A 6-Foot Board in a 3-Foot Taxi

Today we finished two small computer tables and two bookcases for the HAF office in Quimistan. Bruce and Jim started on this project yesterday while the other team members went to Laguna del Carmen. The first task was to visit the local wood/cabinet shop, which is outdoors under a rusty metal roof. Since our interpreter was with the other team members, Jim and Bruce signaled, gestured, and did everything required to communicate with the guy who was helping us. After 1.5 hours, all of the lumber was cut. Now we had to get it transported to the HAF office. The sides of the bookcases were 6 feet long. So, the wood shop guy called a taxi for us. Taxis in Quimistan are 3-wheeled vehicles sort of like 3-wheeled motorcycles. These things zip around all over Quimistan and are fun to ride in, since they have no doors. Bruce and Jim wondered how we were going to get the stack of lumber "in" this thing. The taxi driver stacked the lumber across the floor of the vehicle with about 3 feet of the bookcase sides sticking out on the driver's side. Bruce and Jim sat with our feet on top of the pile of lumber. The driver did not let this load affect his driving speed. He zipped along looking like he was going to clip a pedestrian at the knees, or swipe an oncoming car. Luckily, we made the trip with no injuries. Bruce is considering buying one of these vehicles for Maxine to drive grocery shopping.

We all worked today to build the second bookcase and to paint everything with varnish stain. The lady next door to the HAF office building let us sand and paint our things in her fenced back yard. Lorraine had the idea to hang the newly-painted shelves on the lady's clothesline while the paint dried. Everything looks great and Maynor is happy to have the much-needed office furniture, and he really likes the color of the paint which is caoba (mahogany).