First fitting

Monday morning, we backed the trailer into the palapa to see if the measurements were as we had hoped. Yes, it cleared the rafters above the trailer roof. Yes the slides came out between the posts close to where I had planned.
Then we were going to take it back out to our outside spot, but it felt so good to be under shade, and to be in progress at our new home.
Then the cement crew started measuring the foundations and the next day began to put up the cement block wall for the platform.
A regular topic of discussion asked by everyone who comes by is “why don’t they use a cement mixer?”
Mixing cement is different here in Mexico. Not just here in PaaMul but everywhere in the towns and villages where we have traveled.
First there are a couple dumps of material, coarse gravel, sand, a stack of blocks, and a pile of cement bags. Then a spot on the street in front is chosen as the mixing site, and the sand, gravel, and cement is mixed by shovel, leaving a little ridge around the edge. Then a water hose is pulled over and the centre is soaked. Once again, the shovels go to work mixing the ingredients, and thus is made concrete.
One advantage might be, is that this way you can make a big batch or a small batch. And it uses manual labour, a tradition for sure, but also keeps more men on the work site. (Notice that all the shovels used by the local guys are the short handled type. We gringos use the hard to find long handled shovels for our work.)
As a bonus, when the work is done, you have a patch of cement added to roadway in front of your place.