Day one was the longest day of all the week. Everyone was eager to work. We were all rested since the week has just begun. At breakfast peptalks from the leaders inspired us even more.

Every site had the concrete slab already poured. The walls were premade segments. Our leader, Glen, who wore a yellow shirt had five or six leaders under him. They wore brown shirts. All the other volunteers wore orange shirts and were assigned to a leader. Everyone had the same logo on the backof their shirts. Each house had about 30 workers.
We put up segments of premade walls, secured them and then a crane came and began placing the trusses (upside down v-shaped roof segments on top of the walls. (Note, before all the walls were put up the bathtubs had to be placed inside the two bathrooms.)
My main job of the day was to hammer 8 penny nails into OSB (oriented strand board) wood on the outside walls. One of the leaders showed me the best way to do the job. I tried hard to follow his instructions but when he looked at it again he noticed several flaws. He told me again what to do. I worked most of the day on this part of the house.
There were so many things to be done. A gazillion details along with a gazillion nails go into building a home. I cannot capture in this entry all that we did on the first day. It was important for everyone to stay busy. And we had good leaders who would help to find things for us to do and then show us how.
The day ended late. For a day when work began around 6 am, it ended about 9pm for most. After the sun set, flood lights were used in order to see. The guys who did our roof were excellent, hard workers. After day one, our house, #7, was in the lead of getting the most done.