toasty

I am now the proud owner of the world’s most awesome toaster.

It is possibly the cheapest toaster ever; also quite possibly the ugliest.

But I made it, and I am very proud.

First I went to the hardware store and purchase some galvanize steel wire that they call “rafting wire” because the Rio Grande raftmen use it to lash their bamboo rafts together. I got two gauges of wire, a half pound of each, and ended up spending a paltry 120J for the lot.

Raw materials

I then used my trusty multitool to bend the larger wire into two rackets, and then strung the smaller wire across the rackets. You can tell that I did not worry too much about symmetry.

I believe the appropriate term for this aesthetic is "wabi sabi"

Then it was time to try my new contraption and see if it would work.

The apparatus in its inaugural application. The foil on the stove is to keep roast breadfruit char from making a mess

After maybe a minute over the flame on either side, the toast was ready! It looked pretty good too. Might take a little practice to get exactly the toast I want, but I was pretty pleased.

Success!

Then it was time to enjoy the toast of my labors.

The combination of banana, cinnamon, and honey is objectively the best possible combination for toast.

In non-toast related news, a new batch of trainees arrived on Island on Wednesday. I was in Kingston for medical and got a chance to spend the afternoon with them. It is always so refreshing meeting new trainees. Their enthusiasm is really uplifting, and it is a lot of fun to watch them begin this adventure and to remember my own beginnings. I hope I get to see them again soon.

One of the more interesting things about meeting new trainees is that it puts into incredibly sharp focus all the pithy little thoughts about Peace Corps, Jamaica, and development in general that I have had throughout the past two years. I’m going to start a new tab on this blog that lists all these little thoughts.