Alright! Got to be back on a roof today. But! New day, new team. Today I was with Sisco, sometimes known as Disco Sisco, Whitney, Olivia, Kerrie and David.

We went to a house where they had pretty much already finished the project. We just had to seal some patches and finish one last small part of the roof. Oh, also mold sanitation (sani) in one room inside the house. This was exciting for me because I’ve literally done nothing but cementing and chipping at cement for two days, plus inventory.

Kerrie helped me out, we got a bucket of sealent and paintbrushes and took the stairs (yes, stairs!) to the roof to seal spots that were spray painted. It was SO white and shiny. It was a completely different roof than what I had been looking at the last few days. After sealing those patches, Whitney kicked us all off the roof and him and David sealed the rest! That was it for us.

Sisco and Olivia were going to do sani on their own. It was a tiny room and at that point would have been too many people. We decided to start loading up the truck with what we could. While we were doing that, Bally (a project coordinator) came to check out the site. Since the rest of us literally had nothing to do until they were done with sani, Bally told us to go two doors down to meet up with Steve and Richard. Steve and Richard are part of a critical repair team. AKA, windows and doors.

This is where things got real fun. We got there, David immediately began helping Richard with a window. Steve looked at Kerrie and I and asked if we wanted to help remove a door. We said sure!

It was the front door.

It was SO COOL. Steve has a background and close to 40 years experience with construction so naturally this was nothing for him. He was so incredibly kind. He wasn’t annoyed or bothered that Kerrie and I literally had no idea what was going on. Instead he took the time to explain what we are doing and how. It was so great.

We started by taking the door off the hinges. We tried to take as many screws out as possible but some were so old and rusty, we had to use a sawzall and just…saw? To get the rest off. Sparks were flying. I got burned. It was awesome. Before I knew it, the door was off. Kerrie and I carried it to the back. Once we got back, Steve busted out a saws, crow bars, hammers, and we just went to town on this door frame. It was so much fun. Steve was a blast, just doing his thing and letting us help. After that, we grabbed the new door to measure it in the frame and see how much cement we would need to fill around the space. I was excited to see what the next part was, but the sani group finished which meant we headed back to base.

Once we got back to base, we unloaded the truck, took a break, and loaded the truck up to head to a new house! We grabbed supplies from the roofing tent and headed out. The new house is just around the corner from base, so half of us walk there.

This house is for a 92 year old woman. Following Hurricane Maria, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She had 9 children, 8 are adults now, one has passed. During the week from Tuesday- Thursday she stays at her house and her son, Tony comes and stays with her to help take care of her. Friday- Monday she stays down the street with Tony’s sister. Her husband was a vet who passed a few years ago. Now her children take care of her. She loves to dance and walk off…which is scary because she forgets where she is.

After Maria, FEMA denied help to this family. In order to get support and help from FEMA you have to show the deed to your house as well as go in person to sign paperwork and ask for help. Tony said he went on behalf of his mother, because she is not in the right state of mind to be able to deal with and sign the documents. FEMA told him no. It had to be her, or her power of attorney, who was his sister. His sister was unable to go. FEMA denied them any help. They were out of their house for 9 months before Tony and his siblings were able to get back in there and start fixing it up. It was the house he grew up in, it was his mother’s home. He said he wanted to fix it up for her, because she was such a great mother.

Which comes to us. The inside repairs that Tony has done has made the house somewhat livable. We are doing the roof and sani for them so that, hopefully, they can start getting their lives back to normal.

We climbed on the roof, assessed what was going on and began cementing immediately. After power washing and blowing off debris, we got one side of the roof canted before we had to stop for the day.

After that, we headed back and it is FRIDAY! That means the work week is done, beers are to be had, and Sam and Alan arrive to Puerto Rico! I walked to the colmado with Tom and Gianna and we all had a beer on the roof.

Sam set up a hostel for us in San Juan. Sisco gave me a ride with Whitney, Jessica, and Shakyia. But before we left, it was bamboo tennis time! Earlier this week we decorated bamboo sticks as bats to play Bambu Tennis. It’s basically just baseball with bamboo sticks and tennis balls. The game was today, against a community team and we had to play for a bit before we could leave.

Bambu tennis was funny and so incredibly sweet. The whole community came out, they sold concessions, there was a trophy, and we played against their community team. Technically, we lost. But they gave us the trophy anyways 😂😂 we seem to lose at sports a lot around here but get a lot of sympathy from the community.

After that, we headed to San Juan. The drive was about 45 minutes. Sisco dropped me at the hostel and I grabbed an Uber to Viejo San Juan to meet up with Alan and Sam.

Friday night took a turn. Everyone was dressed up ready to go out and dancing. I was over here like “hmmm..my chacos or my work boots? What’s more fitting?” 😂

It was still fun. We went to La Factoría, which is a cool club? Bar? Not even sure. You walk in and it looks like a typical bar with places to eat and snack. However, if you follow a door around the corner next to the bar, you enter another room with another bar and loads of people doing salsa! The astheic and vibe was killer! The walls were exposed, it was dim lighting, and there were white lights hung everywhere. It was beautiful. BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE. If you follow another door next to the bar, you enter a techno room with another bar and DJ. Theennnnnn there was another room like the first, a casual eating place with a bar. It was insane! But so cool. We jumped around to various bars and clubs. Karaoke ones, pool halls, and it was fun. We didn’t stay out too late and eventually headed back to the hostel to pass out. It was just Alan, Sam and I sharing a room.