When I arrived by taxi in the morning I passed the truck towing the cement mixer broken down half way up the valley, a great start to the day! Felix, our foreman, did not seem at all worried because they still had not quite finished all the conduits for the electric wiring and some other men were even building the ramp for them to get up onto the roof top.
You can see how all the reinforcing steel is firmly wired together both vertically and horizontally; this technique is employed to lessen the damage which could be caused by earthquakes.
The mixer and truck finally arrived in a cloud of dust being towed by a length of the good old number eight fencing wire! In fact the towing vehicle looked almost as bad as the “towee”! Nevertheless, and much to the glee of all, they had made the final ascent!
All the lads began to get ready for action; they changed into their old clothes, used plastic bags for socks, old cement bags for shin guards and wads of paper as shoulder pads. Obviously they had done this before and knew all the precautions. Another interesting point was the fact that quite a few blessed themselves before getting stuck into the task.
The mixer with its unique fuel tank fired up and tin after tin of wet cement was filled and carried up the ramp to the roof top. You just stand there and contemplate the Occupational Health and Safety implications!
They literally worked nonstop firstly filling the stairs at the rear of the building and then all the trenches crisscrossing the roof top until – the cement mixer ran out of fuel! And guess what; they had forgotten to bring extra “grifo”.
Everybody took a break to enjoy another one of Marion’s banana cakes while some poor unfortunate “inspected” the roof work so far, I wonder what he knew anyway? Meanwhile the mixer man trudged down the valley to fill his plastic bottle, thank heavens Mick was driving up and was able to give him a lift to the petrol station – and more than likely pay for the fuel!
With a new supply of fuel they were back into the job of pouring the final five centimetre layer over the entire roof area. Initially I thought that this would take ages, however, it was not the case. It was finished in just over an hour and a half.
Then the most important blessing ceremony took place. Firstly Felix had to climb the ladder and hang a cross decorated with flowers and a bottle of champagne from the newly completed roof.
Then the honour of smashing the bottle fell to Marion. I would not dare to mention the number of tries it took her or even the size of the final rock she chose!
A great day for all, celebrated in style with the dispensing of champagne by Maritza, Rebecca and Marion. I do think that some of the workers were more interested in getting home.What happens now? If the sun keeps shining all the timber work could be dismantled within twenty days and in the meantime they make sure to keep the top damp to avoid cracking.
