We woke up bright and early this morning at 7:30 to a breakfast of bananas and french toast. We left the hostel at 8:20, taking the bus to Cantaro Azul, arguing about monopolies and net neutrality the whole way. After we arrived, Pablo, a member of Cantaro Azul, drove us in the back of his truck to the El Encuentro, the site of the other teams work.
Managing to make it up the bumpy dirt back roads, we arrived at El Ecuentra, a stunning clearing surrounded by steep mountains. The clearing was populated with small huts, a few swings, and 3 large buildings. A small stream ran along the edge of the clearing, over which a rickety wooden rope bridge hung. Past the bridge lay a garden full of a variety of fruits and vegetables. Of the three buildings, two seemed to be storage. However, the third building, La Casa de Agua, stood out from the rest.
While the interview/picture crew got ready, we climbed down to the river and checked it out for around 15 minutes. Once they were ready, the thirty minutes consisted of us taking multiple videos of us introducing ourselves one by one in a group. After that two members of each group split off to answer a set of four interview questions provided to us by Cantaro Azul.
Finally, we were given a tour of La Casa de Agua. The building was supported by a sturdy wooden frame and had a stone foundation. The walls were constructed out of clay, sand, hay, cactus, and few other ingredients and had glass bottles embedded in them for decoration. The insulation provided by the clay walls almost made the building feel air conditioned. Pablo then explained to us the different methods by which the walls were built and the future plans for powering the building with solar panels. Next, we got up onto the roof of the building where they had set up beds for growing crops and an area for water collection testing.
After our tour, we made the long trek back to Cantaro Azul where we spent a short time workng on our presentation and our CAD model. At around 2 pm we returned to the hostel, where we rested until dinner time. We ate dinner with Dr. Loyo at a small restaurant that mainly served huaraches. There we disscussed the pros and cons of the ENGI 120 classes and gave Dr. Loyo feedback on our trip. After dinner we returned to the hostel at 10 pm.
