Kroka Expeditions 2009 NH-Ecuador Semester

NHESP 2009 Final Update

2009-12-18T04:01:00.000-08:00

Your eyes are soft with sorrow

Now hey hey that's no way

To say good bye...

-Leonard Cohen

Dearest readers,

We can hardly believe that in less than 24 hours, we will be on a plane flying back to the States. The energy today is quiet, but also a bit chaotic. People are packing their personal gear, as well as closing things up with their big jobs. The air is full of emotion. Excitement, sadness, mellowness, etc.

This last week we packed a lot in to our schedule. We worked on our big job pages for the main lesson books, as well as putting last touches on to the Choza. Each of us chose a post or rafter, engraved a design into them, and then oiled them. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to put a roof up or do adobe, but it still looks great!

One of the days we took an early bus to Otavalo, the craft capital of Ecuador. We arrived and wandered through the colorful market where there were gorgeous items to purchase. Hammocks, ponchos, bags, dolls, tapestries, clothes, raw material, you name it. It was special to be there, amongst the proud locals who are selling their handmade goods. We enjoyed a traditional lunch together after everyone made their purchases, and then went to share pie! We had had so many conversations about pie, and now were able to eat it. Pineapple, lemon, raspberry, blueberry and chocolate. You can imagine how tasty it was.

On Friday night we had quite the fiesta. Ross and Lily made immense burritos that filled us after three bites. Afterwards, Gabby and Sebastian, the couple that accompanied us on the mountains, came to Palugo to teach salsa dancing. Music and dance filled the night. Trina and Hannah M. ended the night with an enthusiastic funk party. (Trina was deemed the "winner".)

Saturday we prepared for graduation. Throughout the week Marcela had helped us with our presentation, so on Saturday we practiced only a little and cleaned the Chozon and dwellings. That night Misha, who arrived on Thursday, showed us a beautiful slideshow of his family trip of the Green River in Utah. It was inspiring and many of us expressed wishes to follow their footsteps on a similar trip. Thank you Misha!

On Sunday, we had the big day! Guests started arriving after lunch. One by one, group by group they came. Parents and friends from San Clemente, (our three Ecuadorian students' town), German from Zuleta, the owners of the Tatoo company, and then the families who work on the farm at Palugo. It was great to see everyone and to feel their support. All of us looked super spiffy in our bright, clean, white embroidered shirts. We ate dinner all together and played music outside. Adela had prepared the veal that Oso, her massive dog, killed a couple day's before. It was great to have it, along with potatoes, salad, juice, and other dishes. After dinner, the San Clemente folks shared their unannounced presentation with us. I had been wondering why they came with llama chaps and interesting masks. Music began and the two men with the chaps and masks began to dance. The other members of their community danced behind them in a line, taking short quick steps to the music. Slowly the audience joined the dance, and by the end we were all dancing around in a circle. German's flute playing was beautiful.

Trekking to Cotopaxi

Then came our presentation! I won't go into details because most of you will see the presentation at the NH graduation. It went wonderfully without a bump, and everyone loved it. The Ecuadorian student's certificates were presented to them, and the air was filled with gratitude. Manuel, San Clemente's main spokesman, expressed in kind and sincere words how grateful they were, and gave Misha, Ross, Lily, Marcea and Thomas each gorgeous ceramic traditional bowls filled with habas and corn. The owner of Tatoo also expressed his gratitude, giving Misha a shirt. We gave out our thank you cards that we made and little bottles of maple syrup. It was a bittersweet time. To end the evening we watched a great slideshow that Jackson, (our photographer), had put together with Thomas. It was amazing to see where we had been!

Right now it's night-time and everyone else is sleeping around me. We are all in the Choza together because we cleaned our dwellings today. We had a late night at Marcea and Thomas' home, sitting around a fire, making bread on a stick, roasting veal meat, and sharing our feelings about closing the semester. Adela, Mathius, Nicole, Michael, Marcela and Misha joined us for a little bit, which was really sweet because it was our chance to say goodbye to all of them besides Misha. We played music using the drums that some people had made. Then we gave our secret Santa gifts. These were a gift that we gave to the person who's name we had picked from a hat earlier on. The gift was supposed to be something really special to the giver, and that s/he was attached to. Everyone received really nice things. It was a good idea of Thomas'. A little reminder of letting stuff go and sharing it with people you love.

Well my fellow readers, right now it is 1:30am, and we're waking up at 3:15. It's going to be a long day of travel! So I must rest.

It was an absolute pleasure sharing this semester experience with you.

Thank you for all your support!

Adios y paz,

Melodia

Thank you Marcea and Thomas!!!!

PS: Please join us on Saturday, Dec 13 at 3 PM at the Monadnock Waldorf School to celebrate our semester experiences. We start with a slide show followed by a presentation and finish with the graduation ceremony. A silent auction will help us raise some money for the scholarship fund to support our Ecuadorian friends, Naty, Tupac and Roberto. Their presence was invaluable. Thank you all!!!

NHESP 2009 Update 12

2009-12-10T05:54:00.000-08:00

Step by step the longest march

Can be won can be won

Many stones do form an arch

Singly none singly none

And by union what we will

Can be accomplished still

Drops of water turn the mill

Singly none singly none

Dearest Fellow Readers,

We are back at Palugo after an amazing 18-day expedition! What a great adventure we had. This whole semester we've had a view of Cotopaxi, the second largest mountain in Ecuador, standing at 5,897 meters above sea level. Over this last expedition we walked all the way from Palugo to the summit of Cotopaxi, about 70km. The ultimate trek! We could barely believe it when we were standing at the base of this majestic beauty. But, I think I'm getting a little too much ahead of myself. Let me take it back to where I left off in the short update I sent last.

So our first two days of trekking were amongst the clouds on mountain ridges and grassy pastures where bulls roamed. On the third morning three students went back to Palugo to rest, leaving the rest to finish the trek to Antisana by themselves. So they had a solo! Although they were partially led by a friendly park ranger, Manuel. The next morning Thomas and Lily met the group, and were later followed by Ross, Marcea, Erica myself and Hannah. It was wonderful to have everyone back together and hear our different stories.

When we woke up the next morning, there was a beautiful huge rainbow right in front of our base camp. Ross and Lily surprised us with a fruity oatmeal. We then had time to prepare for our skills test. Before the actual test, we had lunch and were entertained by two Ecuadorian wolves that were super friendly as well as very sneaky. They almost ran off with Hannah Miller's bright blue underwear! There were five different skills that we would have to know. One was making a fire, maintaining it, and taking it down. Another was building an anchor, strong enough to secure our fellow comrades, using a knot of our choice that we had learned. The third skill was knife sharpening, so they were sharp enough to shave with. The next was reading and orienting maps. Finally, the fifth skill was knowing how to assemble 7 specific important knots. Happily everyone passed! We enjoyed pasta with peanut sauce and cabbage salad for dinner, and headed to bed early to be rested for the climb up to Moraine camp the following day.

This was the camp we would stay at before going up to our high camp on the glacier. Once we arrived to Moraine camp, we set up camp, and then brought our mountaineering gear up to the edge of the glacier to lighten the load for the following day. That night it was very chilly, but we still enjoyed a rice and lentil soup for Thomas’ birthday. Erica, who had been back in Palugo for a rest to recover from a stomach illness surprised both Thomas and I with a chocolate cake that Adela had made for our birthdays. It was quite a night.

The next day we headed up to high camp. Imagine pitching tents on top of the icy snow and having a view of the sunset above the clouds. We were served hot chocolate in our tents and ate delicious pesto quinoa. What a place to fall a sleep in!

The hike up to the summit of Antisana commenced at around 3am. I know I already mentioned this in the last update, but seeing nothing but the sparkling snow beneath us and the trains of headlights that looked like Chinese lanterns was magical. We were walking up the mountain to greet the sun that would rise in a couple of hours. Thomas said that while other people were dreaming in their beds, we were living our dreams on the mountain. There were a few steep and technical areas on the glacier, but everyone who left from high camp made it to our summit, which was 50 meters from the actual summit. There wasn't any visible way to get to the actual summit because of shifts in the glacier, but we still all felt like we reached the summit. What a view we had! A layer of clouds, with Cotopaxi peeking above them, along with all the other tall mountains in the region. It felt so exciting to be there and experience the glacier with each other. I personally felt I had been given a gift from the entire world, since it was my birthday! Truly special. The descent back to high camp went smoothly, with Thomas and Mathias testing our self-arrest skills by suddenly yelling "Tension! Tension!" and sliding rapidly down the mountain. That warmed us up! After a fine lunch that the folks who stayed behind prepared for us (Ross, Hannah C. and Naty), we descended even further all the way back to base camp. The llamas from the area were there to greet us. We washed up and started preparing dinner. We accidentally opened up a can of condensed sweet milk, so we made sweet birthday popcorn, which was a lovely treat! We had a long meeting about how we felt about the closeness of the group, and what it meant to be in a community. Then we happily and sleepily went to bed.

Since it was Thanksgiving day the next day, during lunch we shared in a circle about what our families do to celebrate the holiday. Then we all got excited and started taking about our favorite pies. I'm pretty sure everyone was a tad bit homesick. But the games we played afterwards took our homesickness away quickly. Since we had the whole day to rest and talk, we decided that we haven't been playing enough games during this semester. So we played capture the flag and quite a few other classics. The altitude was definitely noticeable by our easy tiredness and heavy breathing, but it was still a bunch of fun.

