"'Tis my specialty!"

(I wrote this last night but the internet died before I was able to post it)

We finished the structure for the solar dryer today. Now we just need to attach the tin for the roof and walls, and build and attach the collector. The collector will have a sheet of plexiglass for the top, and on the bottom will be a bumpy black surface (landscaper's cloth over bamboo rods). The surface will heat up, heat up the nearby air, causing it to rise through the collector and into the main part of the cabinet where the peanuts are. Ideally, on days with at least a bit of sun, this dryer will be able to dry the peanuts in a couple of days. We even sized the collector using solar heat gain values from The Passive Solar Energy Book and heat transfer equations from Robin, our chemical engineer.

Working in Haiti is so much different from working in the United States. Your thinking process must change fundamentally in order to get things done and preserve your sanity. For example, things move at a much slower pace here. You drive slow because the roads are awful, you work slowly because there is no emphasis on efficiency like there is in the US, things take longer because materials aren't readily available, etc. There's just a ton of things that make hour-long projects in the US take a day or two here.

Another difference is the availability of materials here. I had expected that, because this is a third-world country with no infrastructure that some things would just not be available. But what we've found is that most materials are available here; it just takes time to find it, and lots of money to buy it. So when you're planning your machine, there is no clear cut yes/no choice for materials, but a continuum of cost and value that makes material selection quite tricky and fascinating at the same time.

In addition to work on the dryer, we visited a technical school today to speak with Boss Israel, a teacher there, about adjusting parts for the peanut grinders. We spoke with Israel in the mechanical shop, which was filled with steel grinders, lathes, vices, and lots of spare parts floating around. It looked a lot like a larger version of the shop back at school, without the safety glasses, that is.

Boss Israel was quite excited to hear that I am studying to be a mechanical engineer, and told me in English: "'Tis my speciality!" He showed us the books he writes for his first-year students, complete with instructions for writing block letters (I remember that!), and directions for drawing regular polygons with protractors. He gave me one to keep!

Boss Israel will also be making an apparatus for us to try making charcoal out of peanut shells. He will be visiting the factory tomorrow to see the grinders and to get drawings of the apparatus (I get to use my CAD skills once again!) It is neat to work with Israel because he is a sharp man. If he hadn't been born in Haiti, where no decent engineering education is available to him, he would be a great engineer.