A month or so ago we had a new wall A/C unit put into Evie’s room so that we could move her out of our room and into her own. The A/C units here have two parts to them: the unit that is mounted in the wall on the inside and a second box on the outside of the home. Depending on the location, this exterior unit is usually hung on the outside wall or placed on a balcony or rooftop. In our situation, Evie’s room is on the second floor and so it was easier to place the exterior unit on the roof and then run the cables up to it. This required making two holes in the exterior wall of our home for the cables to pass through.
Very quickly after the A/C was installed some birds began making a nest in the hole right behind the actual unit inside Evie’s room. It quickly became apparent that the sound of a mama bird making a nest in the wall did not have the same soothing effect that one might imagine when they think of the relaxing sounds of bird calls in nature. So we hired a mason to come and patch the two holes. He came with a really large ladder to reach up to our second story, but apparently it was not quite tall enough. I took him up to the roof to see the higher of the two holes which was high enough on the wall for him to patch from our roof, but I told him he would need a ladder for the other hole. He was in the process of tying some ropes together and he turned to me and said, “I’m making one”. He processed to create a loop in the rope which he tied off and threw over the edge. He then climbed over the edge of the roof until he could step down on a small perch above our window. From there he climbed into the loop of rope where he sat. He mixed some cement which he balanced in his lap and filled the hole. When he was done he simply climbed back up the same way he went down.
I was terrified this guy was going to fall and kill himself but this was clearly a normal practice for him. At the same time, I couldn’t help but laugh when I thought about the OSHA workplace safety poster that had to be hung in my bank office back in the States. I also was sure to call Selina to tell her to run outside and take a picture 😀 (see below). I told him after how much he scared me and that in the United States what he did would never fly. I also showed him the picture Selina took. He just laughed, told me the picture was “jolie” (pretty) and asked me to send it to him. It was a reminder that every task and interaction we have is a cultural learning moment for us!
-Adam