I guess I don't need to go into full detail about every single day and where we stayed each night. I'll say that we ended up staying at the base camp of Antisana for two nights longer than expected, while we waited to see if Tobias would feel better. His stomach didn't feel any better, so he ended up going back to Palugo with Marcea and Geoff. Our group decided that if one of our members were sick and had to go back to Palugo, that another student would go with them to be their care taker. Geoff would catch up with us when we got to the base of Cotopaxi. Until then, the rest of us continued our trek. Through fields, on mossy soils, under hawks and past rabbits, we went along mountain ridges. It truly was a beautiful trek. On the evening that we left Antisana, we were settling in at our campsite and Hannah C. accomplished her dream of catching a roaming horse that was nearby. She managed to do so with just her scarf. The rest of us were watching from the tarp, and Erica said, "Either that horse is really old, really tired, or Hannah is magical." It was amazing to see how tame the horse was with Hannah. It even let her sit on it! Incredible. Hannah's smile afterwards was priceless.

When we arrived to the Cotopaxi side of the mountain range, we stayed at the campsite for two nights. Marcea and Geoff met us, and Hannah M. switched with Geoff, to go back and be with Tobias. Francisco, who dropped them off, left us with fresh mangos, yogurt, banana and zuchinni bread. Marcea also brought the mandolin with her, which Lily really enjoyed playing on the remainder of our trek. Walking towards Cotopaxi, everyone was noticeably stronger. It was the best trekking day we ever did together, because we stayed together at the same pace. We camped at a high altitude, above the clouds with a fantastic view of Chimborazo, Ecuador's tallest mountain. We could also see an erupting volcano! The next day we didn't have very far to walk to get to the lodge where we would stay at the base of Cotopaxi. It was a cozy little place with two cabins and a loft for us to stay in. Once we rested for a bit, took showers and settled in, Mathias drove up with Ross, Hannah M, Tobias, and his cousin Sabastian with his wife Gabby. We hadn't seen Tobias for a few days, so it was really nice to see him again. The owner of the lodge made us an incredibly delicious dinner with four different courses. We all found it odd to sit at a table with glass windows and a great view. There was also a heater by the couches, so it was super cozy. That night we all slept really well.

The next day after a yummy lunch that Marcea made all of us, we started ascending up towards Moraine/high camp. It was all up hill for 5.2 km. Luckily we had two horses to carry up all of our food and group gear. In the direction we were heading, directly over Cotopaxi we could see lightning and hear thunder. We were also hit with a good amount of hail, which didn't send off the warmest welcome. The Moraine camp was nice with rubber tents and a stove. After eating a little something and meeting about who had their heart set on going up Cotopaxi, we went to bed early, since we would have to wake up at midnight.

Waking up so early wasn't so bad. We shared a delicious oat raisin chocolate colada. It was really warming. Gathering our gear we hiked for about an hour up to the glacier. Hannah C., Jackson and Bryson stayed behind at camp but their hearts were with us. The climb was like Antisana... but different. The snow sparkled to the bright full moon, it wasn't as steep or as technical, and the sunrise was beautiful. There we were, on top of the clouds. As we got closer to the top we could smell sulphur and see smoke coming out of various crevices. At the summit there was a huge crater covered in snow. Everyone was so excited to have made it. Trina and I had been saving our last mangos for this moment, so we enjoyed them on the glacier. We were blessed by the morning and headed down soon enough. What a rewarding and proud feeling it was. We carried this feeling all the way back with us to Palugo.

Once we walked back to the lodge, we had to walk even more downhill to meet our bus. Everyone was sleepy and took little catnaps on the ride home. When we arrived back at Palugo, Adela brought us an amazing dinner of quiche, meat loaf, soup, rice, salad and chocolate ice cream cake!! Thanks Adela! Such rich food after simple but delicious expedition food! It felt good to be back and we were all very grateful of Adela.

Well my fellow readers, you are now caught up in great detail of our expedition. It was certainly an experience and an accomplishment, walking all the way from Palugo to the summit of Cotopaxi. Being back at Palugo, people have told us that they're impressed with how much we're glowing and how we seem to have grown tighter together. We went over the schedule for these next days with Thomas, and every moment is packed. We are working on engraving little personal drawings into the choza, our garden house, working on projects and academic work. There is a lot of preparation for coming back to the States! We are also going to Otavalo to go to the craft market there, we will have a salsa night taught by Sabastian and Gabby, and doing many other exciting things. It's odd to think about leaving Palugo, the place we've called home for the past three months, and to part from each other. But we're also very excited to see all of you in less than two weeks! Wow!

With hugs all the way from the glaciers,

Your scribe,

Melodia

Geoff would like to wish his father Daniel a Happy Birthday.

Hannah M would like to wish her brother Jake a Happy Birthday and says she will make him a rockin’ birthday cake in a couple weeks.

Hannah C would like to wish her Aunt Dietra a Happy belated Birthday.

Jackson would like to wish his sister Sofie a Happy Birthday. She is now 19.

NHESP 2009 Update 11

2009-12-02T14:26:00.000-08:00

Dearest readers,

My dear readers, we are all together, safe and well. It’s amazing how many super changes and adventures have happened so far on our second expedition. Right now we are at our base camp in Antisana. And Mathias is about to take unneeded gear back to Palugo, so I need to write a very brief update to send back with him.

We left on expedition on November 18^th. Walking right out of Palugo, we came to a cobble stone road surrounded by grazing cows. It was a beautiful day to walk through gorgeous fields, over grassy hills and passing friendly horses, we made our way toward our camp for the night. We were greeted by Chagras, Ecuadorian cowboys, who were on horses and were curious of what we were up to and where we were going. When we mentioned Cotopaxi, they exchanged surprised looks and remarked that it was a loooong way! Our campsite for the night was gorgeous, surrounded by flaky paper trees and easy access to water and wood - ideal. The next morning we enjoyed the fresh delicious yogurt that Marcela sent along. We ate it with quinoa and pineapple. Then we started off on our second trek day. Along mountain ridges we walked, amongst the cloud with occasional glimpses of Antisana. Sometimes bulls walked alongside of us, giving us odd company. On the third day we go to our base camp at Antisana, where we prepared for our ascent

Most of us summited Antisana, which was fabulous. It was exceptionally special for me as it was on my birthday. In the picture you see us resting on the top of Antisana with Cotopaxi in the background above the clouds on the right side

There is so much I want to write and tell you, but it will have to wait until we return to Palugo. Everyday we grow stronger and closer as a group and I am certain that everyone will have some wonderful stories to tell when we return.

With thoughts of sparkling glacier snow and excitement for what’s to come,

I leave you dear readers.

Peace,

Your scribe for the NHESP 2010, this is Melodia

NHESP 2009 Update 10

2009-11-20T19:26:00.000-08:00

Buenas tardes a todos!

Tomorrow we’re leaving bright and early on our next expedition, so this will be all the news until our return in two weeks.

These last few days have been filled with different exciting events. We had a second informative geography lesson with Michael, talking about the mountain ranges in Ecuador, the different altitudes we were at when on our last expedition, different ways that mountains form and various types of rock. Michael has a lively way of teaching, and it was fun to have a class together.

The next day a lot of us were in the kitchen, cooking and cutting up vegetables and beef to go into the food dehydrator, when we were visited by a group of Outward Bound semester students with Michael. They were all Americans, with ages ranging from 18 to 29. It was really exciting because it was the first time we connected with other students around our ages. We had a very brief visit, sharing where we were from and how our semesters were going so far. We all wanted to spend more time with them, but knew how busy everyone was. Michael will be leaving in a couple of days to go up Antisana and Cotopaxi with the group before we go.

We finished the frame of the choza, YEAH!!! (the garden house that we’ve been working on for Palugo)! The rafters are all up, and everything is ready for tiling and making adobe walls. We’ll do that when we come back from the expedition. It’s still a feeling of accomplishment for everyone.

Our semester’s terrace is also coming along beautifully. We are going to have so many veggies for our graduation here in Ecuador. Potatoes, cabbage, corn, beans.

For the past week we’ve had two bins filled with a mixture of alpaca and wool, that we’ve been cleaning in preparation for making felted hats. We were hoping to get the hats done by the time we left for expedition, but it looks like that will also have to happen after we get back. The other day we had a felting class with Marcea, teaching us how to make our future hats.
Yesterday was a different and fun day. We all got our mountaineering little back packs and headed down to the main road to meet Thomas and Mathias with a truck, ready to take us rock climbing. The place where we went wasn’t too far away. The climbing faces were huge with routes made, some of them by Michael. Thomas and Mathias lead four different routes for us, all being close together. Almost everyone climbed and took turns belaying. The watermelon Mathias brought was refreshing and cooling for the hot sunny day. When we weren’t climbing, we were practicing tying knots, preparing for our skills test. Erica and Trina tried out leading on the faces. It was fun to take a break from being at Palugo. On our way back we went to a tree nursery where there were also trout ponds. We could choose any tree we wanted to plant back at Palugo. Trees like palm of the puma, elderberry, black walnut, papaya, guava, rosemary, and many others were chosen. On our way back to Palugo it started raining, a blessing for the locals because they have been in the longest drought they’ve had for a long time. We walked back up to Palugo in the rain and everyone with their trees in their arms. There was plenty of time once we got back to relax and write journal entries.

We were asked not to enter the Chozón, our common space, because Marcela and Damian were rehearsing their theatre performance. Marcea brought us fancy clothes to borrow for the night, because we were supposed to go to the performance in formal wear, and Marcea didn’t think quick dry pants and long underwear would cut it. The guys all got to wear colorful traditional ponchos, and the ladies wore skirts. Some of us even pulled out our jewelry that we bought in Shiwakucha. We all looked clean and sharp. Entering the Chozón, it was set up beautifully. Candles everywhere and tables with tablecloths. The name of the performance and dinner was called “Fine Dining”, “Feeny Deeny”. And the name really suited the set up. We were served delicious tuna on spinach leaves, mashed potatoes, lentils, and brownies with tea. Throughout the dinner Marcela and Damian entertained us with improvisation. Thomas’ parents also came, and a few other guests. It was good cheer and fun. Thank you Marcela and Damian!

