Day 10: Working Vibrantly Together
Our path to the worksite is filled with color. At first, I was extremely surprised to see buildings with such vibrant colors. There's red.
There's yellow.
There's purple.
And there's a few more colors that I didn't capture or my low-quality photography skills did not do justice. The path is a stark contrast from what I'm accustomed to in the United States. Most neighborhoods I've been in are monotone, and the only variety appears to be size. Whatever it is, it is definitely a reflection of the vibrant people we’ve met throughout our trip.
Once we arrived at the worksite, I began my day by continuing where I had left off previously - fitting the metal sheets to our oven with Antonio. The metal sheets are a critical component to our oven since they provide a large heat source when they are painted black and left in the sun. This took longer than we expected because the metal sheets we wanted are not common in Oaxaca, so there was a lot of cutting and measuring involved in fitting the metal we obtained. Carlos, one of the vibrant community members, was a lifesaver. He suggested methods we could use to work around our unforeseen circumstance, while joking with us and telling us more about his hobbies (when he wasn't busy helping others), such as art and music production. He emphasized the aesthetics of the oven and gave us tips that would conserve functionality but make the oven easier on the eyes. Or, as easy on the eyes as a an all black interior could be.
Petri, another vibrant community member, helped us fit the insulation that went inside the walls of our ovens behind the metal sheets. It wasn’t difficult, but it took longer than we expected (which is a common theme). Petri also joked around as we went through it. We were able to finish cutting most of the insulation before lunch.
After lunch, we sat down and relaxed for a bit before returning to work. We were able to finish attaching the metal and insulation! I helped attach the plywood side panels, and I also helped make part of the frame for an oven tray. It involved cutting pieces to fit and then drilling the all the parts together, but not without a little struggle and help from others. After the tray was completed, I helped make a few finishing touches on the interior before working to attach the door. After some advice from David, our technical advisor, we attached the door, opened and closed it a few times (as doors tend to work), and let out a small “yay”. We were mostly done with the construction! I spray painted a few parts of the oven so it could be primarily matte black on the inside while someone varnished the exterior. And that was it. A long work day filled with a lot of construction.
We made it back and had two team meetings before I could make it back to my bed. The entire day was spent working, and it felt great to have accomplished so much and make such great progress.
