When we arrived here in Oaxaca a well had been started for us. It is located where the green dot is. We ran into a few problems with it. It's so far from the house (about two hundred meters); it is in an old riverbed so the likely hood of contamination in the future is possible; the water has a slightly salty taste to it; and while there is sufficient water to use at home, there is not enough to water the crops we would like to plant. The concrete rings had been set into place which meant if we wanted to dig further the rings had to come out to avoid a possible collapse. The rings weigh about six hundred pounds a piece. Installing them or removing them is dangerous and time consuming. On top of that we had no assurance that we would hit a more substantial pocket of water. So we changed locations to the red dot. The photo with the dots was taken back in winter 2004 before work began on the house.

Before the work began on the green dot well, an attempt had been made to dig a well at the red dot but a large rock of very hard sandstone was encountered. After days of trying to get past the rock the decision was made to abandon the well and move to the area with the green dot. With new workers I decided to return to the red dot. The hard rock was located about two meters down. The rain had caused the partially dug well to fill with sand consequently the first day of work entailed removing the sand.

By day two the rock was exposed and the gruling work of cutting past the rock began. Sledge hammers, chisels, and a long bar with a point were used to cut through the rock. Many times a chisel would be driven completely into the rock without any results so a second chisel was driven in next to the first. Often a third chisel was needed just to break off a small piece of the rock. On an earlier post (Pizcando Mazorca) I commented on the back breaking job of harvesting corn. Trying to cut through rock far surpasses picking corn in difficulty. Basically the job entails swinging an eight pound sledge hammer all day. Turns are taken with one man in the well with the other on top hauling out the pieces with a bucket. They rotate when the day is half over. 

Some days a little more than a foot was gained. 

After the first week one of the workers, Selverio, had to go to Vera Cruz to visit his mother so Luis (the other worker) brought his father to help. The father (Genaro) mostly worked up top which meant that Luis was in the well most of the day. When full I'm guessing the buckets weigh about thirty pounds. I attempted to help Genaro but he wouldn't let me. Later in the week I found out that Genaro was eighty years old. I couldn't believe that this gentleman was still so strong! 

Digging a well is an iffy proposition. You aren't sure if the work being done is going to pay off. Even though wages are much less here than in the States, day after day it still adds up. We got a glimmer of hope at about four and a half meters which is a pretty shallow depth  considering many wells are thirty feet to water. Some go to sixty feet. The photo below was taken in the morning. The water was an accumulation of seepage throughout the night. 

Here are a couple of shots  of what is being removed. 

As the digging continued it seemed that a little more water was in the well when work started in the morning. Still work was very slow.

A pulley was installed to bring the dug up contents to the surface.

1/18 At the end of the day yesterday we were at a little over seven meters deep. Tomorrow will mark three weeks of work. Before Luis came up at the end of the day he sent up a sample from his present digging. It was mud like. Very different from anything we have yet encountered. I was told that this is what is usually found right above water. Guess we'll see.

1/22 We are a little over eight meters. Yesterday morning about five hundred liters were taken out before work could start. Selverio had to stand in over knee deep water until the well was emptied. No one worked Sunday so the well sat for two days. Luis gave me a good size chunk of rock. I wanted it to remember just how difficult some areas were. I'm having to take chisels and the long bar to Tlacolula every few days. It's amazing how quickly they become dull. Sometimes they get doubled over. The tools can't be ground on a grinder or they lose their temper. We take the tools to a blacksmith shop in Tlacolula. I love watching them work. They are masters!

1/23 No changes really. A little deeper and a little more water. My twenty foot extension ladder is now useless. They raise and lower themselves with the rope and pulley. I've been tempted to go down for a look but don't know about getting back up. 

1/26 8.8 meters or about 29 feet at the end of the day. We're four weeks in and are keeping our fingers crossed. The sandstone is softer but it still takes a sledge and chisel to loosen it up. Felipe, Alejandra, Beto and his family, and Beth and I watched them work today for about forty-five minutes. We are close to the point of having enough water to live but not enough for plants. Luis gave me a bottle with water from the well today. It tasted great. This vein is coming from under the mountains. I haven't tested it yet but expect it to be pretty pure. The workers have been drinking it for a couple of weeks. 

1/27 No work today. Epifanio and his family came from San Baltazar to spend the day. Beth prepared dinner for nineteen people but had lots of help. Epifanio is an albanil (bricklayer). He began working on our house back in 1994 and we've been friends ever since. I might have mentioned it before but their first language was Zapotec so their use of Spanish is limited like ours. We communicate quite well. 

1/28 Eight hundred liters taken out this morning! There was water in the well all day. At the end of the day before Luis came up he was working the barreta (long bar) into the middle of the well. He commented that is was soft and sand like.  After about five minutes of digging water started appearing. We are hopeful that it is from below and not from the sides.

