Chile - Numero Tres

Hola Amigos,

"Yo soy compactadora muy bien." That´s what I said on the Chilean news. Yes, the Chilean news. A news crew - okay 2 people - came out to the site today to interview some of us and the families. Of the brigade, I´m the only one they put on tv... I took a video of it with my camera so we shall see. I´ve actually been taking a lot of videos in the hopes that Danny will cobble them all together... hear that DannyÇ

The news clip from MEGA tv:



Lordy, it´s hard to be a jefa. We have to watch out for people who are getting sick. We had a blow up over the election... apparently we let a republican get into the group. I had a representative from a splinter coalition come talk to me about the coalition wanting to break off during the R&R. On top of it all... Una and I stay up until the wee hours trying to figure out the team accounting... our only weakness as co-jefas...give us a calculator and a stack of receipts and we´re up until 1.30 adding and readding.

Our R&R was fabulous. We were at this wonderful B/B in Villarrica where we could sit on the patio overlooking the mountains and the gardens, drinking coffee and playing cards. We trekked around lakes, a smoking volcano and flopped in hot springs. One day we visited a site where Volcan Villarrica erupted in 1971 and killed a village full of people in a wedding party. It was creepy, and yet we still took pictures of each other running across the lava away from the volcano.

The work is going well. We´re working on 7 houses and today got the floors poured for all of them. That means no more shovelling rocks, no more wheelbarrowing concrete and no more tamping. Although, I have discovered tamping is a special skill of mine - yo soy compactadora muy bien. Tamp on, sister. Tracy, Terri and I are creating a group, Terri and the Tampons... and why notÇ

Team dynamics are an interesting thing. Una and I have a jefa conference almost every night behind closed doors. Have I mentioned jefa means bossÇ When things go wrong, I sometimes, in possible violation of the jefa convention, consult with Alison, our Fearless Backup Leader. To all yáll who manage or have managed people, my hats off to you. Lordy. For the most part though, it´s going well. It´s a good group and aside from some people being neurotic and bossy or a bit too long winded, we´re cool. Thankfully, we´ve got a few people of little words to balance us out.

Okay, I think that´s it for now. I´ve done some laundry... very exciting... and it´s possible that there is another game of hearts going on upstairs and I would hate to miss out.

Adios amigos,
Kristian