Samoan Language

Posted on August 13th, 2009 by dave

A while back, my co-volunteer Aaron came up with this idea to put together recordings of the Samoan language to help during training. I thought the idea was a good one but also thought it got dropped. It didn’t! And Aaron posted the results today on his website: http://www.waste.org/~danger/samoa_language.html. If you’ve ever been curious about what Samoan sounds like, or are a volunteer about to go be sent there then check it out.

On a different note, I’ve collected all my hidden posts and am about to release them for the general public. There isn’t anything too sensational to read, and it goes more towards my mental state at the time rather than the environment I was in. Expect that on Friday.

Shade Model

Posted on July 29th, 2009 by dave

I’ve finished the first of two models. The 5-point worked well in this scale (1cm = 1 ft). In the full-scale version, the panels would be Isosceles triangles of Tyvek material supported by PVC tubing. Stays of nylon cord are supposed to come down from the tops to secure their position and angle. The bottoms are to be staked to the ground with rebar.

The model was able to support itself with just 4 sides, leaving a nice airy opening.

One thing I’m concerned with is the tyvek material. I understand it’s pretty noisy when the wind hits it. It gets better if the Tyvek is crumpled and washed, so that’s something I need to look at still.

Shade Sketch

Posted on July 29th, 2009 by dave

I’m heading off to a rather large gathering in the desert in about a month. I’m considering building a shade structure for our camp site or my living quarters. Here are the sketches I made with SketchUp from Google.

This first design is a five panel design. The point of the overlapping sides is that they provide some shade on the interior walls. It doesn’t work so well with the sun directly overhead but it adds a few extra morning hours to sleep in. I’m hoping the opening at the top works like a flue in a teepee. There is about 300 sq ft of floor space.

This one is a 3-point star and is much simpler in some respects. There are no spars, just stays that come down from three posts in the center. It’s a more open design, but the secondary sheets, which are used primarily for shade, could be brought in if wet weather strikes. This is also a cheaper design because it uses less material and would take less room to transport.

Phnom Penh

Posted on December 9th, 2008 by dave

Well. We’ve just completed day two in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This is the first place we have not booked extra days in. While it’s “nice and all” there’s nothing really keeping us here. It’s a little more expensive than Siem Reap, our accomodations aren’t nearly as nice, the beggars and tuktuk drivers are more aggressive, the whole town is under construction (the famous water front along the Tonelé Sap River is walled up for instance) and frankly, it’s not as nice as the other places we’ve been.

When I say “nice” I am speaking in terms of both beauty and friendliness. The waiters are smug and a shouting match broke out across the street from where we were having lunch. A few times it looked like it was going to break into a fist to cuffs.

Of course, we might have just hit the city at the wrong time of the year or something. And I might be a little grumpy from dehydration.

What else we’ve seen of Cambodia has been absolutely wonderful. I hope to come back knowing that the Cambodia we leave tomorrow morning will be a much different place when I return. Like (same same but different than) Vietnam, it is going through major social, political and economic changes very rapidly now that it has (again) opened to The West.

As much as I’ve loved Cambodia, Siem Reap and Angkor especially, I am looking forward to Thailand, a place I’ve wanted to visit for a very long time.