Volcano Chachani and chullos
Its 6am. Today I am going to climb Volcan Chachani.
Since I last wrote though, I had the hardest days work of my life. Yesterday, we arrived chirpy with the promise of no more digging. Life was on the up. It was mixing cement and the high life for us, right? Wrong. What we didn't account for is the fact that to mix the cement one requires the materials. To get the materials one has to carry them.
So, we spent a good 3-4 hours carrying ingredients for cement up the hill. We spaced ourselves drizzled out along the hill's gradient. Each with 10 metres to climb. Easy, I hear you say, nope. In this altitude and sun every step (especially with two 20 litre buckets of water) is a killer. We filled a huge water drum for cement mixing. We then carried 7 bags of cement- I personally, to the surprise of the other volunteers and to the laughter of the local masons, two 42.5kilo bags of cement up the hill. I'll be honest with you- it nearly killed me, but I proved to the others I'm as good a worker as any guy, and I proved to myself that I could.
Once that was complete, and a well earned gulp of water, I headed down the hill to start the chain to carry 45 buckets (full, none of this half assed rubbish) up the hill. I would shovel into the buckets, heave it up to John, collect the empty bucket and repeat, 45 times. That task took us over an hour, and it was back breaking work, literally.
So finally, when number 45 came round, high fives were exchanged. Now we have all the ingredients, lets mix. Now, for those of you who don't know I LOVE mixing cement. I love throwing a spade full pelt into the heart of a pile of cement, sand and water and mixing it up. I love the south of perfect cement as you test it with your spade, I love the slop as you throw it into a bucket, and I love the promise of structural integrity it gives. Cement is my friend.
So, I heaved and mixed, sweated and spat. Cement is heavy, and we carried it up to the foundations of our water reservoir and slop. One bucket doesn't go far...
After mixing two bags it was time to go home.
And as one would expect, after completing the hardest days work of one's life, I am about to walk out the door to climb a 6000metre volcano to help raise money for GVI.
Unfortunately I didn't manage to muster a costume (I didn't have time between building till 3, spanish lessons till 5 and family dinner at 6) but I do have a pumpkin hat, I'll take that.
Fortunately though, I reached my fund raising target, and in fact, surpassed it. A huge thank you to Jamie for her promise to match every dollar to a $1000. I woke up to an email saying she had donated $1000 to my challenge, so a huge thanks to her. And also to Kirk for his very generous $500 donation. And for everyone else, Dad, Deb, Priya, Cooper, Laura, Will and Michael, James, Josh, Sarah, Christina, Miranda, Ruben, Roisin, Dom, Jenny, Steph and Kelly. You are all stars, I'll be thinking of you as I climb. Know your money is going to a good cause, the children in these schools have smiles of gold, and so much love to give. So on their behalf, thank you.
If you are reading this and have a little spare change in your pocket, I encourage you to donate- its not too late!
Remember, as cliche as it sounds, every little bit helps! A dollar here goes a long way.
So, I'm off to put on my hiking boots (which aren't actually mine) and don my new chullo (pretty Peruvian beanie which I bought specifically for Chachani). Today we make our way to 5000m and camp, then tomorrow at 2am we wake, and we climb. I expect pain, I expect tears, I expect blisters, but it'll all be worth it.
Thank you to everyone who donated, and thanks to everyone who is about to donate (go on you know you want to!).
This is bringing me back to my Nijmegen marching days- repeat after me: "I eat lactic acid for breakfast". Here goes...
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