Hiatt's in the Congo

 It is unbelievable the amount of steps it takes to do one pile!   Here is the beginning of the pile excavation.                   Once the hole is dug, they put a casing down it and then they pump bentonite in it to help keep the hole from caving in. Then they put in a rebar cage that is lifted by a crane.  Then they put a tremmy pipe  down in the bentonite to the bottom of the hole and start pumping in concrete.  As the hole fills with concrete the bentonite rises and spills out of casing where it is pumped back to the holding tank to be used again.  You can see the bentonite coming out of the side of the casing.        Once the cement has cured and they have tested it, they dig a hole around the pile. They dig EVERYTHING by hand with shovels and pick axes.  It amazes me how exact they are!                    Once they hav...

 The other night, it rained most of the night.  After a good rain storm, all the water washes the plastic bottles and garbage into the street. People will sweep the garbage from in front of their place and move it in front of their neighbors.  Then after a storm, it all moves back in front of their place and it starts the process all over again.  People have no issue with stopping right in the middle of the street.  The lady in orange stopped in the middle of morning traffic to fix an election sign. Cars were honking and traffic was backing up but she didn't care!  

 Something the South African's like to do is have  Braai...which is a BBQ! Saturday, Darius invited us over to the site to have a Braai, kind of a last party before he leaves to go back to SA for the holiday's.  We had Beef sausages and chicken.  It was so good!  Then they guys just sat around and visited and fished.  Trent offered 5000 CF ($2.00) to whoever caught the biggest fish...Richmond won!  Of course, Basil, the rescue dog came along!  

 Some of us went to dinner at Chez Sunil Monday.  It is an Indian Restaurant, so Cory and I were a little skeptical!  The grounds were beautiful with a swimming pool and flowers all around.  We sat out on the patio and it was perfect weather.  Warm with a slight breeze.   We ordered safe, butter chicken, garlic butter naan, and chicken rice.  It was all pretty good, but probably wont go back on our own but if the group goes back, we will go!  

The other morning we got called out onto the temple site, there was a dog in the corner wet, muddy and scared. The guards brought over a blanket and cory was able to get it.  I took pictures and posted on some what’s app sites and no one has claimed him yet. We took him home, gave him a bath, ended up cutting his hair to get all the mattes out of his hair. He is such a calm, sweet dog.                    

 I was going down the stairs at work and Marcuse, our cleaning lady, pours so much water on the floor when she cleans. She was cleaning the stairs and I was going down then and I slipped and slid down the last 7 tile stairs. Here’s my wounds on day one… Here are day 3 colors…  I woke up so soar this morning! At least I didn’t break any bones!