Glass Blowing Factory

This weekend we went to a cool glass factory just outside of Quetzaltenango. Everything in the factory is made of recycled glass. It was really cool because they allowed us to go out onto the factory floor and interact with the workers. 

The first thing you see is a huge pile of broken glass. 

Then they put the glass into a very hot oven until it melts. Once it is melted, they put a hollow metal rod into the molten glass and pull it out with a glob of glass "jelly" on the end.

Then they blow the glass through the metal tube until it makes a bubble. The workers let us do this part.

Then they form the glass into a product by rolling the bubble on various surfaces and using wooden tools that have been soaked in water. They also use scissors to cut off excess melted glass.

After 24 hours in a furnace, the product is ready for market. They have a cool store attached to the factory where you can buy all sorts of things.