So today we were left to organize and clean everything before leaving on expedition. There are still things to do, but everyone has been very productive with their time. Joey gave us a wonderful presentation on where we are going on our 17 days on expedition, Erica and Tupac wrote up a packing list for both group and personal gear, Hannah M has been working like crazy, organizing all the food for our expedition, Susanna sharpened and oiled all the tools for the choza and made some sheathes, Tobias got our water filters assembled, Geoff made some super good beef jerky, I dried a bunch of fruit and some vegetables and made a lots of granola, Joey figured out our routes and laminated our maps to take with us, Jackson made energy bars and cut a normal size shovel to a smaller more portable size, Trina made a bunch of tea mixes all for different purposes and organized the med kit, and Bryson organized camp gear. Everyone else helped a lot, and we all feel prepared to leave! A few of us still have to plant our baby trees and finish our journal entries, but otherwise, we’re all set! It’ll be a little more than two weeks before I write the next update. We’ll have hopefully climbed both Antisana and Cotopaxi. What stories we’ll have to share!

Until then, we all wish you a very cozy and Happy Thanksgiving! You can think of us on Thanksgiving Day, when we’ll have descended from Antisana’s summit, and will be at our base camp, huddled into our tents. It’s all an adventure!

Peacefully and with gratitude,

Your scribe, Melodia, for the NHESP

Erica has a quote to add:

Amaranth

A favorite food throughout the Americas since ancient times, when the toasted and sweetened seeds were molded with honey into cakes offered to the Gods. Also known as “garden spinach,” it can be prepared in any way that one would spinach. The mature seeds make an excellent, protein-rich grain. A tablespoon of the fresh leaf juice is given three times daily for anemia, as the plant is rich in iron, calcium, and vitamins. The leaves and branches are boiled and cooled to use as a wash for wounds, sores, and rashes.

-Rosita Arvigo in Satsun.

Trina would like to wish her sister Siena a happy early birthday. Welcome to the year of fourteen. It’s a good one. Hopefully.

Trina also wishes a Happy Thanksgiving to the Powers clan.

Jackson would like to say Happy Thanksgiving to his family. They’re all wonderful and nurturing human beings. He thinks their loving is a miracle. Blessings on their souls. Especially Lulu.

Tobias would like to thank his parents for the supplements. He’s already feeling better.

NHESP 2009 Update 9

2009-11-16T06:36:00.000-08:00

“You work that you may keep pace with the Earth

and the soul of the Earth.

For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons,

and to step out of life’s procession.”

-Kahlil Gibran

Greetings all readers!

Our first week here at Palugo flew by just as quickly as the long-tailed hummingbirds that we often see. We finally got back into our regular routines, even though the rhythm of expedition and the songs we learned in the jungle still echo in our hearts.

One of the things we’ve really been enjoying is our kitchen and having easy access to a variety of foods. Erica made two amazing lasagnas, Trina whipped up an unforgettable banana cream pie, she and Joey made really tasty donuts, Geoff and Bryson served some rich brownies, Tupac made some traditional mashed potato onion pancakes stuffed with cheese. In addition he and I also made some French toast served with some of my yogurt, Tobias and Hannah M. baked a delectable coffee cake, and, well, the list goes on. So it’s been a week of celebrating food!

We also had our Noche Chozonera which went really well. The pizzas that we made were the best yet, and we used some of the fresh pesto that Marcea made. The number of guests was around 20, and we were the presenters of the night! We worked with Marcela and Damian before hand to fine tune our presentation using our puppets. The curtains were pulled and the audience could only see hands holding puppets. The presentation commenced with a lively introduction to Kroka, which was followed by new hands and puppets acting-out our experiences in New Hampshire. For this part of the performance, Tobias and Bryson went full out with their rapping and beat boxing. It was very amusing. Next came our time in Palugo before the expedition, with special effects like paper clouds, grass, a wooden spoon, knife, carrot and sun screen all being packed into a backpack. This was to express us getting prepared for and leaving on expedition. Then came the expedition part of the show. To demonstrate our time in San Clemente, Tupac, Roberto and I played and sang a song in Quichua that Tupac’s parents wrote. The expedition group also showed our puppets going from village to village, mountain to mountain. To end, a group gave a closing, saying what we’re up to now and where we’re going on our next expedition. We then watched a slideshow that Jackson put together, showing selected photos from our expedition. It was a very nice night.

Saturday was dedicated to academic work and having our parent calls! We were all so happy to talk with our parents, and walked back to the chozon with a bounce in our steps, but also shocked to realize how quickly the end of the semester is coming. Our daily work included, finishing main lesson pages, journal entries, sharpening knives and machetes, knitting or embroidering shirts. A very accomplishing day it was. In the evening we even learned how to make healing herbal salves from Marcea. Those of us who attended the class got to keep our very own 1 oz. containers of the salve. We used beeswax, lavender oil, sweet geranium oil, eucalyptus oil, calendula oil, olive oil, and plantain oil. Such lovely ingredients!

Sunday was exciting because we had our second cooking lesson with Adela, Thomas’s mother. After lunch, she came with her two sisters Irene and Veronica. We learned how to make Colada Morada, a thick purple healing drink made with juices and a bunch of special herbs. We then made Huahuas de Pan, which were sweet breads that we baked with walnuts, chocolate, coffee, cinnamon and brown sugar. It was a fun process and such a treat to eat them for dinner. We learned to make these particular foods because they are made during this time of year in celebration of the Day of the Dead.

During breakfast on Monday morning, Hannah C’s 19^th birthday, Thomas and Marcea told us that half of the group were going to go on individual vision quests for the day and night. The other half would leave the next morning. All we had for the vision quest was warm clothing, knives, water bottles and rain jackets. That’s it! So Marcea and Lily took us to individual spots around the farm and dropped us off. We were told to just stay in one spot, create a circle and not move. It was a time to be introspective and self reflective. We didn’t have any food for the rest of the day, so it was also time to fast and cleanse our bodies. The next morning, after a freezing night without our sleeping bags, just us, the earth, the hum of sleeping hummingbirds, the shining stars and the far off barking of dogs, Marcea and Ross came around to each of our spots and told us we were going to go for another day and night. They brought fresh water with them to refill our water bottles and a banana. I’m telling you, a banana never tasted so sweet and rich before. It was amazing. Marcea asked if we would need anything else for the upcoming night, and I believe that most of us requested another pair of socks and our puff jackets. These items really helped to maintain us for the next night. Many of us slept a lot better. That evening though, the sky darkened rapidly with heavy thunderous clouds, and sure enough, it started raining. So we had to individually gather grass or whatever we could find to make shelters. Luckily the rain only fell for around a half an hour, so we didn’t get too soaked. It was a good experience though!

It is interesting how being out in nature with very little protection and so vulnerable to the elements, makes one appreciate things on a scale much larger than usual, for instance, food or the sun. For me personally, I felt the sun was the element most important for my comfort level. I would wake up at various moments through the night hoping to see the sun rising to save me from being cold. Then in the morning, when the sky was changing color, the clouds were being illuminated and the dewy grass was sparkling, I felt like it was worth a whole night of being super cold. It was like a meditation.

This morning Marcea picked up those of us who were in the first group, and we headed back to the chozon for a delightful light breakfast made for us by Ross. It felt wonderful and a little odd to have food in our bellies again, it was great to be back. We met with Thomas and Ross, cleaned up, did laundry and read a reading that Thomas gave us to ponder over. Then after lunch, we worked on the garden house, squaring, making rafters and notching. We also received a lot of mail! So thank you to all our friends and family for sending us so many nice letters and little gifts.

I don’t feel like I have much more to say. We had a hardy delicious beef veggie stew for dinner, and then people stayed in the kitchen preparing various foods. Geoff is working on beef jerky for the next expedition and I made some yogurt with Naty. Hannah M. got started on her meal planning for the expedition, and Bryson started cooking up some English muffins. Francisco, Thomas’s dad delivered our sleeping bags, all clean and with an intense perfume smell. It reminds me of a perfume shop. I wonder what kind of dreams we’ll have tonight!

Well, my fellow readers, what more can I say? Tomorrow the other half of our group will arrive from their vision quest, and we’ll have a hardy breakfast waiting for them. We’ll then do some work on the garden house, and will get started on felting hats or making drums. Thus, our week will continue until we leave on next Wednesday for our next expedition!

Thank you for all your support and encouragement,

Wishes of warmth, peace and humbleness,

Melodia

Jackson would like to wish his little sister Zoe a happy 34^th birthday. He would like to acknowledge how fast she’s growing up and how every time he blinks his eyes she seems older. He thinks that this is truly a miracle.

Marcea would like to send all her love to a dear friend who has embarked on a journey. Please take care Dan and know I will always love you and forever miss you.

I would like to wish my sweet Oma a very happy birthday. Know that I’m thinking about you and look forward to giving you a big hug when I return. Also a very happy birthday to Lili! Lots of hugs.

NHESP 2009 Update 8

2009-11-05T20:20:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone! Happy Halloween and Dia de los Muertos!

We are back at Palugo! It feels so great to be here after our month long expedition. Everyone is organizing group gear and their belongings. We are resting and staying at Palugo for two weeks before we go off on our second and last expedition.

We have had quite an adventure since I last wrote. Getting on the Jatunyacu River was exciting. Unfortunately, Bryson wasn’t feeling well enough to come on the first stretch with us, his stomach was bothering him. Hannah C. and Naty didn’t join us either as they didn’t feel

comfortable with the rapids. The three went and stayed at a hostel with Lily and met us two days later. For the river portion, we were joined by Nadino, a 19 year old indigenous young man from Shiwacocha, the village we were heading to. Nadino was an intern in last year’s Ecuador semester, and has participated in previous semesters with his brothers. He has very long silky black hair and an intricately painted face. It was a great joy to have him with us. In terms of river vessels, we brought a zodiac raft, a kata-raft and three kayaks, which were brought in the event of a needed rescue and were used by the Dammer brothers and their cousin Sebastian.

