Curriculum Supplements #1: Video Clips

Crew!

In addition to the Construction Curriculum that we're sending you, there will be periodic "supplements" that you will want to see or be aware of before leaving. We will post those supplements here as it will keep us from having to send enless CD's, and everyone will be able to access everything as a "self feeder" rather than waiting on us all the time.

As a result, there are a few things here for your initial consideration:

1) Bricks! One of the interesting things we encountered in Ipiturai was a full tow-truck with a load of bricks that got stuck in the soft stand before it could be unloaded. We had to manually unload half of the truck by hand, push it, pull it, dig around it, insert shims under its tires and eventually "tug o' war" it out. This video shows the last few seconds of that tug o' war, and just illustrates how things "often do not go as planned". :-) Click here .

2) Sling! Shiff! Splink! The process of plastering the outside and inside of a house in India is a real art. You can't just sling the mortar on the side of the house, and the consistency of the mortar has to be "just right". This is most often a task left best to the brick masons, but if you want to see how they do it, here are three quick shorts to give you a clue. Oh, and by the way, unfortunately, you'll have to turn your head 90 degrees to watch these... i thought we'd be able to "flip them" when we got home, but no luck doing so, alas.

* Part 1: "Slinging". Trowels full of mortar are slung with the wrist onto the wall of the house. Click here .

* Part 2: "Shiffing". A straight board is used to "shif" the mortar smooth. Click here .

* Part 3: "Splinking". A tool that Randy probably knows the name of is used to smooth the mortar to its final and eventual evenness. Click here .

Actually, none of those are the "correct" terms for any of those actions, but they sure sound cool!