This is a 4th story being added to a home. The bricks, piles of gravel, etc. get left in the street, maybe in front of the house under construction, maybe in front of a neighbor's house. From the pace I observed, it could be months before this project will be completed. No one seems to mind the supplies in the street.
There are construction sites everywhere. I tried to take pictures of some workers yesterday and they seemed to want them taken. So, I approached closer and they removed the rags they had on their heads (who wouldn't want to look their best for a photo?) and posed. It is the rags that protect their heads from all the dust they carry, etc.
This morning, a couple of the ladies I photographed yesterday saw me. Today they had huge bags they were carrying on their heads. They pointed to the bags and I'm pretty sure they wanted me to get a picture of them carrying the bags. I think the bags were filled with sand. I didn't have the camera with me, and after I went inside to get it, I couldn't find them again. Here's a picture a few days later of the pile of gravel which I saw being carried on a plate balanced on a man's head, and him walking up 3 flights of stairs with it. If you look carefully at the front of the gravel pile, I think you can see a plate of gravel there.
In addition to a lot of construction, I walked through a tent area where apparently a lot of the maids for this area work. It reminded me of the contrast (only rather more extreme) between the Palo Alto/Stanford area and East Palo Alto. Many of the tents are patched together pieces of plastic (the yellow surrounding the "front door" of the tent on the left is an example of this) or fabric. They literally are like the tents we used to play in as children with a blanket over a clothesline.
It's no wonder the workers have a difficult time reaching the standards of cleanliness expected by Westerners. Living with a dirt floor and no walls to wash, and no bathroom, how would one know where to begin? Yesterday, one of the cleaners here was sweeping the floor, and I was cleaning off a glass table that had some wax spilled on it and a few days of dust -- it gathers quickly in this area. The cleaner stopped me and indicated that she would do it. Sometimes just knowing what to do is all they need. Many of them do have a sense of pride in their station in life.
This is a 4th story being added to a home. The bricks, piles of gravel, etc. get left in the street, maybe in front of the house under construction, maybe in front of a neighbor's house. From the pace I observed, it could be months before this project will be completed. No one seems to mind the supplies in the street.
There are construction sites everywhere. I tried to take pictures of some workers yesterday and they seemed to want them taken. So, I approached closer and they removed the rags they had on their heads (who wouldn't want to look their best for a photo?) and posed. It is the rags that protect their heads from all the dust they carry, etc.
This morning, a couple of the ladies I photographed yesterday saw me. Today they had huge bags they were carrying on their heads. They pointed to the bags and I'm pretty sure they wanted me to get a picture of them carrying the bags. I think the bags were filled with sand. I didn't have the camera with me, and after I went inside to get it, I couldn't find them again. Here's a picture a few days later of the pile of gravel which I saw being carried on a plate balanced on a man's head, and him walking up 3 flights of stairs with it. If you look carefully at the front of the gravel pile, I think you can see a plate of gravel there.
In addition to a lot of construction, I walked through a tent area where apparently a lot of the maids for this area work. It reminded me of the contrast (only rather more extreme) between the Palo Alto/Stanford area and East Palo Alto. Many of the tents are patched together pieces of plastic (the yellow surrounding the "front door" of the tent on the left is an example of this) or fabric. They literally are like the tents we used to play in as children with a blanket over a clothesline. 
It's no wonder the workers have a difficult time reaching the standards of cleanliness expected by Westerners. Living with a dirt floor and no walls to wash, and no bathroom, how would one know where to begin? Yesterday, one of the cleaners here was sweeping the floor, and I was cleaning off a glass table that had some wax spilled on it and a few days of dust -- it gathers quickly in this area. The cleaner stopped me and indicated that she would do it. Sometimes just knowing what to do is all they need. Many of them do have a sense of pride in their station in life.
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