The first day of travel was tough for a few of us because our stomachs were feeling awful. Let me just say that the motion of the rapids didn’t help. Thank God we felt better the following day. It was a long, very sunny and fun day on the river, filled with paddling, mud baths and swimming. The Rio Jatunyacu is joined by the Rio Anzu creating the Rio Napo, one of the leading tributaries to the great Amazon.

That afternoon, when we reached out camp site, we were greeted by Lily, Bryson, Naty and Hannah C. What a gorgeous campsite we had, a vast rocky beach, green mossy vines hanging over our tents and kitchen area, majestic clouds in the distance and the sparkling Rio Napo. Mathias, Sebastian, Michael, Nadino, Lily and Ross cooked us all a very delicious dinner of rice, beans, plantains and guacamole. So special!

The following day we simply crossed the river, pulled out the rafts and deflated them. We sent unneeded belongings with Mathias, Michael and Sebastian who were returning to Palugo. While we were getting everything together, 11 monkeys passed us by! I guess they were taking their morning stroll in the town. It was quite a scene. Soon we headed off for a 30 minute ride in the back of two trucks to the start of our trek to Shiwacocha. It was a hot and very humid trek. Luckily we didn’t have to carry all of our tents or pots, so all the backpacks were fairly light, except two packs that were loaded with the kataraft. Within three hours through the green jungle we arrived to Shiwacocha, a village community on the Rio Arajuno, consisting of a few thatched roof houses in the midst of the jungle. We resided in the chozon of Nadino’s family, under mosquito nets for four nights. It was such a wonderful visit.

Isolina, Nadino’s mother was very inspiring as she works with medicinal herbs, practices midwifery, does lots of crafts, works in the garden and is the mother of 10 children. She and her husband, Samuel, were engaged when she was 13 through an arranged marriage and they are both healers. With our cuts that were bothering us, Isolina took us to a Sangre de Drago tree, where she cut slits into with her machete and extracted a few drops of the precious and healing liquid onto a banana leaf. Her husband Samuel travels sometimes by plane to small communities where he is needed.

After our arrival, we shared lunch with Isolina, her mother, Mercedes, and Nadino. To cool off we went for a dip in the river with Nadino. He took a few of us with their dugout canoe that must have been 30 feet long. It is moved with two long bamboo poles. When we came to rapids we had to get out of the canoe and walk it up. It was lots of fun. For dinner that night we ate fish from the river, broth, sweet corn and yucca. We also drank chicha, a fermented drink made from yucca.

The next morning we separated into two groups. One went to gather palm leaves to work on repairing the thatched roof, and the other went to harvest yucca with Isolina. Yucca is a very special plant. We used machetes to weed around the yucca plants, then took the leaves off and piled the branches in a separate place. We cut down the plants and focused on pulling up the roots and harvesting the yucca tubers and peeling off their two outer layers. When we got back to the house, we boiled the peeled yuccas until they were soft enough to start smashing in a giant bowl that could sit seven or eight people around. Isolina, Hannah, Erica and I cleaned our mouths and then started chewing the yucca and spitting it back into the bowl. After each of us had chewed around 10 bites, we mushed up all the remaining clumps and then put everything in a bucket to ferment and turn into chicha.

The next day we made beautiful crafts. In the morning we walked to Nadino’s uncle’s house where the children climbed up their pilche trees and threw pilches (they look like gourds) down to each of us. While some of the group went back to the house to carve out their pilches, the rest of us went to gather vines for making baskets. What a beautiful walk- especially barefoot. Two of the villagers took out their axes and started cutting down a huge tree as the vines themselves were too high to reach. Because of its huge roots, the falling tree ended up taking down a whole other tree with it! We gathered the roots and headed back. Walking back, we passed four or five children who took a bunch of grapes out from the baskets on their heads and handed them to me. It was sweet.

Weaving our baskets we got a lot of help from the villagers. It was amazing how fast they were and how they never got overwhelmed with all the pieces to weave. The baskets all turned out beautifully. Before dinner Isolina found a deadly poisonous lizard that ended up being killed by a broom. It had impressive green and black stripes on the tale and was about 8 inches long.

The next day was Halloween and Lily’s birthday, we built the balsa wood raft and assembled the kata-raft. Those who worked on the balsa raft went to harvest the trees and then floated down the river on the logs. A long solo time in the afternoon allowed for reflection before we made jewelry with Isolina. She had feathers, shells and beautiful red seeds with black diamond shapes. It was quite a special opportunity to learn the local crafts from Isolina.

Finally the real celebration of Lily’s birthday began. A few other members of the community joined us and wanted to put on a show. Since they don't celebrate birthdays they wanted to show us what a traditional marriage ceremony and celebration might look like. Thomas and Marcea played Lily’s (the bride) parents, and Isolina and Samuel Nadino’s (the groom) parents. There was a lot of singing, dancing and drumming. They even brought a generator to bring more light into the room and to set up the radio. What a birthday Lily had! And what a special last night we had in Shiwachocha.

Waking up at four we headed down to the beach with Nadino’s family and a few other families. Everyone told us to return and they were so warm and kind. Personally, it was hard to leave, but I grew excited about the possibility of returning. And then we were off! The balsa raft had some troubles in the beginning. We had to stop on a rocky beach and search the jungle for more vines and palms to add more lynching. It also helped that fewer people went on it after the reparations. It was such a gorgeous day to paddle and the river was perfect to swim.

When we arrived to our destination, we disassembled the kata-raft, and left the balsa raft for a traveler who might be in need of one. As we left on the long motor canoe, I noticed two young boys getting onto our balsa raft and starting to take it down the river. This was a perfect ending to our adventure. And with that we headed home to Palugo.

Yesterday was dedicated to organizing and readjusting. We got to sleep in, shared a wholesome delicious brunch together and laughed a lot. The energy was light and it felt really good to be back. Last night, since it was Dia de los Muertos, Lily suggested that we each share a story or thought about someone in our lives who had died. It felt good to share stories with each other and to remember those loved ones.

Today we are working in the garden, weeding potatoes, working on the garden shed that we’re building for Palugo. Geoff, Hannah M. and Jackson are building stairs on the side of the hill, and I’m here in the chozon finishing up this update!

One of the songs we’ve been singing a lot is El Camaleon (the Chameleon). So I’ll write down the lyrics for you.

El camaleon, cambia de colores

Asi segun la estacion

El arco iris tambien, cambia de colores

Asi según las estacion

Sea verde, sea rojo, sea amarillo

Cualquer color puede ser, menos el gris

Por que grises seran los dias en que de vi

Cuando te perdi, mi amor

Badabam bam bam bam bam x6

Geoff would like to wish his mom Mary a very Happy Birthday and hopes that she’s well.

Humble wishes of happiness, peace, warmth and bliss,

For the NHESP, this is your Scribe, Melodia

NHESP 2009 Update 7

2009-10-29T19:52:00.000-07:00

Hola a todos!

I always am so excited to write and share our Ecuador experience with you. It’s always a pleasure.

These past few days have been very intense, physically especially, but also very wonderful. Leaving Herman’s house early in the morning, we headed in the back of trucks to Cayambe. Getting closer and closer it was exciting to catch more and more glimpses of the majestic snow covered mountain. We dropped Marcea off so that she could head back to Palugo for the weekend, and then continued on our way until we reached the spot where we left some group and personal gear behind. The last few miles we walked to get more acclimatized. For some, it was a challenging walk as we were hit strongly by the altitude. For others the walk was quite enjoyable and empowering. Each step brought us closer to that magnificent mountain and the glacier school.

Our base camp was placed in a large, open and silent valley with a river where we could get washed up. On our day of arrival, we had a nice solo time. The clouds moved in and out of the valley very rapidly and it was amazing to think that our base camp was actually in the clouds. The second day at Cayambe we got all of our mountaineering gear as high up as possible, so that the next day we could ascend with little on our backs. It was a slow paced and challenging hike at the altitude of around 5000m above sea level. Up sandy dunes and steep cliffs we went, even coming across ice, as we got higher. We left all of our gear under a boulder and had fun building a stone wall to protect our stuff from the weather. We practically flew down the mountain back to base camp in the sandy terrain. We bounced, leapt and hopped on down! Journal time and a delicious dinner waited for us at “home”. I forgot to mention that for some reason the spoon bag wasn’t packed so we were “spoon-less” until people started carving new ones. The next day we woke up at 3:30am. By 5 am we were climbing up the mountain, first with headlamps. The dawn with the rising sun and swirling clouds was spectacular.

We picked up the pace, now that everyone was stronger and more acclimatized. We headed through ravines filled with colorful rocks and boulders, until we got to the snow line. Michael was great in teaching us how to use our crampons on the ice, always with our ice picks. Our final task was to tie up in teams, sharing one rope that was attached to our harnesses.

Up, up we went, around blue ice structures and over crevasses. It was a whole new world to explore and learn about. Slowly but surely we got more confident with our crampons. That night we had a feast around a fire and under the Milky Way, a feeling of accomplishment in our hearts.

Leaving Cayambe behind and walking down the road with our gear we felt very light and excited because we were closer and closer to getting to the jungle. We rode on the backs of trucks to where we had left off some gear and finally hopped on a bus for about an hour to go to Cayambe City. There we were happy to reunite with Marcea. The city felt over stimulating and strange, with all of the people and the smells of exhaust. We bought caramel milk cream and biscuits for the long truck drive down the valley of Oyacachi. The trip was filled with singing and we enjoyed our intensely sweet snacks. Oyacachi is a sleepy village tucked away in lush and vibrantly green mountains. Some of the houses still have their traditional moss roofs. It felt very gnome like. We headed to the nearby hot springs, which were even hotter than the hot springs we had visited with April before she left. At a very cold river nearby we could take a quick dip to ‘cleanse’ ourselves before going back into the thermal springs. It was so nice! That night we had a delicious dinner cooked for us, and then we sleepily went to bed.

