Finally! Ten weeks after starting our project, we are ready to pour the bond-beam. And indeed, we have come full circle in many ways: our budget has been all used up, we've gotten all the material we'll need, time wise we're at the very end (or way past it, however you want to put it). And although we've been working all day, every day for the last week, the hardest couple of hours is still ahead of us: the actual pour.
Saturday Concrete Fest
By now Mazunte is under full lock down, nobody can enter the village, and those who leave can't come back. Alcohol and parties are prohibited, the beach has been closed, and anyone going out needs a damn good reason to do so. This hasn't stopped our neighbors and many others in Mazunte to offer their help in making concrete. So doing it on a Saturday naturally makes sense. It's literally a ton of concrete we have to make (20 sacks) so any help is appreciated. And overwhelming as it may seem to do all this in one day - the bond beam must be made in one pour - our helpers are convinced we'll be finished before lunch.
Post Tire Madness
Working our way up from the tires to the first cadena on the tapering tire wall, the columns, and finally to the structure holding up the rebar, boxing it in, and attaching the vertical bars for the roof beams... It all seemed so straight forward, but since everything ended up taking way longer than anticipated. This was in part due to the current circumstances with COVID and all, and in part merely by the fact that we're in Mazunte. So towards the end we kept pushing ourselves to longer and longer hours, harder and harder conditions, and by now we are properly exhausted. Still, we're certain that this last push tomorrow is in us, and then we can celebrate... and take it easy.
Patience Please for the Post!
So yeah, though tomorrow is the big day, my post will probably take a bit of time before I publish it. In fact, I may just post about some murals before, just to tease my followers. But bear with me, because I'm sure I can't keep myself from telling my story. For now, here are some photos of how far we've come:
Follow our Construction Adventure in This Series:
Starting The Long Finish
Concrete Plans and Concrete Actions
Earthship Build in the Time of Hive and Coronavirus
Machines Taking Over Work: The Day Everything Changed
Zome Building Workshop in Mazunte
The Ceremony of a Minka
Hay Pase, Got the Permit!
The Diverse Cars at Itínera
Waiting for the Man
An Impression of Hyperadobe in La Boquilla
Bending Rebar Like a Mexican
Working at Night for the Perfect Level
The Challenge of Scoring Tires
Creating Conditions to Work and Live
Previous series: A Theater on the Beach