Library Construction

This week a new sound has been added to the cacophony of motorcycles, bachata music, donkeys, and screaming neighbors that make up the background noise in my community. The noise is construction work (See the video to hear the noise I love to hear). Finally, construction of the library has begun in earnest. All this week from dawn to dusk the men of my community have been preparing the library for today, the day we pour the cement roof.

Things have gone pretty smoothly this week. Except last night when a truck delivering supplies hit a power line and left my community without electricity. Whoops. Luckily we only had to wait three hours for the power line to be repaired.

Construction is the D.R. is different in many ways from construction in the States. First, almost all of the men helping to build the library are volunteers whose construction experience has been gained by building their own homes. Also, different materials are used. Scaffolds and supports are made of wood, not steel. And instead of wood and shingles for roofs, Dominicans prefer cement.

Laying out rebar on top of the roof.

The cement roof, while rare in the U.S., is becoming the standard roof in the D.R. A zinc roof is cheaper and is still the most common type of roof in the D.R. However, it is prone to leaks and can be torn off a house during a hurricane. Therefore, as Dominican families become wealthier they are choosing to build their new homes out of cement from top to bottom. Until this week I had never seen a cement roof being built. I now understand why they are not common in the States.

Cement is heavy, so any building that is going to have a cement roof is going to need support columns. You also need to set up an elaborate system of wood and rebar to allow the cement to set and dry properly. Setting everything up to pour cement took  10 men four 12-hour days to complete. The word cement roof is also a little misleading. Mixed in with the cement is also sand, gravel, and lots of water. You then have to get the mixture to the roof. Today we have twenty men working on mixing and pouring the cement. We also are using a big cement mixer and lifter that a neighbor is letting us borrow.

Temporary Roof Supports

Despite the free equipment, labor, and other donated materials we have spent, just this week, $123,300 pesos or $3,082.50 dollars on the roof. But every penny is worth it to ensure the safe-keeping of the library's books and the longevity of the community center. Now that construction is underway my neighbors have already begun to talk about how they would like to build a second level where they can hold big meetings with the entire community. My neighbors never stop dreaming, and I love them for it.

The library now has a website: http://bibliotecadelcoyote.blogspot.com/
You can find more information about the library and see more pictures there

Other non-library things that happened this week:

I have a new club. We meet once a week to watch a novela (Spanish soap-opera) made by the Peace Corps with a cast of entirely Dominican youths. Each week the characters are faced with an important issue like teen pregnancy, AIDS, violence in the family etc. My students couldn't get enough of it!

When I returned from camp, I discovered that my cat had disappeared. I thought that he had either run off with another cat or he had been eaten by a Dominican. It is not unheard of for Dominicans to eat cats. Some people think their meat can cure diseases and others think it will make them stronger. Luckily, my cat did return but he was injured. He tore up his leg so bad that the veterinarian cursed, in English, when he saw it. In his first year of life my cat has already lost three of his nine lives (he has also been attacked by a chicken and he once ate poisoned food).

While cataloging books I realized that I took a picture with a statue of a character from a comic book we have in the library when I was in Argentina in 2010. I had no idea at the time who/what the statue was made in honor, hence my desire for a photo.

Me and Malfada in 2010

Sunday was Father's Day here in the D.R. and to celebrate we held a movie night. The film for the night was Sanky Panky, which is about Dominican men on the hunt for rich white gringas to seduce. It was a hilarious movie and I now want to watch the sequel.

On Thursday morning I was woken up by the screams of a pig being slaughtered...not the first time this has happened. At least there was also the sound of men building the library.