Cement is Coming

School boys at the park think we are aliens from another planet!

I'll believe it when I see it....they say cement is coming....maybe cement is really the next messiah, and we don't know it yet. Everyday, we talk hours about cement..is it really going to be here? Do they really want us to have it? Maybe it is a political issue and we don't know it. What do we do if there is no cement? etc...etc.

In truth, given every other obstacle we have had to face, why should we expect it to be here?

However, we strategized at dinner night before last and decided to send the two men of the group in to talk to Nek Chand about getting approval to actually begin work on a series of columns we have been eyeing for over a week. To our amazement, it only took us a day to actually get to him, and for the men to get approval to move ahead......that is if we ever see cement.

(L-R) Sue, Adam and me at our three-time daily chai break!

He promised us cement today or tomorrow, which means maybe by the end of the week it will be here. Mind you, we are in our third week already and we have not laid one piece of tile on a wall or column yet!

(L-R) Local chai customer, Sue, park security manager,
Ram Rod and me. Everyday, when we pass Ram Rod, he asks "chai?" and
no matter what we are doing, or how important, we stop and have a cup of
tea with him. We talk to all the locals and spend time shmoozing!

So, in the meantime, we have chai with Raj Ram (I call him RamRod) with the tea walla in front of the park three times a day and we are all helping Alan to begin filming digital video on the volunteer program and the park, which has been fun. We all agree that the materials and information sent to prospective volunteers needs an update and a greater degree of detail, so each group does not have to start from scratch.

No one likes to be left out of pictures. These guys are always at the front
and love to be in our photos or filming!

That's it for today - off to pick tiles, or to pretend like we are actually doing mosaics until the cement arrives...hahaha....

j