Bangladesh to PEI travels

I am home in PEI! Jon will be leaving Bangladesh tomorrow.  My travels were a little more eventful than I would have preferred. There were a few hurdles to overcome before leaving Bangladesh:  a delayed then cancelled domestic flight from Cox's Bazar, a race back north to Chittagong, a scramble for a new ticket, terrible traffic jams, and 8 hours on the road with motion sickness.  Despite arriving at the exact minute of the scheduled departure time of my new ticket, the counter was still open.  I had accepted that I was going to miss the new flight so I was very thankful to arrive in Dhaka in time for my international departure!

First meal on Canadian soil - Kale smoothie and gluten free cookie

I have been enjoying some sun and the much lower humidity.  The weather has been amazing so far except for Hurricane Arthur who caused some damage last weekend.  I am getting in lots of visiting but I have many more to see!  We are heading back in August.

Cavendish Beach West

Heading down to Grammie's farm

 The women herself
 

Rice Point during Hurricane Arthur

 Swimming at the pool with my nieces and nephews

The kids are learning to dive and Jamin is entertained

 

An old photo of Jon on the beach by out house

Holly

MCH Project Photosphere - July 10, 2014

Photosphere of the project site as of July 10, 2014.

Views: MCH Building Project by Jonathan Barrett

The rainy season has thankfully calmed down over the past 9 days with more sporadic rain vs the constant heavy rain that the season started with. It's helping construction progress, but also great conditions for weeds and grass to grow.

Ground Floor

 

Southwest wing - two more slabs remaining above this wing

Jon Barrett

Second Floor Slab (West) - Complete

After a marathon of a cast the second floor slab (West) is now complete.  The workers started at 4:30am Sunday morning and finished 5:30am Monday morning (25 hour continuous casting).  I found it quite impressive that the workers were able to continue doing such hard labor for this long period of time. Although by hour 22 the pace of progress started to quickly drop.

Site Overview on Casting Day - July 6, 2014

Despite being a very wet start to the monsoon season we were blessed to have a perfect casting day. NO RAIN, often overcast, humid, light breeze, and comparably not too hot - great for the concrete curing and mainly great for the workers (except the humidity). This was a huge blessing as once we start casting it is costly and provides many technical difficulties if heavy prolonged rain occurs.

Second Floor Slab

There is now 58,000 sq ft of slab cast so progress continues at a steady pace. Two more slabs remaining on this West wing before we move to the East portion of the building.

Moving, Mixing and Lifting 

 

Jon