Thursday, May 29, 2014

First Floor Slab Casting (West Wing) - Complete

This past Tuesday/Wednesday we just completed the first floor slab casting (west wing).  Despite being on the verge of the rainy season - with heavy rains the day before and after - we had relatively clear days (only a few short rains early on the second day of casting). It took roughly 28 hours of casting with three mixers, three cranes and 230 laborers to complete the 15,000 sq ft (11,000 cft) slab. Now we move on to the second floor slab above - our aim is 40 days and counting. At the same time we will be working on completing the ground floor slab on the East sections of the building.


View from the West on casting day - three mixers and lifts to get the concrete up the 22' to slab height
 
 
Jon & Holly on casting day
 
Unloading the concrete onto the slab to be transfered by head load


Workers headloading

Site overview from the South - May 27, 2014

Moving the concrete

A bit of rain on day two so we were covering the concrete to ensure no damage

Jon

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Guye Holud Ceremony - take II

Work remains busy on the construction site with prep work for the ground floor ceiling casting (planned for this week) and soil filling to raise the grade in east section of the building before the rainy season hits hard. A construction post is coming soon.  Meanwhile, here is an example of some of the interesting cultural experiences we have in Bangladesh.

The son of the one of the hospital drivers got married a few months ago.  The day before heading to Chittagong for the wedding ceremony, the Guye Holud (tumeric smearing ceremony) was held for the groom locally.

The groom's niece displaying her henna.
Preparing fruit and vegetable snacks to feed the groom.  The gourd on the right is carved as a local dugout canoe.  Nice T-shirt!

Five women crushing a large bean

The crushed bean pieces resembled a ceramic

Holly adding to the groom's tumeric facial.

The party goers getting in on the fun.

Not surprisingly, the ceremony did not start on time.  The kids were quite patient, although the little guy on the right seems to be feed up with the waiting.

Holly

Monday, May 12, 2014

The Great Barrier Reef

While in Australia, we were able to fly North to Cairns to see The Great Barrier Reef.  We also connected with my brother Zach and his camper van gang as they were travelling the east coast before heading home.  We did a day trip snorkeling at the outer reef about 60 km from shore. The morning ride was really rough and I (and many others) became quite seasick. Thankfully I felt much better once we stopped and were able to get into the water.  We saw incredible coral with tropical fish everywhere, great trip.  Photos of our time in Australia have been uploaded to our photo gallery (Australia 2014).
 
Our boat
 
 
One (of three) of our snorkeling locations
 
Holly swimming through a channel
 
 
Jon diving down to get a better look

 

Large clam
 
Clown fish
 
 Coral
 
 Napoleon Wrasse (Humphead) Fish (several feet long and friendly)
 
A view of the reef from our flight to Brisbane
 

Eating out with Zach and April in Cairns

Holly



Tuesday, May 06, 2014

Sydney Layover

On my way to meet up with Holly in Melbourne, I had a day stopover in Sydney. It was fun to play the tourist (which I most definitely was) for the day and go see a number of classic Sydney locations. It was such a huge change from being in Bangladesh. Simply put... ORGANIZATION vs the typical chaos - uncrowded metros/busses, crosswalks, working street lights, almost no honking, English, high prices, cooler temperatures, no litter, no aggressive beggars...

We had a great time away to refresh. Now back to construction.

Jon checking out the Sydney sites just after landing

Sydney Opera House and Bridge


View from the Bridge Pylon

Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Opera house is actually tiled on the exterior, which I found interesting



Jon

Monday, May 05, 2014

The Great Ocean Road and the Twelve Apostles

 
Jon and I are back to work in Malumghat, Bangladesh but we still have a few posts to share from our time in Australia.  Jon made a quick stop in Sydney before flying to meet me in Melbourne.  After a canceled flight and sleepless night he eventually made it to Melbourne where we headed west with my sister Katie and her husband John to drive The Great Ocean Road and see The Twelve Apostles.  Thanks for making the trip again and hosting us in Melbourne Katie and John!
 
The beginning of The Great Ocean Road
 
 Beach at the beginning of the Great Ocean Road
 
Katie and Holly at a view point along The Great Ocean Road
 
 Aire River
 
 The Twelve Apostles (west view - some apostles have crumbled)
 
  The Twelve Apostles (east view)
 
 The Twelve Apostles (another west view)
 
The Grotto (sinkhole formation)

 London Bridge (the natural archway between the two formations collapsed in 1990)
 

Loch Ard Gorge Area
 
Thunder Cave, Loch Ard Gorge Area

Huge waves in the Loch Ard Gorge Area
 
 Loch Ard Gorge Area

Holly