We watched the men hand digging out the poles using picks and shovels to break open the sidewalk, dig out the dirt and rocks - sometimes large rocks.
Next came the new poles being set in place, beside the old poles. Would these be additional poles or would the old ones go away?
Soon the wire work started and before we knew it our power would go off by 9am and be turned back on between 5-7pm. Those were the days we walked El Centro or visited Popacuchu Cafe for the free wifi along with their coffee and pastries.
The power outages were sporadic, going on for days and then stopping for a week before continuing to be off daily. No notice, it just happened. Not a major inconvenience for us but it shut down the businesses along our street as well. They seemed to just go with the flow as we have learned to do.
By the mid-April things were looking good, the new poles were in place, the wires were connected and our power outages were a distant memory.
But the holes around the new poles were still open, the old poles still in place and piles of dirt still blocked the sidewalk in spots. Would this ever get cleaned up?
Yes, slowly the holes were filled in with concrete, surrounded by a circle of surplus rocks. The old poles were removed and the surplus of rocks and dirt piles filled in those holes.
Now as we walk the sidewalks we barely notice that this was once a construction zone. Job well done!
Here are some photos I snapped of the process....as always, click for a larger image.
