One of my internships in Tunisia was at the Tunis-Carthage Marble Factory. These are a few pictures on the job.
![IMG_7987 IMG_7987](http://www.douglasvanbossuyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/IMG_7987-640x480.jpg)
One of the factory guards and one of my friends, Rajib. We read the Koran together a few times and he and some of the other guys took me to the local mosque once for the Friday afternoon prayer and sermon.
![IMG_8000 IMG_8000](http://www.douglasvanbossuyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/IMG_8000-480x640.jpg)
One of the factory workers who ran the machine that I analyzed during my internship.
![IMG_8003 IMG_8003](http://www.douglasvanbossuyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/IMG_8003-640x480.jpg)
The machine. Two huge spinning diamond-tipped disks slash through blocks of marble the size of VW Bugs. This machine parted out blocks of material for processing on other machines into tiles.
![IMG_8004 IMG_8004](http://www.douglasvanbossuyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/IMG_8004-640x480.jpg)
![IMG_8007 IMG_8007](http://www.douglasvanbossuyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/IMG_8007-640x480.jpg)
The stone yard. Enough material is always kept on hand to keep the factory running for six months in case of troubles in the supply chain. There is no such thing as Just-In-Time manufacturing in Tunisia.
A marble CNC machine.
Looks like it’s making drain covers.
![IMG_8012 IMG_8012](http://www.douglasvanbossuyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/IMG_8012-640x480.jpg)
![IMG_8013 IMG_8013](http://www.douglasvanbossuyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/IMG_8013-640x480.jpg)
![IMG_8015 IMG_8015](http://www.douglasvanbossuyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/IMG_8015-640x480.jpg)
Another marble CNC. It also seems to be making covers for drains.
This CNC also has a rotary table. A column top loaded up waiting to be finished.
![IMG_8018 IMG_8018](http://www.douglasvanbossuyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/IMG_8018-640x480.jpg)
A machine used to rough-cut columns. It follows a pattern visible in the upper left in front of the window made out of metal.
![IMG_8024 IMG_8024](http://www.douglasvanbossuyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/IMG_8024-640x480.jpg)
![IMG_8029 IMG_8029](http://www.douglasvanbossuyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/IMG_8029-640x480.jpg)
A huge marble cutting machine. This one has about 80 diamond-tipped saw blades of the same variety as hack-saws use. The machine goes very fast, makes lots of noise, and makes the whole building shake.
![IMG_8031 IMG_8031](http://www.douglasvanbossuyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/IMG_8031-480x640.jpg)
Almost through the marble block!
![IMG_8035 IMG_8035](http://www.douglasvanbossuyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/IMG_8035-480x640.jpg)
Looking down one of the crane tracks outside in the stone yard.
![IMG_8042 IMG_8042](http://www.douglasvanbossuyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/IMG_8042-640x480.jpg)
![IMG_8043 IMG_8043](http://www.douglasvanbossuyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/IMG_8043-640x480.jpg)
![IMG_8047 IMG_8047](http://www.douglasvanbossuyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/IMG_8047-480x640.jpg)
My friend Sami and me. He’s about 25 and hopes to one day move out of his parents house and get married. He drives the small pickup truck for the company. It’s a pretty good position with a fair amount of responsibility for his age and educational background.
![IMG_8048 IMG_8048](http://www.douglasvanbossuyt.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/IMG_8048-640x480.jpg)
Hamza, the IT director. The company actually has a fairly sophisticated IT infrastructure including a fiber optic backbone between two buildings and a large database of customer orders and drawings. Hamza was one of only two people that could speak more than 20 words of english at the company. The other was the director, Sofiene.