Tuesday 1st November 2005
It seems that the Halloween spirit hit many volunteers last night who seemed to spend most of the evening in the two hotels they now call home. Two of the red team, Richard Lucey from Cork and Paudie Kelleher from Kerry proved that they are not just a dab hand at building. The two brought along their squeeze boxes and the President Hotel was transformed into a ceili set for the evening. The Siege of Ennis was transformed beyond recognition by around 16 of our volunteers. A little closer to town at the Victoria Junction Hotel a sing-song was had by all in the members' bar, with Tommy Mahon enjoying more than his fair share of the drinks!
Tommy aside though, everyone was back on site today for another hard day's slog. Again, it was a cool day - disappointing many of the volunteers who were hoping to at least have a suntan to show for their trip to Africa. It threatened to rain all day and most builders had brought their rain gear, just in case. But someone up there is looking after our builders, and the rain stayed away. However, the forecast for tomorrow is also for rain.
Off site, the volunteers enjoyed the hospitality that the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront had to offer last night. It seems almost all 200 chose restaurants dotted around the Waterfront, the flagship what Cape Town has to offer the visitor. A few builders at least decided to have an early night, but many more stayed up until the wee hours.
Winds also picked up in the township, meaning that sand and cement were everywhere. In an unfortunate incident, a gust of wind blew over a newly constructed wall onto one of our navy blue volunteers. Thankfully, Rosaleen had no bones broken, but was naturally quite shook by the incident and was taken to hospital for treatment for minor injuries. All volunteers breathed a sigh of relief when we got the all clear that she was fine. As a result of the accident, all builders are taking extra precautions with newly constructed walls ensuring that they are propped up properly.
On a lighter note, head foreman for the trip Michael Keogh got the fright of his life today. As a special treat, he was sent for a massage in the local village of Hout Bay - to relax after all the stress. Little did Michael know that about 20 minutes into his massage, seven of the otherforeman and Niall Mellon crept barefoot into the therapist's room. He says he only realized something was up when he felt "cold hands shaped like shovels descend on my back" - those belonged to Gerry Nolan! Needless to say the lads thought this was hilarious and Michael was a little red-faced, but enjoyed the rest of his back rub nonetheless.
Otherwise, progress is good and spirits are high among the volunteers. To keep the cold at bay, cups of tea and coffee were sent around to the teams this afternoon. While it wasn't Barry's Tea, it certainly did the trick.