Our reason to stop in Oyacachi was to make the traditional Oyacachi wooden bowls, the main income for the village. So the next day was dedicated to making bowls. Six wood masters greeted us with pure excitement on their faces. We had lots of help with the carving of our bowls. The wood, called Aliso, is native and hard to work with for beginners. Nevertheless they all came out very beautiful in the end because we had help from the gentlemen. Unfortunately towards the end of the day, using the special tool that we used to carve out the bowls, the Azuela, Trina cut her leg. She ended up getting 6 stitches in the medical center that was conveniently located across the street from where we were. Because we had a lot of walking to do in difficult settings in the next few days, Trina wasn’t able to come with us and went back to Palugo with Ross at 4 am the next morning. The rest of us woke up shortly after, packed our bags, ate a hardy breakfast and colada with dumplings and headed off on our 18 km trek.

About half of the trek was on a road, heading down the valley past lush green mountains. It felt mystical to be in the cloud forest. One of the locals of Oyacachi walked with us until we almost came to where the trail began. We enjoyed his company. The rest of the walk to base camp was very, very muddy. We all arrived at camp looking like true bush walking adventurers. It felt good to set up camp, eat a wholesome dinner and fall asleep to the lullaby of the rushing river.

The next day we had a river reading lesson by Thomas and then after lunch a 3-hour solo time. Joey did not come back from his solo by the time dinner was already being served and it was getting dark out. We started to get worried about him, but then he came with a big grin on his face. He had caught a fish! A beautiful trout about 10 inches long. The next morning we all had a taste of his fish. It was delicious!

We left camp promptly after breakfast and used ropes to cross a sketchy bridge with large holes in it and covered in vines. Once we were all safely across, Marcea, Thomas and Lily left ahead of us. So there we were, alone as a group, exotic bird calls around us and the smell of fresh, dense and alive cloud forest. The trek was beautiful and always interesting because we had to squiggle beneath fallen logs, climb over them, climb over steep cliffs and bush walk. Everyone stayed together for the whole way, only occasionally having to wait for those who stayed in the back. We found a beautiful spot for lunch. Just imagine large mossy boulders right on the edge of the rushing river. It was perfect. Almost all of us went for a dip before eating our lunch of crackers, mustard, cheese and sausage. It felt so good to have a break and to refuel. We got back on the trail soon enough and stayed on it into the evening. Out came the headlamps, we were tired, dirty and oh so sore, but were determined to find Lily who was waiting for us. Joey, our navigator, would occasionally take off with his machete, looking for paths with footsteps, which could be Lily’s. Finally, Joey found Lily. Excitement filled the air, and everyone started to move faster and was yelling, “Lily, Lily we are here!” And there she was along with Marcea and Thomas. They had chocolate waiting for us. It was amazing and so good to see them. They sent us off with ropes to cross the Santa Maria River on another sketchy bridge, and to pitch our tents for the night. About half the group immediately fell asleep, and others stayed up until 1:30am, because it took so long to start a fire. It was impressisive how motivated some were to make soup, which apparently was a success.

The next morning, Marcea, Thomas and Lily joined us for breakfast and we packed up camp. What a pleasant surprise to right away see Ross and Trina who walked with us to where Michael and Marcela were waiting for us. Back to some sort of civilization we drove in trucks for about an hour to El Chaco. There we said good-bye to Marcea and Thomas who would rest for a couple of days. We ate a delicious fresh salad and sandwiches and excitedly read our letters, which Michael brought with him… thank you so much, parents and friends, for all your letters!!!!

From El Chaco we took a bus through lush mountainsides to Tena. We were shocked by the intense heat and sun when we got out of the bus and went to our hostel, called El Establo de Thomas. It was a seriously relaxing and beautiful environment. We had 3 cabins to ourselves, fluffy beds with mosquito netting, a bathroom with showers in each room…we felt like we were on vacation! A river flowed right by, where we could go for refreshing dips and wash our clothes. Imagine blue Macao’s, and parrots flying above, monkeys playing in the nearby trees, yes monkeys! They were so fun to watch. After we were all clean and refreshed, we agreed to spend our group money and eat out for dinner. Dinner was amazing. We went to a local hot spot and we each paid $3 for each dinner. What a feast: chicken soup, a choice of pork, beef or chicken for our main dish, a bunch of rice and beans, salad and delicious plantains. It was amazing, oh and there was refreshing juice as well. So falling into our fluffy beds when we got back was like a dream in itself.

Today we all woke up slowly to the sweet calls of tropical birds and the balmy morning breeze. Breakfast was at 8am, the latest we have had breakfast at Kroka yet! We ate delicious banana bread Trina had baked at Palugo, a rich fruit salad, granola and yogurt. We reflected on our solo hike, what the group did well and what we could improve, as well as what we personally could improve. Then we worked on our big jobs. Later three taxis arrived and we all left the wonderful hotel with all our gear. When Trina and Jackson saw some banana trees, the taxi driver pulled out his machete to take down the bunch of bananas. Now how often do our taxi drivers in the US do that!

After a short drive we arrived to the edge of the Jatunyacu River, where we will put in our rafts tomorrow. The shore here is rocky and delightful to walk on because of the big rocks. As we set up our tents, passing locals from the overhead bridge stared at us in amazement. After lunch we went straight to work to put together the rafts and kataraft. We still had time for swimming and kayaking. It is so hot and humid here. Even our dear Ecuadorian students are taking dips every so often to cool off. Bryson and Tobias found a cliff to jump off of into the river. A lot of activity is happening everywhere.

Right now we just finished dinner, which we shared with Marcela, Michael, Mathias, Adela and their cousins. It’s dark out so I am writing with my headlight, people are still organizing gear, others are sleeping, the moon is shining and the river is flowing. Everyone is ready to get on the river tomorrow, after we have the river safety and rescue lesson in the morning. I think everyone is really enjoying our expedition together and the group is getting stronger every day. We all talk about home and how we miss our family and friends, we also talk about how we wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but here right now. This is truly a special opportunity. With much appreciation and gratitude, BUENAS NOCHES.

For the NHESP, this is MELODIA, the scribe.

NHESP 2009 Update 6

2009-10-18T16:52:00.000-07:00

Buenos!

It feels like just yesterday that I was sitting in the stable at Palugo writing the last update. Time is flying by so quickly! And yet we’ve accomplished so much.

I don’t believe we’ve properly introduced our Ecuadorian students, so I’ll just take a moment to do that. Nati, which is short for Natividad, is 20 years old and comes from a family of 10. Like the other two students, she is from San Clemente. She doesn’t speak much English at all, is very sweet and thoughtful, and wears the traditional clothes of her community. When the rest of us are hiking in our mountaineering boots or rain boots, Nati still hikes in her little black sandals and her ironed pleated skirt. The other two students, both boys, are cousins and are named Tupac and Roberto. Tupac is 18 years old, very generous, sweet, energetic, musical, and is constantly trying to learn English. Roberto is 17 years old and has a knack for art, is really sweet, and insanely generous.

It has been a joy having the three students become part of our group. Everyday we learn a little bit more about each other and practice our home languages.

When leaving Palugo, everyone had a bounce in their step, ready for our expedition. We walked into the town of Pifo and caught a bus that took us to Lago (lake) San Pablo. It was a sleepy 2-hour ride. When the bus dropped us off, we walked down a road that stopped directly on the edge of Lago San Pablo. Tomas kidded with us and said that we had to swim across. We were looking at Joey’s map, trying to figure out how to get around the lake, when suddenly a boat appeared! The boat driver agreed to take us most of the way around the lake and was excited to show us a few things on the way. He pointed out a boat that was made from just a bunch of reeds tied together. It was quite impressive. When we got off, we started trekking on a road, passing women and children washing clothes in the river, loose pigs, cows and many dogs. After a bit, we heard rushing water down from where we were walking. We decided to hike down the steep hillside, and found a beautiful grand waterfall where swam and played under the falling water. It was so cleansing. Afterwards we ate a quick snack and proceeded on our trek. Traversing on the sides of mountains, overseeing a couple of towns below us, and balancing on logs over rivers, we finally made it to a bus stop to catch a bus to the city of Ibarra.

There, rushing though the streets we caught another bus up to San Clemente. We were admiring the women’s traditional outfits, gold necklaces, pressed skirts, hats, black slippers and elegantly embroidered shirts, just like Nati’s.

When we arrived to San Clemente Manuel greeted us. He is the man who had the vision for San Clemente, which was to preserve the tradition of the indigenous people, After a sweet welcome we were introduced to three members of the community, who would be taking 2 students into each of their homes. Some students would also be staying with the families of our three Ecuadorian students. Geoff and I were paired together, and right away parted from the group to go off with Mathias, our San Clemente father. Mathias lives with his wife Magdalena (one of Nati’s older sisters), and their four children. The family didn’t speak any English, so it was a wonderful opportunity to practice Spanish. When we arrived to their house, Mathias told us that his family was our family now, and that we could ask for anything. He was very humble. We went outside and Mathias proudly showed us their medicinal herb garden. It started to rain for the first time in a long time, and Mathias thanked us because he said we brought the rain with us. That night we peeled potatoes with the whole family, and then ate a rich dinner of quinoa veggie soup, mashed potatoes that were rolled into balls, stuffed with cheese and then fried, and tea. After dinner I helped their daughter, Flor, with her drawing homework. It was a full day and it felt wonderful to get into our beds.

