunch time! Everyone piles into the dining room for a meal cooked by a local chef. Usually there is a big pot of rice, a token salad, and one meat and one veg main.
1pm - 4:30pm: work work work work. This is usually when the sun comes out. Big, ugly sweating is inevitable under the hard hats and desert sun.
2pm-ish: Ice Cream shows up! There is a cabal of old blokes with ice-cream bikes who always manage to hunt us down. Reason being, a cold ice lolly for less than a dollar is very appealing in the heat of the afternoon. They're all probably looking at Ivy League universities for the grandkids by now.
5pm: get back to base, scrub down the tools and squeeze in a cold shower before the team meeting. Only about 8 showers in the complex work for 60 people so competition is fierce.
5:45pm: Dinner time! Early bird gets the worm, the rest have to watch them eat during the meeting.
6pm: Full team meeting. We talk about the work done that day, get briefed on the next day, and slowly colour in the sites we have finished on our giant town map.
6:30pm-10pm: Free time! This can involve community events, football games, donation drives or just a few cheeky beers, but most of the time its about collapsing in bed to rest up for tomorrow.
Repeat this 6 days per week with a day off on Sunday.
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