Waking Up in Costa Rica

I have never quite understood why we find such humor in seeing other people fall asleep in public. Today confirmed that this phenomenon is replicated in Costa Rica. After a long morning of ahuecear (making holes) for the concrete posts that will support Gerardina and her family’s new house, and after several straight days of barely any sleep because of his hectic work schedule, our driver Mau surrendered to sleep after lunch. He drifted off in an inverted wheelbarrow, which many a Habitat volunteer has used as a go-to site chair. The chuckling spread as quiet words between new friends passed around the shady break area. Mau had fallen asleep. When he began roncando (snoring), the situation became unmanageable as the chuckling grew into contagious laughter. By the time he woke up, the previously quiet and perplexed masons – this is their first experience with a Habitat build – were chatting away with the group, taking turns learning and teaching words for anything related to what we had just witnessed: fulfillment of a universal human need.

Oddly enough, that shared laughter was, for us, not unlike what that brief snooze hopefully was for Mau. Accustomed to 4 months of snow and cold, we Minnesotans were feeling the heat; those 10 minutes of goofiness provided the much needed energy to stand up, albeit slowly, and grab our assorted picks and shovels and get back to work. The happy atmosphere continued throughout the afternoon, humming along within elusive patches of shade beneath a backdrop of nested Cordillera de Talamanca peaks.

For me, the first day on site during a Global Village trip has always been like a loud noise just as I’m falling asleep. The initial two days of travel, down-time, and unhurried conversations with team members recede abruptly and we wake to the palpable reality of dirt, heat, and people we have never met. The group gradually adjusts the new surroundings, with impressive patience, as we help to fulfill two families’ basic need for healthy homes. Groups of neighborhood kids walk by, stare for a bit, and giggle. It makes sense, I guess, since we are waking up from our comfortable collective nap, right out there in front of everyone. 

Noah Keller