The next day we walked up to Roberto’s house and met everyone else. It was fun sharing our experiences with each other. The work that we would be doing to help the community was plowing their Abas field. (Abas are similar to a large bush bean). We each got a turn, directing the oxen and giving orders in Kichwa: “Isa, Isa”, for “go, go” and “Shoooooww”, for “stop”, and many more like staying in the rows, or turning. Many of us were amazed by the deftness and skill of the oxen and asked more about their training. We found they always place an old ox with a young ox to pass on the training and that the mountain people have been using oxen for a very long time because of their skill and easy keep. (Mules are also a favorite).

After lunch we picked out our graduation shirts that we would embroider with the help of our host moms. Everyone’s designs looked so beautiful and colorful. Once we all made some progress, it was time for a soccer game. So almost everyone went down to the school field and played an energetic match with some of the locals. Then we went over to Tupac’s house to meet with Louis, the local shaman. He diagnosed one us using a guinea pig. He took the guinea pig and whacked the body allover her while she sat next to him, and then proceeded to peal the guinea from its skin and diagnose several ailments of hers by looking at the inner bleeding of the guinea. The Ecuadorians believe that the guinea pig is the poor man’s x-ray. It can show everything that is wrong in your body. It was quite an amazing experience.

Leaving San Clemente was very emotional for all of us. In the morning we had an indigenous walk with both Manuel and Juan, Tupac’s dad. Juan showed us the community’s agricultural calendar that was carried on from their ancestors. It showed the importance of celebrating the solstices and equinoxes. During planting and harvesting, they celebrate the beautiful connection between the earth and humans. Juan explained to us that the community of San Clemente is trying to recuperate their lost traditions. When one of the students asked if it was part of a religion, Juan answered that they are just practicing old methods, and that it’s real life and they’re just trying to figure out how it works. A lot of their methods were taken away from them when they weren’t allowed to speak their own tongue and were degraded in the society. Today there’s still racism, but it’s gotten a lot better. The people of San Clemente are standing for the pride of being indigenous. They just want to be respected, as they respect others. We finally realized why Nati always wore her beautiful skirts and delicate blouses and why all three of our Ecuadorian students were so eager to be with us and so amazingly strong.

After the agricultural calendar, we took a look at and learned about their sweat lodge. The lodge is considered the womb of mother earth (Pacha Mama). A beautiful ceremony, using a total of 9 stones that represent the nine months of gestation, is held four times to represent the sun, water, earth and wind. The lodge is used four times a year to celebrate the equinoxes and solstices. The structure was stunning and perfectly arranged. It was fascinating to learn about.

Our departure was so sweet. After lunch Manuel sent us off with kind words from his heart, telling us that each of our host families had rainbow scarves for each of us as gifts. The rainbow is nature’s flag and the sign of the indigenous. Each color signifies something from nature. For example, red represents fire, green represents nature, blue represents the sky, and yellow represents the sun. Each of our host families came individually and placed a beautiful rainbow scarf around our necks. It was very touching. Before we left San Clemente, we quickly went to Nati’s house. She gave each of us students a handkerchief, and both Marcea and Tomas shirts that she embroidered herself. Then we were off! Up, up and up towards our first base camp, followed the whole time by Roberto’s dog. By the time we reached our camp, it was dark and we were all stiff and tired. It was a wonderful day.

The next morning when we were eating breakfast, we had a surprise visit from Roberto’s older brother who came to fetch their dog. Then once we were all packed up, we started on our grand adventure up to the summit of Imbabura at 4,563 meters.

There was incredible plant life once we got closer and closer to the top. Some of us were having a very difficult time with the high altitude. But we all made it to the top! Walking through clouds, seeing a condor flying, eating dried fruit at the top and being altogether made the dizziness from the high altitude all worth it. Going back down to where we left our big trekking packs felt so nice after such an accomplishing hike. That night, after dinner and shares around the fire, we split up for solo sleeping. This is something we had done once before, where we find our own special place to sleep by ourselves.

The next morning I woke up to hear somebody loudly remark, “They’re gone? I knew it!” I right away knew that they were talking about Marcea and Tomas. Thus, our solo group day started. We packed up camp, ate breakfast, and headed for the hills. We would have to hike a mountain together and get to the other side to Zuleta, which was where Marcea and Tomas were waiting for us, by nightfall. It was a long hike. First through pine tree farms, then sliding down steep hills surrounded by low branches and thorns, and then to Cubilche, the mountain we had to hike. By the time we arrived to Cubilche, almost all of us had already finished our water. There would be water at the top of the mountain, but all of us were so thirsty. The closest source of water was a 20-minute walk away, but everyone thought it would be best to push through until the top of the mountain. It was definitely a struggle. The group started pulling people up the mountain and helping them with their bags. It was amazing how close everyone was. Tobias and Tupac had swiftly gone up to the top, and at one point while the rest of us were slowly following them, we saw Tupac running down with a full water bladder, filling everyone’s bottles! It was so sweet. At the top when we finally all made it, we arrived to the water source, a volcanic crater filled with water.

It felt so wonderful to be at the top. We sang in a circle, like we always do, before eating lunch. Right when we left, it started raining. So our walk to Zuleta was wet. We marched to the songs of many frogs, along grassy roads, down slippery muddy paths, and into the sleepy village of Zuleta by 6. Seeing Ross and Lily was so exciting, and it was reassuring to see Marcea and Tomas. We met our hosts for the next few days, Herman, his wife Carmen, and their three sons. We ate a nurturing soup and drank hot tea, and right away went to bed in our cozy dwellings.

These past few days at Herman’s have been very informative. We made covers for our main lesson books, sheaths for our new machetes, dyed hides, and one night we stayed up until 4am making bread with Mama Pito who kept falling asleep against Jackson’s knee and would doze off while shaping bread. Her husband also joined us, in his poncho and special hat, and fell asleep within the first five minutes of his arrival. They are really old, and generous to stay with us so late. We learned a lot more than just making bread. We would not have made it without Tobias who entertained us with his guitar playing and singing until 4 in the morning. We also learned how to butcher a sheep. Before the killing, we had a ceremony where we stood around the sheep in a circle and shared our thoughts. It was very beautiful. After the slaughtering, we first skinned it and then cleaned it’s organs. Trina was very excited about dissecting the heart, and Erica took the skin off of a leg for her machete handle. We were all very into it. And that night we feasted like never before. Some said that it was the best meal we’ve eaten yet.

The next few days was a flurry of activity with leather and scissors and pencils flying everywhere, finishing our projects. This evening when we placed all of our elegant Main Lesson book covers and machete sheathes and some little other extra projects up against the wall in the golden afternoon sunlight, we could finally take a breath and admire how all our hard work had paid off. This evening we also finished up our feast of the mutton and boiled bones as we packed and planned for our next adventure, Glacier School on the ridges of Cayambe! It’s getting late and we depart early tomorrow morning to catch our bus, so I must go to bed! Thank you all for your support and wishes! We can’t wait to show you all our beautiful crafts. We wish you all warm weather as we depart for the snow!

Ciao!

For the NHESP, this is Melody, your Friendly Scribe.

P.S. Erica wishes her brother a very Happy Birthday and was thinking of him as we hiked through the pouring rain to Zuleta on the eleventh of October.

2009-10-09T14:04:00.001-07:00

NHESP 2009 Update 5

Hola a todos!

My name is Melody and I’m going to be the scribe for the rest of the semester. It’s an honor to be the voice of the community while here in Ecuador. Mucho Gusto!

This past week has been totally packed both physically and emotionally.

On September 29^th we started making sheaths for the knives that we had made a couple of days earlier. The knives have antler handles and high carbon steel blades. They are all so unique and well made, that we were excited to start applying them to our daily lives. Thus, Lily patiently taught us how to make sheaths for them! Lily somehow managed to give a clear lesson on the process of sheath making, even though she had 15 students asking her the same questions for two hours. She’s great! To make our sheaths, we used local half-tanned leather that we had to keep wet until our sheaths were fitted to our knives and sewed up. Just like the knives, the process was very easy and fun, even though it took a couple more classes for us to completely finish. And now we all have yet another practical thing that we made ourselves and feel proud about!

This same day, Ross excitedly announced to us that we would be going to hot springs in the evening. Energy filled the air as we all anticipated the warm baths. It was too good to be true! The same bus driver that brought us to Palugo from the airport came at 5:30pm, and drove us up to 13,000 feet where the thermal springs are. It took around 45 minutes. The mountains up there are majestic and we drove past a rainbow that we could see both ends of. It was as if we were driving into another world. When we finally arrived at the thermal springs, we were all shocked with how cold it was! We were shivering!! It was dark and misty too, which didn’t encourage us to change into bathing suits. But once we passed the showers with hot water, we couldn’t resist. There were three thermal springs available for our use. It was truly a blissful experience to just relax in the magma-heated water. We sang together in the springs, and gathered in a circle to say goodbye to April, who after much contemplation, decided to leave Palugo and Ecuador to continue on her healing journey at home. We went around the circle and shared something that we appreciated about April, and then sang a song to her that Lily taught us.

We are here to tell you that you’re wonderful and beautiful,

We are here to tell you that you’re always home,

We are here to notice that your loving is a miracle,

How deeply you’re connected to our souls.

We all feel an empty space now that April is no longer here, but feel at peace knowing that she’s happy to be home and continuing on her journey. Thanks for everything, April!

