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American – style building, another wave

TRANSLATION NOTES: Please read some comments at the end of this post

An interesting day, the main objective of this has been learning constructive techniques for housing in the United States.

Training has been good, and I hope to write about it slowly to the extent of my time, in this case I want to focus on my perception of gringo (*) style.

Hispanics have great cultural differences with the Americans housing construction is an example

For us, buying a home is a basic need, closely associated with the family, and it is common that the young man who had finished his university will get married and in companion with his partner will look for a house or will build one to be with their children the rest of their lives or at least as far as possible. (We, I’m talking about the environment in general Mesoamerican)

In American’s case home is a status rather than a necessity. They prefer to rent instead of having a house in a residential (subdivision) where isn’t clip_image001going with their lifestyle.

Our homes’ construction is strongly associated with the surrounding materials and security conditions. So far we use much aggregates, such as brick, concrete block, mortar and reinforced concrete. We close our property with a strong wall to protect us from criminals, and we make clip_image002sure the car is inside, if possible, we use serpentine mesh or electricity … and the more money you have, the higher the wall will be.

They do not, just use a fence of wood only in the back of the field (yard) but in the front they are more interested to display their green grass. Their car is in the footprint of the garage, they just use this and inside is a cellar where they store everything they do not need.

Their materials are lightweight, wood, cement and shingle. Their needs are crazy for us, the conditioning air is a must and has it on 24 hours a day; everything has insurance that covers it and there are high neighborhood standards to be respected. Do not neglect your lawn; do not have cars in the yard, if you go with your dog down the street and it defecates, you put out a special bag bought at Wallmart and pick it up … and standards like these.

It was very interesting to see what they think of us, they don’t like our customs we carry to their cities. clip_image003We have traveled different suburbs and neighborhoods where there are many Latinos (though they say to everybody Mexicans who speak Spanish) and are a reality that can not be avoided. Latinos have made fences breaking their traditions, we have cars in poor condition parked in the front and as many live in a house, we have a yard full of $ 700 cars. This is not so bad, but it is a pity to see garbage on the streets, hanging clothes on the fence and a sound system with which it can be tortured even Freddy Krugger.

We have been in the area of color people (without being racist, they are black) and also the Houston high value area. We also visited the street where George Bush lives in the area known as Memorial.

clip_image004

Few conclusions I can draw, the first is that Americans are crazy (the majority). A person builds 3,500 square feet for which he will pay $ 950 000 and where only two people will live … oh, and a dog, everything for doing lifestyle, and invite every two months their friends to eat sausages in the courtyard, drink some beer and tell very bad jokes… it is crazy. I’m sure they don’t have the slightest idea that on a mountain in Central America is a house built with wood scraps, with a tile roof, two rooms where people 7 live and survive with $ 60 a month … or less.

True, they are different cultures, in this case I’m just making a comparison with the Mesoamerican area.

But apart from culture shock, training has been excellent; know their building techniques and how they got to industrialize their process although now they are in a serious breakdown by the global crisis.

TRANSLATION NOTES:

TITLE NOTE: Gringo: It’s very common in Latin America to use the word ‘gringo’ when referring to something or someone native from USA. So, an American is called ‘gringo’ and in this case the original title would be: ‘Gringo style building: another wave’

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