“No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature.” Ralph W. Emerson, Self Reliance

We started the month with the right foot forward. We all woke up to breakfast, and Eugenio and Carlos were late as usual. Edward put forward the options of work and labor; Garza was going to work in the kitchen, Eric, Mimi and Eitan were going to work in the air valve and the water intake, while Ryan and Carlos were going to teach the second and sixth form.

The three hard workers picked up the supplies to work at both locations, digging the ditch at the intake and Moses plastered the inside of the chamber of the air valve and made the lid. Garza had a déjà vu in the kitchen, as he merely worked and watched the mason work with astonishing speed and quality. The second form class was cancelled due to lack of student assistance, so Carlos and Ryan had the early morning off. They spent it with Wingred, speaking about a few interesting topics and cultural facts of each one’s country of residence. Ryan, Carlos and Eugenio went to the traditional tea in the teachers’ lounge, where a discussion was being held.

The teachers were arguing in Kiswahili, and the three foreigners overheard the word child abuse and the persistent use of the word Mimi. After the off putting confusion and the discussion was over, they asked one of the teachers what had happened, what Mimi had done or said. He cleared our worries, explaining that Mimi meant “me” in Kiswahili.

After tea, Ryan went to teach his habitual English class with the sixth form, Carlos went with two students to help them prepare for their English examination and Eugenio went with a few students to talk about Mexico and its rich culture. It was time for lunch, and only two Mexicans and a big gringo sat at the table; the other three members of the team were still doing the hard labors and were late for lunch.

When they arrived they finished all of the food that was left, and we came to realize that the amount of hard work is equivalent to the degree of hunger. After lunch Eric, Mimi and Eitan stayed to talk with Johannes and his team members, the trench diggers, and had a very long talk thanking them on a personal scale for their hard work. Ryan went to teach another lesson at one, and went afterwards had the chance to meet a teacher outside of school.

Garza and Carlos taught their Spanish class for the teachers, which went great as the one before, and was the first time the homework giving was the other way around, where the youngsters where handing it out to the teachers. Eric and Mimi spent their free afternoon with Haran’s son, Jerad or to avoid pronunciation discussion, Jerry. We all met for dinner, where we had to change the light bulb. It was a good day, long and eventful as usual. As September begins, we look forward to our remaining days in Pommerin.