On October 1^st we had a very early start with chores, and then Michael, Tomas’ brother met us for our geography lesson. It started off with walking up past the gardens, up the steep path in the woods, past Marcea’s and Tomas’ house and up a thorny path to the top of a hill. We took out our drawing utensils and journals, and started to draw the landscape that was in front of us. Micheal explained to us that Palugo is on the lava of Pichanga, an old volcano that is behind Palugo. To better understand what he meant, we took a walk. On the sides of cliffs, through thorns, and up and down, we wandered. We checked out the entrance to the cave that Michael thinks the wolf lives in, and left leftover chicken bones as a gift. The sun was strong by the time we made it back to where we started, but the adventure didn’t end! Next, we walked down to some whispering eucalyptus trees, which was where the path to the irrigation caves began. It was a true expedition. With our headlamps in place and turned on, we started treading in single file through one of the caves - dark, chilly, narrow, low and wet. I was happy to have my rain boots, as my feet stayed dry the whole time. However, in the next irrigation cave that we explored, the water came all the way up to our knees when we first entered! And then we had to crawl in the water, just barely keeping our backpacks dry. Well, there went my dry feet. But I didn’t mind at all. It was quite a memorable experience.

The same day of our trek with Michael, Trina, our medic, taught an impressive class on first aid. At the end of the class she had us practice our first response first aid skills on Marcea, Tomas and Lily, who were acting out hypothermia, being covered in blood, and having fallen from a cliff. I’m happy to say that all three are recovered and safe. Thank you Trina!

On Sunday night we experienced a "Noche Chozonera", which is usually held here at Palugo once a month. Friends, family and visitors came to share pizza together and listen to a presentation. The clay oven that the 2007 semester built was heated up, and the kitchen was filled with excitement about making pizza. It was quite chaotic, as more and more people started to show up, pizzas were flying in and out of the oven, and a few of us were making extra goodies, like granola and cookies at the same time. Once everyone was settled and done eating, the presentation commenced. Our speaker shared this 2-month expedition down the Amazon river with 3 friends, in a seawater solar charged boat. It was very inspiring to see his photos and listen to his stories.

A lot of preparation has been in place for our own expedition! Erica and Tupac have been working so hard with managing the group gear and making lists of what we personally need to pack; Hannah M. has been pondering over her menu plans and organizing food; Joey has been carefully looking at maps and our routes that we’ll take ; I have been drying tons of fruit, and with help last night, made crackers, energy bars and lots of granola; Trina has been gathering and drying herbs to bring along for teas, etc. It’s really been amazing how hard everyone has been working. Susanna built a sawhorse for Palugo, and Geoff built a clothes-drying rack.

On October 2^nd we headed down to Thomas’ parents house to have a cooking lesson from his mother, Adela. We made Sopa de Locro, which is a soup that has a lot of potatoes, milk and cheese in it. Adela explained to me that it’s important to not cut the potatoes, but rather stab them and then twist, to let them break themselves. This way they’ll break apart easily in the soup and make it thicker. It worked! We also made Salsa de Ahi, hot sauce, and Postrei de Oritos a Caramelados, which was fried small bananas covered in mandarin juice, and baked. You can add a little bit of liquor on to if you like. The whole dinner was delicious, and I’m so happy we could learn how to make a typical dish from Ecuador. While a few of us were in the kitchen, the rest of the group played an energetic game of soccer in the backyard.

The next day we split off into the back of two trucks, and drove to Quito to go to the Tatoo factory, to make quick drying pants for the expedition. We were greeted by warm friendly faces, and right away started helping cut the fabric we would be using. It was amazing to work with such fast and high quality sewing machines. The owner of the company came by to give us a quick tour, and showed us their gortex machine. In the factory, he said they have 115 workers, and all together, including their outlet stores in Ecuador, Chile, Columbia and Peru, they have 150. It was quite a treat to be in their factory, and to see the behind the scenes making of outdoor clothing. Our pants were truly custom made for us, because they had to resize them, adding a little fabric here and taking some out there. While we waited, some of us took out our knitting, or patched up holes in our clothing. Tupac, Roberto and Nati were happy to finally finish their backpacks! It was a progressive day! And now we all have really great pants.

Yesterday we had a cheese making class with Marcela. Every week she sells her fresh cheese at the market, along with yogurt. After that it was a full day of expedition preparation, and at night, even though we had to use candlelight because the electricity went out, Marcela came to see our finished paper-mache puppets. We played with them and started to bring out their different personalities. They’re all very unique.

Today we are in full gear packing and preparing. This morning we brought all of our gear outside and went down the packing list with Erica to set aside our mountaineering gear. Right now I am sitting in the stable, where the cows are milked, because it’s the only place I could find working electricity for the computer. I’m about to take out the dry fruit from the food dehydrator and reload it. After lunch we’ll have a geography lesson with Michael, and then finish up with cleaning up Palugo, our dwellings and the kitchen. We also need to distribute all of the group gear into people’s packs. Expedition is just around the corner, and we’re all very excited!

With lots of smiles and thoughts of gratitude,

For the NHES, this is Melody

2009-10-09T03:38:00.000-07:00

NHESP 2009 Update 4

Wow. I am still a little dizzy. It is a whole other world down here in Ecuador.

Traveling was pretty fun. It took us an entire day. Lynne drove us to Boston to catch our first flight, and then we had a three-hour layover in Miami. The flights went smoothly. We had plenty of time to talk and catch up on writing assignments and sleep. We saw incredible cloud formations outside the plane windows. By the time we got to Quito, it was night-time, and we marveled at the city lights sparkling below us.Some people have gotten obsessed with knitting.

At one point, in the airport there was a line of five people knitting! On the plane, during our nightly meetings, any time they have a spare minute, they whip out their knitting needles.

Thomas met us at the airport, and when we got to Palugo, we were welcomed by Tupac, Natividad and Roberto, the new Ecuadorian additions to our group. It was a very happy meeting, even though most of us don’t speak the same language. We walked up the path to camp together, where we found our cabins waiting for us, and a delicious dinner prepared by our new friends.

Just walking up the hill was exhausting, due to the high altitude. The air was dry and dusty, and rich with the smells of savory plants. I noticed that the rocks under our feet were different, red and black and shiny. In the distance, we could still see the city lights sparkling, and the next day I found out why. There are virtually no forests up here, just scrub. The only tall trees are the rows of eucalyptus planted along the roads and fields. You can see for miles and miles. I woke up the first morning to people outside our cabin exclaiming about the view. “Oh my gosh, come outside! You have to see this!”

The mountains are beautiful. They are a patchwork of fields and trees and roads. You can also see cities, and in the distance stands Mt. Cotopaxi, tall and white and waiting for us.

We arrived here at the end of the dry season. There has been no rain for the past three months, but we are expecting it any day now. Every day we watch the sky and say, maybe tomorrow it will rain.

The first few days we took it relatively easy, adjusting to a new place and altitude. I felt weak and dizzy. The air is too thin and the sun was way too bright.

Now we are mostly adjusted and are getting back into gear with lessons and projects and whatnot. Those of us who speak English have been working very hard on our Spanish, and those who speak Spanish are working hard on their English. Everything takes longer to say because someone always has to translate. Melody has been very helpful in bridging the language gap. So has Hannah C., even though she keeps denying that she speaks Spanish.

Yesterday, we made our knives, with handles made from deer antlers. Nati, Tupac and Roberto have also begun working their spoons and backpacks.

Here is a backpack quote from Mathias. (Read with an Ecuadorian accent) “If you pack your backpack right, you need no pockets.”

Daily chores here are a little different than in NH. I have felt right at home helping out in the garden and with milking. Francisco, Thomas’ dad, has a beautiful herd of Brown Swiss cows. The cows are on pasture and the gardens produce food year round, which is quite a novel idea to me. It has been challenging trying to communicate with the farm workers, who don’t speak any English. Most of them have been here for many years and are a big part of the farm.

One day we had a tour of a neighboring farm, which is run by Thomas’ uncle. Another day we walked to town to buy shoes. It was interesting seeing the different culture. We bought some tasty fruit that I had never even heard of before!

Melody asked me to include this quote about kefir, a tangy drink made by culturing milk with kefir “grains”. She has been making both kefir and yogurt for us.

“The first Kefir grains are said to have been a gift from Allah, delivered by his prophet Mohammed. The grains were treasured by the people who possessed them, passed down from generation to generation, and definitely not shared with strangers.” - Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz

For the NHESP, this is April.

2009-09-24T09:11:00.000-07:00

NHESP 2009 Update 3

Fall is here! The days are still warm, but the nights have been getting colder. Everyone has been enjoying the clear, beautiful weather and the brilliantly colored fall leaves. By the time you read this we will have left for Ecuador, where Michael, Thomas and the three Ecuadorian students are busy preparing for our arrival. You can almost taste the excitement in the air.

Parents weekend was a lot of fun. I enjoyed meeting everyone’s families, seeing the similarities and watching them interact. It was a little strange and very nice to have a free day to spend with my family. I was very happy to see them one more time before we leave.

Most people brought tents and camped out, and that night we had the first hard frost. When we woke up (at our usual time of 5:30am), every blade of grass and flower and fern was coated in sparkling white frost, and there was ice on the water buckets. But by midday it was up in the 70s. We had a work party day with all our family members. Some people worked in the woods, cutting and splitting firewood and hauling brush. I think we got close to 3½ cords, for which the Vermont Semester students will be very grateful. Other people went to Orchard Hill and picked apples, then made them into delicious cider and applesauce, while another team worked on the woodshed. We were lucky to have Tobias’ dad, who is a carpenter, help us start on the slate roof. I didn’t think we would be able to finish it before we left for Ecuador. I was afraid it would turn into the whole backpack thing over again. Imagine it: we get to Ecuador, and Thomas says: “You didn’t finish the woodshed? Haven’t you learned yet about finishing projects? Get back on the plane.” Just kidding. Ross and Kuza (a friend of Misha’s) have been working on it all morning, and it looks like it will get finished after all!

Yesterday, those of us who weren’t working on the woodshed spent the morning putting the garden to bed and planting sugar maples along the driveway. Maybe in 20 years, our kids will come to Kroka, and we will be able to park our cars in the shade of the maples trees we planted. That would be cool.