Here is a short video of Luis working in the well. Notice the change of the sledge hitting the chisel when the rock starts to break. It becomes more of a hollow sound instead of a solid one. 

1/29 No change. The water is still just coming in from the sides. Luis told me that this was the hardest well he'd dug. It's pretty much been hard sandstone the whole way. 

Beth had had thyroid problems in Brownsville so we went to a specialist in Oaxaca last week for a checkup. He did a physical exam and sent us for blood tests and a sonogram. We returned to his office to review the results today. Every thing is fine and our total cost was 2000 pesos or about one hundred and seventy dollars. The doctor is very interesting. He earned his doctorate in Montreal, Canada, and studied endocrinology for four years in France. At the end of our first visit he told us if we needed help of any kind we were to feel free to call him on his personal cell phone (I have a little trouble imagining a doctor in the US telling me this). Unfortunately other patients kept us from chatting to great lengths. We invited him to Don Pedrillo. I would love to spend an evening with he and his family.  

1/30 Removed three hundred and fifty liters this morning. 9.30 meters deep. 

I've decided to go ahead and post this. I suppose i'll update as work progresses. 

2/5 Began removing water in the morning with a pump. Much less labor intensive than hauling it up a bucket at a time.

2/6 Filled up our first five gallon water containers from the well. We did a test of the water and it's fine so our days of buying drinking water are over.

2/9 11 meters down. Took out 840 liters of water this morning. Yesterday Luis hit a spot and the water began squirting into the well. Hopefully today it will open up more.  Every morning water has to be pumped out before work can resume. I bought some additional hose so the water being pumped out goes into our small tinaco which I then haul up to the house and pump into our large tinaco. I cleaned the large tinaco before we started this process to insure that the water would be safe throughout the house. We can now drink water and brush our teeth from the faucets.

2/19 While enduring the dilemma of the well we got good news from our first electric bill from our own cables. We paid $75 for two months. Our gas which we use for the hot water heater and the stove runs about $50 for two months. Gas for our truck is about $4 a gallon.We don't eat much meat aside from chicken. Beef is expensive as is fish. The meat of choice here and the most expensive is goat.  

We returned to the first well to take out eight rings to be put in the second well. 

As I mentioned earlier the rings are heavy. I was expecting a brutal day but the workers knew short cuts so it ended up being a lot safer and easier than I had imagined.  Luis is very sure footed. He moved around very easily which contributed to the ease of the job.  A friend loaned me a chain hoist which allowed things to go much quicker My neighbors Felix and Manuel. Digging a well here is a major event. Wherever I go it is a topic of conversation.  Once all the rings were removed they were rolled up a 2X12 and on to Felipe's truck. We moved four at a time. We discovered at the new well that the rings were a little too small. Two concrete posts were set on top of a solid rock base and were used to support the rings. Rocks filled the space between the rings and the well. Then plastic was laid on top of the rocks so dirt could be added without it falling into the well. Juan from Matatlan and his brother in law showed up to give us a hand. 2/27 Water hadn't been pumped out of the well for five days so we expected a lot of water. We pumped out 5,000 liters which is very close to a tinaco a day.

We experienced our first accident. While using the sledge and chisel a piece of the chisel broke off and cut Selverio's leg. It was only about an inch long but was deep. I took him to Tlacolula to get stitched up. The doctor's charge was about $25 and another $5 for pain pills.

I drive to Union Zapata every morning to pick up Luis and Selverio. I like to get there early and read for a while. It's so much fun watching the rancho come to life. There are two major construction projects going on nearby. The workers from Union Zapata gather near the center of town and wait for their rides to work. Trucks with alfalfa pass by on their way to the market. Some men are already out in their fields. Kids begin to arrive for elementery and middle school. There is no high school in Union Zapata so the kids take a bus to Mitla or Tlacolula. My favorite event is watching the women carrying their buckets of maize to the molina to be ground for the day's tortillas. It's such a rich and timeless tradition. The corn is placed in a plastic bucket at night along with water and lime. By morning the corn is soft and is ground into a paste. How fortunate are the women that live close to the molina. For others it's close to a half a mile walk. There is a small factory that makes tortillas but the difference between a factory made or hand made tortilla is similar to the difference between store bought and home made bread. 

As one might expect most of the work here is very physical. I was so proud when I wore through my first pair of leather gloves. Kind of a badge of honor.

Here is the well with the rings in place along with dirt packed around it. When we are done digging we'll add one more ring. The opening will be about three feet off the ground so there will be no chance of rain water getting into the well. We added a tarp for shade. It's gotten hot so the man bringing out the dirt in the afternoon doesn't have to suffer in the sun. Luis continues here to haul out rock one bucket at a time.

By now everyone has grown accustomed to me carrying my camera with me. I have a little point and shoot Lumix that is almost always in my pocket or in the truck.