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I got to learn how to make pottery! My friend knows a lady who makes clay jars, so I went over to her house one morning and she taught me how to do it. It makes a lot of sense when you see it. There are these rounded basins in the ground, in all different sizes, and you put the clay in a basin and pound it with a smooth rock until it's thin and pottery-like. Then you sort of stand it on end and add more clay in the basin, and pound that out. So eventually you get a jar shape, and you can cut holes in the sides if it's going to be a water dish for chickens or you can add a neck if it's going to be for holding drinking water, then you let it dry before baking it. I made two: one for chickens/my cat, and one for cooling my water.












Because these pots are the most beautiful invention ever, and I'll tell you why. I even taught this in physics, that's how cool it is. The walls of a cannari (I have no idea how to spell it, or even what language it is- it means clay pot) are very porous, so the water that you put inside can evaporate through the walls. And since that process requires energy, it takes the necessary energy in form of heat from the water inside the jar, making the water that remains significantly cooler. So, on a hot afternoon, when all the water in my house is at room temperature (invariably higher than my body temperature) I can drink beautifully cool water from my cannari. And you can call me a nerd for loving this concept, but only after you drink hot water all day every day for a month or two.