Construction...

Before we went to the states, they started tearing down the house next door ... since houses here touch walls, our wall was somewhat exposed when they tore down the house next door... sooo... when it rained, our walls would get wet... That's why Our Wall fell apart not too long ago... ANYWAY, they finally started building the house next door... This might be boring for some of you, but building houses over here is VERY different than building in the states... There's one BIG thing missing... but we'll get to that...

First, they got rid of all the debris and started to dig... it was fun to watch - I felt like I was watching an archaeological dig... they kept uncovering random brick formations!

They kinda gave up on some of the brick formations and just left them and started to make the support beams. These beams our made out of rebar and have a pretty solid concrete & rebar base.

This is the guy that was in charge of the begining part of the construction. He's from a state below us that is very colorful and fun!

OK, so the missing thing... When you build a house in America, after getting the ground ready, the very FIRST thing you do is build the foundation - right??
Well, here, with this house, they DIDN'T BUILD A FOUNDATION!! Instead, they got a bunch of sticks (that were all about the same lengh) and used them to prop up a make-shift floor made of metal plates... You can see this in the picture below. There is a very small wall that was built, and the support beams, but other than that - nothing sturdy to build a floor on....

Really! Look!

So... THEN, they started pouring the concrete for the 2nd floor!!... WITHOUT A FOUNDATION!! There isn't even a first floor! Does anyone else think that's weird??

So, then they started building the 3rd floor...

Currently they're building the 5th floor and there's still no foundation - the whole house is still standing on those sticks!!! It's pretty crazy to me. We do live in an earthquake zone... that doesn't seem earthquake-proof to me!! Crazy!

Funny Things 2 - American Fair Edition

We just got back from Roadtrip #8 in Macon, GA. It was an awesome trip!! So, before we head out on the next trip, we went to the North Florida Fair! The fair is always famous for it's fried foods... they fried everything!!... They had fried/breaded zucchini, Mushrooms, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Onions, green tomatoes, okra, pickles, etc :) I had a lot of it too - YUM! Now, I'd heard of fried Snickers & twinkies (which they had) but they also had FRIED OREOS & PEANUTBUTTER CUPS :) The fair was cool. They had a shark show and a sea lion show... but our favorite was the pig races :) haha!!! It was hilarious!! Aashini was close up to the race until the pigs came - then she crawled up into Adam's lap really fast :) (as seen below) :) Pig races! haha! Cracks me up!

Comic Con 2013

Comic Con 2013 just ended. It was a fun one this year. This was the 3rd Annual Comic Con here. We've been to it all 3 years. It's getting bigger each year! I think they grew out of their venue this year...it was soooo crowded! Here's me imitating "Superkudi" :) Aashini and me :) For the Love of Comics... Some guys that were dressed up... the guy on the left isn't in his full attire... He won the CosPlay contest that day... he won a trip to Dubai to their Comic Con!! This was my favorite costume of the day... Nyan Cat :) There were lots of people there! Me and the girls on the 2nd day :) I had to have at least one jumping picture :) Our friend Ford made a video of the first day... check it out!

Cooking!

Cooking is sooo much harder here. THis is how you "puree" vegetables when you don't have a blender or food processor (or power). Some people have those things, but most people don't. This is my friend Gita. She's mashing up some onions. It's a marble slab that's not polished and they use a big rounded rock and just roll/mash! It's cool!!

Anonymous said…

Ummm I'd be afraid to walk in - best yet live - in that house... I mean those sticks weren't even straight! Curious to see the rest of the build!

7:59 PM

Erin G said…

that would scare me too! even houses here that are built on pile-ons (is that how you spell it?), like beach houses and stuff, are WAY studier than those sticks, and I think they're usually set in a foundation themselves. crazy!

11:12 PM

Della said…

So how many floors in your house? Is your wall holding up any of the other house? Very interesting.

1:05 AM

Emily said…

I bet most of the houses are built that way, huh? But they seemed to hold up well enough during the earthquake when our girls were just babies...interesting!

5:27 AM

allhisblessings said…

Oh my goodness, they're serious... So what about your house? Does it have a foundation?

9:06 AM

SouthAsiaRocks said…

I have no idea if our house has a foundation or not. We live on the 2nd floor of a 3 story building... we won't live in a building bigger than that probably... just doesn't seem safe :)
Our walls don't hold up other houses (which is good)... but they do help to keep the house cooler!!

11:19 AM

alwaysjoyfuldejs said…

Wow! That makes our construction problems seem to pale in comparison. While I know our buildings aren't constructed to the highest earthquake-proof standards either, I haven't observed the sticks. What's annoying, though, is that when the build an apt they don't finish the insides. We're talking concrete floors and walls with no electric or plumbing. So, when someone buys a unit, there is drilling and jack hammering for months with lots of shared noise. Since we were one of the first people to move into our building, I guess you can imagine the near-constant sounds... Archie's getting to be a sleeping pro - HAHA!

6:48 AM

oh wow! Thats crazy!!!

4:34 PM

Deanna said…

Now that is AMAZING...and not in a good way.

9:56 PM

Kelly Elmore said…

Looks like construction in Kenya!!

10:08 PM

gloria said…

I'm still not believing that!
Didn't they read the story about the 3 little pigs?

2:47 PM