Holaaaaa! Es el dia de Hannah Myers’ blog (today is the day of Myers’ blog)!
As we have gotten into a routine of waking up at 7:30am, this morning wasn’t any different. However, I was excited to wear my new work/hiking pants to get the job done today! Breakfast consisted of beans and tortillas as per usual (not complaining about it yet) and also had chocolate as our morning drink (some know it as Abuelita in the states). After breakfast we enjoyed our walk to the worksite tossing the frisbee here and there along the way…but… Archik threw the frisbee into someone’s tree in their yard…. After multiple attempts of using various sized limbs, Sarahi found a bamboo stick and successfully retrieved the frisbee from the tree (YAY!).
At the worksite we remained in our teams and Equipo Base began the anchoring portion for the base while Equipo Madera began measuring and assembling mesquite trays. As a member of Equipo Base, along with Pretri, Hannah Ilan, and Ryan, I helped drill holes into the wood and cement. Drilling the holes through the wood was not a technical feat unlike drilling into the cement. As none of us had ever drilled into concrete before, we had the best drill bit to complete the task and had an air compressor can (Gracias Mine) to remove any debris that fell into the drilled hole. Hannah Ilan was the first person to test the air compressor…so picture this: her kneeling over the hole with the air compressor nozzle in the hole, she pulls the trigger of the air compressor and a geyser of cement rises immediately into her face – HAHAHA (safety note: she had safety goggles on)! It was the funniest thing ever and I wish I had gotten a video of it. Nonetheless, everyone became knowledgeable in using the air compressor and we were successful in screwing in the Titen HD screws. It was a satisfying experience to drill the screws into the cement and know that the base of the PSD is not going to move (compared to our prototyping experience on ETC…iykyk). We are now ready to put up the walls and roof of the PSD and plan to have them up on Monday, so stay tuned!
From Equipo Madera, we learned that we needed more wood to build the mesquite trays. Richard made a trip to the local lumber store to collect more wood while Gaby, Archik, Mine, Antonio, Zorada (a visiting team member for the day) and David cut the required segments to build six trays for the first drying rack.
After Lunch, we all played frisbee again with the team, and again, Archik threw the frisbee over the fence of the property… Minerva recovered it though and Archik sat in time out for a little bit haha. From tossing the frisbee a little bit longer and Ilan finding her plants that close upon touching in the yard, we went back to working; Equipo Base beginning work on installing the Exhaust Fan and Equipo Madera finalizing the first drying rack and mesquite tray. For the exhaust fan, we made cuts and drilled holes into a long piece of metal found at a local hardware store in Oaxaca to create bars of attachments to the PSD. Hannah Ilan, Petri and Ryan also made a cutout of the exhaust fan in polycarbonate sheet designed for the roof. We plan to make the final installations of the fan with the PSD on Monday!
Overall today was a pretty good day, in terms of incorporating the community members into each project and the progress on the PSD and drying racks is on track. The weather was perfect for working as the rain from the night before had cooled the earth and colored the mountains blue; a picturesque backdrop of the countryside of Mexico. For next steps, we are still figuring out with Mine, Petri, and Antonio the number of racks to put into the PSD to maximize its space. Tomorrow, we plan to visit the Community Museum, Archeological Sites, and Mine’s Amaranth Projection Facility. Stayed tuned for these adventures and the progress of our project!
Peace, love, trenzas (braids),
- Hannah Myers y Team Mexico
Timeline Summary:
8am: Wake up & eat breakfast (beans, eggs & tortillas…again hahaha)
9:07am: Head over to the worksite
9:47am: Arrived at worksite (long walk + lost frisbee along the way)
10:18am: Equipo Base: Begin securing the PSD to the roof! Equipo Madera: Begin measuring and cutting wood for mesquite trays!
12pm: PSD secured to the roof, also realized we needed more wood for trays and racks!
1pm: Lunch at Carlos’ Dad’s house (Tamarind juice, beans, potato and poblano mix, tortillas, and jicama con chile para dessert))
2pm: Equipo Base: Begin installing exhaust fan! Equipo Madera: building Mesquite trays with the wood we had
5:30ishpm: Head back to the hotel (Drive back with Mine)
6pm: Rest/Chill time
7pm: Dinner! (Eggs and Salad con tortillas)
9:00pm: TEAM TIME