After lunch, Kroka staff member Nathan Lyczak came and taught a communication workshop. We learned about good communication skills and did exercises to practice them. We got to talk one on one with each member of the group. At first it was awkward, but it turned out to be really fun. Afterward, everyone felt closer and the whole atmosphere of the group felt lighter and clearer. We are ready for the next leg of our journey.

One day last week Misha came back to teach us how to make birch bark baskets. Wednesday evening Hans Mayer, VSP '06 alumnus and present Kroka teacher, brought maple syrup. We attempted to make maple candy. Yumm!!!! They were fun and relaxing projects and good breaks from all the physical work we have been doing.

Right now everyone is rushing around packing stuff and cleaning up. There is so much to do! I am really glad that we took some time this morning to just sit by ourselves in the woods. I rarely take the time to meditate, especially when things are busy and a little hectic, but it really helps me to focus for the rest of the day. I think everyone here appreciates that solo time. Especially today, since it was our last chance to spend time in the NH woods for three months.

Today marks the end of the first stage of our journey. I just want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has helped us get here.

For the NH- Ecuador emester, this is April, the Scribe

p.s. Happy Birthday Jascha!

Just a few images to show our progress in the woodshed project. Wait for the next update and you will see the beautiful finished product!

NHESP 2009 Update 2

2009-09-16T18:03:00.000-07:00

Well, we survived the bike trip! 83 miles, 4 farms and a whole lot of hills later, here we are back at Kroka.

Our trip was supposed to be 5 days long. However, the day we left, most people had still not finished sewing their backpacks. So we biked all the way to Westmoreland, worked and camped at Hillside Springs farm as we’d promised we would, and the next day, instead of continuing on to the next farm, we biked all the way back to Kroka. It was many miles uphill and out of our way, but I’m glad we did it. We finished our backpacks and set out again free from the weight of uncompleted projects.

The first night that we set up camp, everyone worked together, things went smoothly and everything got done. Sitting around a crackling fire, listening to the sounds of the night, talking and laughing and enjoying each other’s company, we felt a real sense of accomplishment. It was very satisfying. There was only one small problem. Bryson had forgotten to pack our bowls, so we had to eat dinner out of pots and pans. Another thing that happened with Bryson, we lost him. We had all arrived at Harlow Farm just as it was getting dark. But where was Bryson? He had missed the last turn, and we had to send out a rescue party.The rest of the trip went really well. It was the most biking I’ve ever done in my life. I know it was a huge challenge for a lot of people, but we all did it, and it felt awesome.

Each farm we visited was very different, and we learned something from each of them. My favorite was Major Farm in Putney, VT. They milk 200 sheep and make the best sheep cheese I’ve ever tasted. We got to help out in the cheese cave, in the pastures, and with milking. David Major has the biggest grin I’ve ever seen and he clearly loves what he does.

That was one thing we noticed about all the farmers, from Frank and Kim, the couple in Westmoreland, NH who run a small CSA to Paul Harlow, who manages 1,200 acres; they are all in love with their farms.

Harlow’s farm was by far the biggest farm we visited. It is pretty fast-paced. Everything is designed for efficiency, and everyone is super hard working. Paul Harlow gets up at 3:30 every morning to organize for the day. (And we thought 5:30 was early!) It was fun and interesting working with the Jamaicans who come up and work for the summer. Some of them have been working there for 10 years. We split up into two groups. Some of us harvested kale and lettuce, running to try and keep up with the conveyer belt, while others of us slaughtered chickens.

We feasted that night on food we had harvested and killed ourselves. I think everyone has a new appreciation of food now, after experiencing first hand all the work and dedication that it takes to produce it.

Thank you farmers, for welcoming us and sharing your love for farming with us.

Since we’ve been back, we’ve been doing a lot of academic work. We had our last science class with Marina, where we took samples and tested different sources of water. Most of the water around here is clean, but it will be interesting to do some more water testing when we get to Ecuador.

Everyone has been busy working on their main lesson pages. For each class we have or every project we do or farm we visit, we assign two people to write a page about it. At the end of the semester we will compile all the pages into one book.

But it hasn’t been all work. There has been plenty of song and laughter. We had two more birthdays this week. Susanna turned 16 and Hannah Miller turned 18. Melody and Trina made a honey-apple birthday cake, which we ate with fresh cream from one of the farms we visited.Today we are diving head long into the woodshed project. Hugh Landis, a local builder and woodworker, is guiding us and helping with the design. Some people are shifting rocks and leveling the foundation, while others are measuring the timbers we cut and skinned, sorting them into posts, beams and rafters.

We will be working hard this week to finish everything up before we leave for Ecuador. It’s hard to believe we only have more 9 days!

Pesto Recipe

Frost is on the way. We harvested the basil from the garden and made it into delicious pesto:

3 cups packed-in basil (no stems)

3-4 cloves of garlic

1/4-1/2 tsp. salt

some pepper

3/4 cup grated parmesan

1/4 cup pulverized nuts (pine nuts best, we used walnuts)

1/2 cup olive oil

Blend it

Until next time, for the New Hampshire-Ecuador semester, this is April, the Scribe.

NHESP 2009 Update 1

2009-09-10T09:10:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

It has been over a week since we arrived here at Kroka. So much has happened, I don’t even know where to begin.

I guess I will start by introducing myself. My name is April Littell, and I will be writing the weekly updates for the 2009 New Hampshire - Ecuador Semester. I am 19 years old and the only student here who has never attended school. I’ve always followed my own interests and passions, which include farming, wilderness living, designing and creating things, spirituality, food and cooking, the list goes on and on. I am very excited and happy to be getting involved with Kroka and connecting with the like-minded people I find here.

Imagine, a group of young people from all different walks of life. Naturally it has been a little bit of a rough start, getting used to living with simplified needs and in such a close knit group. At first, we were pretty discordant. The first night when we were all in the big yurt, our classroom and meeting place, everyone picked up a different instrument and started playing a different song. It sounded awful! But slowly we are starting to get in tune with each other and learning to sing and play in harmony. We really are all for one and one for all.

We are twelve students in our group, 2 lead teachers and 2 assistant teachers. Our teachers are some of the most caring people I’ve ever met. They are all really cool and wise beyond their years.

We are still in the beginning stages of forming what has the makings to be a very powerful and supportive community. Every morning we wake up at dawn and start the day with chores. We rotate between cooking, getting water, farm chores, gathering and splitting wood, and gardening. It is brilliant waking up to a beautiful sunrise and the smell of the cold fresh morning air. Most mornings, after chores and before breakfast, we bike to nearby Gustin Pond for an early morning swim. It is so beautiful and enchanting to see the mist swirling over the water. Sometimes on chilly mornings, jumping in the water is the last thing you want to do but once you get in, it feels really good. By the time we arrive back to camp the cooks are ready to serve us a hot tasty breakfast. A couple of mornings we had yoga class instead of biking. It felt good to relax and stretch our bodies and learn of the benefits of yoga and meditation. (Thank you Nicole!)

All of our meals are cooked over an open fire. All our water we carry up to the camp in buckets. Eating together is a big part of the day and we always begin with a song and a moment of silence.
The food has been “muy delicioso”, and a lot of it comes from the garden here. I am pretty excited because yesterday Ross went to Pitcher Mountain Farm for some meat, which many of us are craving for.

Our days have been packed with chores, lessons, and projects. The projects started small with sewing our own pillows. Next we carved wooden spoons, from which we’ll be eating all of our meals with for the rest of the semester. We have almost finished sewing our own backpacks. Learning to work with the sewing machines was challenging for a lot of people, but in the end we all have made something we can be proud of. Our next project is designing and building a wood shed, as well as incorporating some timbers that we have cut from the forest here.

We have regular lessons, both with our main teachers and with guest teachers. Lily taught us to sharpen our knives, and Marcea is teaching us Spanish. We have had classes on soil science and done some soil and compost testing with Marina Belenky, who teaches at Brandeis University in Boston. We’ve learned from Lisl about weather science and how weather works. We’ve also been learning about forestry and bike stuff from Ross. Thomas has been teaching about permaculture and he shares with us ideas about living in community. My mom (Sandy Littell) came and talked about nutrition, and we’ve started to incorporate some of the principles we’ve learned into our cooking. Misha is teaching us about watersheds and the water cycle, and of course the forest. He is also going to teach us to make birch bark baskets. The other day Misha took us for a long trek through the woods and swamps across the Grassy Brook flats to gather spruce roots for sewing our baskets. We had to wade through chest deep water and muck, and through beautiful rustling dry grasses and sedges. It was unbelievably fun. On our walk Susanna found some clay and spread it across her face. I was walking ahead of her, and I jumped up a foot when I turned around looking at this gray-faced little wood sprite behind me. By the time we returned home with our spruce roots we had a new appreciation of the water and forest.

On Saturday we had our first “big” expedition. We walked seven miles through the woods to Bill and Katie’s house in Gilsum, NH. It was fun and exciting to find our way through the woods. Joey, our Navigator, did an admirable job of not getting us completely lost. We mostly followed the brooks and swamps because water is a good reliable landmark. Finally, we arrived at their house. Katie is a Waldorf teacher and Bill is the famous “Badger Bill” of the Badger Balm Company (at least that’s what I have known him as a kid growing up in Gilsum.) We stacked and split some wood for them, and in exchange they fed us a delicious dinner.

Katie taught us some new songs, and Bill told stories. We each got to take our first shower in over a week. Everyone exclaimed about how much they

now appreciated hot running water, after a week of bathing in ponds and icy cold streams.

This week we are on a weeklong expedition, bringing only what we can carry on our bikes. We are riding to various farms, camping and working at each one for a day or so. Everyone is busily preparing while Hannah Miller is stepping into her role as Food Manager, trying to plan out and pack our food for the trip.

Enjoy!
Until next week when we return from our adventure, Hasta luego!
For the New Hampshire-Ecuador Semester 2009, this is April, the scribe.