I am the brick-whisperer.  I have the uncanny ability to coax bricks into the perfect position.  I speak encouraging words to them about how great it is to be part of a wall and they magically move into place!  Sometimes I even sing a bit to the bricks (this might be a side effect of heatstroke).  I’ve decided this is my new superpower.  I enjoy this daydream until the quality control comes through to tap, tap, tap, my bricks further into the mortar and chuckle at my brick positioning.  Our quality control guy is nicknamed Yoyo.  All of the Thai folks I’ve met tend to have some kind of nickname – I’m not sure if it’s because their real names are so lengthy or for the sake of brevity in conversation.

I’m not the only brick-whisperer in the group – there are eight others here with me on a Fuller Center build in Lampang, Thailand.  We are helping to build a house for a family in Thailand alongside of Thai volunteers, the family, and their neighbors and friends.  The family receives an interest-free loan from the Fuller Center to finance the building costs – and are able to pay that back over time.  Having a decent home is one of the best things you can do for people in need.  This is my fifth trip overseas to help build houses and it never gets old.  Every family is extremely grateful to be receiving a new home and they do their best to communicate with us as we work side by side and share lunch together.  A trip like this is one of the best ways to get involved with a country’s culture and people.

There is something to be said about immersing yourself into days of manual labor.  Instead of answering emails or staring at a computer screen you get to be outside all day moving bricks around, mixing mortar, laying bricks and other general house building activities.  You stretch out muscles and get fairly dusty and grungy and yes, cement can irritate the skin – so watch out for that!  Perhaps the one drawback, at least here in Thailand, is the heat.  Every day is 90 degree-plus heat.  That can be rough on those of us from a more temperate climate.  Obviously, we take breaks and push fluids to make sure we remain on an even keel!

As a non-construction person, I do struggle with some basic tasks, like hammering nails into a concrete post.  I need to do this to set a plumb line for each course of bricks that we lay.  I have been shown how to tie the plumb line onto the nail probably ten times now, and I still can’t do it right.  But the hammering part is downright comical.  When it goes wrong the nail and string bounce right out of the post and fall down to the ground.  This can be problematic when you are up on scaffolding.  I spend a fair amount of time pounding a nail only to chip cement and barely get below the surface.  I have a celebratory song for when it works well, ‘I am woman hear me roar!’ I’m sure my colleagues enjoy that immensely.

I have other new-found talents – like creating a half-brick.  We are working with what I would call a cinder-block type of brick that is maybe 3 inches by 15 inches – so long and narrow.  They have three cut-out areas that provide helpful handholds when stacking or picking up the bricks.  Those of us who feel stronger can hoist two of these bad boys at once and place them in a stack.  Compared to other builds that I’ve done the amount of brick movement on this build has been minimal.  And for that I am truly thankful.

When putting together a wall the process is to alternate full block rows with half-brick rows; meaning we split the brick and place the half at both ends of the row – the rest of the row is full-sized bricks.  Creating a half-brick involves some tricky hammering indeed.  My method – as taught to me by several Thai brick masters – requires scoring of the brick on both sides, using my hammer.  I spend a fair amount of time on this step – to make absolutely certain I am weakening the brick.  Then I carefully pound along the score line, again on both sides, until I hear the hammer tone change.  That is my signal that the brick is about to break.  Oftentimes at this point I remind the brick that I expect it to break in a straight line (yes, I’m speaking out loud to the brick – I blame heatstroke) and I gently ease the brick apart.  Et voila!  A perfect half-brick that has straight edges.

If I can mustard the strength (inside joke over here) I will try and write more about my experience – though now we are in the final couple of days and I am one tired Minkey.