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| Mateo, Charlie, Shai, Nicole, Ciara, Malcolm, Zoe, Siena, Meredith, Kat, Tommy, Ayere, Phoebe and Churo |
Hello to all you loyal Krokan devotees.
My name is Siena Powers (or siesta powers as the group has dubbed me) and I
will be your update Queen a.k.a the only contact you have to your children or
friends for the next four months. I can only hope that I will capture all the
moments I know you are so eager to hear about, but seeing as we do more in one
minute than I have previously done in an entire hour I don’t know how plausible
that hope is.
Only a week has
gone by since we last saw you (assuming you are all parents otherwise I don’t
know when we last saw you), but time doesn’t seem to have the same kind of
binding effect here, and the term “one week” has little to no meaning. As far
as I know we have been here for a while.
After the first
two days of getting a basic understanding of each other, which included:
sharing circles, manifesto making, a load of information about the system at
Kroka, and of course some more sharing; we got into a rhythm that has just
begun to feel like home.
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| Tommy and Churo |
At the wee hour
of 5:20 we rise in a not so shiny way and stumble (I literally fell once) over
to the carriage barn where we embark on our day with a run or bike ride. After
the first ten minutes of biking you suddenly realize that you’re not in a dream
and wake up with a surprising amount of vigor as the car speeds by you in the
dark mist. On Friday we finally reached our goal of getting to Gustan Pond for
a morning swim, leaving just enough time to get back to Kroka as the sun was
rising in an array of pink and gold fog. After a cup of milk and maybe a slice
of apple (not to worry we get more food later), we begin morning chores at
6:30. The much respected responsibility of chore doing entails many skills such
as splitting firewood, feeding the chickens, working in the gardens, tending to
the animals on the farm, cooking for our hearty group and last but not least
being a wiz of a cleaner rightfully named the Hormigas, after a rain ant in the
jungle that does oober cleaning. We have yet to become as speedy as our many
legged friends.
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| Malcolm |
On Monday we
began our academic projects, which have become so integrated into our
day-to-day life that I rarely associate the act of learning these skills with
the word “academic”. Everything we do is taught to us in a self-motivated style
with a huge emphasis on being hands on. Because of how awesomely huge our group
is we have done most of these lessons in smaller groups, which has also been a
great way to get to know each other in a more intimate way. We have been
working on our backpacks, which has been both rewarding and frustrating. Anyone
who is familiar with the inner workings of a sewing machine and their devilish
tricks I'm sure can sympathize. However they are almost finished and we are all
ancy to load them up for expedition, and maybe a little excited to boast that
we made them all ourselves (of course that would be totally false due to our
amazing teacher Lisl who has helped us beyond belief).
We have also
been learning Spanish, both in a class like structure (except better) and by
listening to our Ecuadorian peers Churo and Mateo, as well as Marcela and
Michael. For those of us who have a background, however slight, in Spanish this
experience of partial immersion has been difficult but rewarding, I however am
not one of those lucky souls. I have no understanding whatsoever of Spanish and
have been wallowing in slight dismay at Churo’s amusing rambles, or Marcela’s
good-natured questions. I have faith however that this will improve, maybe.
On Tuesday we began our first pages of the semester book that Mateo will be arranging for his big job. We also began our study of permaculture. Permaculture is an idea that will be at the core of the semester and something that we will be looking into with much greater detail in the weeks to come. We have also been working on carving spoons, writing in our journals, learning about bikes and navigation, and doing a great deal of singing which has been a joy for all of us. Lily Frey has come to sing with us twice and we have been so lucky to have her passion for music all around us, many thanks to her!
On Wednesday we
began to make use of our lovely medic, Shai. Phoebe nipped her leg with an axe and Ciara took a tumble
off her bike down a significantly steep hill on our solo navigation test that
went a bit awry. (Note to parents, they are fine so don’t freak out). It also
happened to be Conti’s Birthday, and Misha’s was the day before, so we had a
nice party in the big yurt. Hamburgers and home made french fries soothed the
pain of the day, as well as a large amount of extremely rich chocolate cake
thanks to Malcolm, and some apple crisp too.
The next morning
after stretching out the chocolate cake with some yoga, we packed up our gear
and headed out to Swanzey for a day of rock climbing. Just looking up at those
majestic cliffs and the way they fluctuate in and out of their angular core,
the way the soft moss grows out of their crevices, is enough to transport you
to a place of awe. As you climb you can feel the way your body relates to the
rock. You rediscover the muscles you rarely use and let yourself dance across
the face with a determination you wouldn’t anticipate. On the drive home we had
a little siesta, and some singing that calmed and recharged us for the rest of
the day.
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| Zoe with Britta |
As the week
comes to a close we take a day of rest and reflection. It is Sunday afternoon
as I sit here in the big yurt finishing this update, Zoë, Phoebe and Shai sit
outside doing their laundry and a few are up at the farm house finishing their
backpacks. We slept in until 7:30 this morning and had a delicious breakfast of
bacon and pancakes; with yogurt and applesauce we made ourselves. It is nice to
have a day to rejuvenate and replenish after a week of such rapid change from
our previous life. Nine days ago I had no idea who any of the people were that
I was going to be living with. I didn’t know what they looked like or what
their personalities would entail. Now they are my home. I see within them
potential, and a blooming community, and though I know there is so much more I
have to learn about each one, I am happy to live in the moment and take their
words as they come to me. In a minute I think I will go for a swim, I hear
mutterings of it outside and after a day of writing, that is just what I need.
Hasta Pronto, I hope you are all well and happy,
Siena Powers.
Quote of the week: “Simplification of means, and elevations of ends is the goal”
-Henry
Thoreau
En Espanol, “Simplificar los medios, y elevar nuestros
logros”
Song of the week: Life is but a dream
life is but a dream (x2),
you are the dreamer,
you are the dream
Omni vashi vaya (x4)
La vida es un baile (x2)
Tu eres el bailador
tu eres el baile
Omni vashi vaya (x4)
Spanish 101: Buen provecho: blessing on our meal (kinda thing); Hasta
Pronto: until next time; Gatito: little cat (cat is gato); Rico:
Awesome, or delicious! (or that kind of thing).
Big Jobs. To
help out with the smoothness of semester we all have taken on big jobs in order
to delve into one section of our community with as much focus and passion as we
can. Here is a list of all our jobs, everyone has been doing great so far!
o Ciara is our creative
sewing and crafts manager, she also keeps a log of music
o Kata is our trusty
navigator, she has yet to get us too lost
o
Zoe is our mama bear,
she manages home and camp as well as being our photographer
o Charlie is our farm and
garden manager, as well as being the unofficial bearer of all music thanks to
his guitar skills
o Nicole makes sure we all
stay clean as she is our hygiene manager
o
Malcolm is our bike
manager, and has been working hard to prepare for our bike expedition this
week!
o Meredith is our faithful
alarm clock and logistics manager
o Ayere has been doing a
fantastic job as gear manager
o Churo is our fire man,
and manages our sources of energy
o Phoebe has the all
powering job of food manager, she has been feeding us well!
o Tommy is our kitchen and
food processor, and has been making many a delicious concoction for us
o Mateo is our semester
book manager and our treasurer; he holds all the money for ice cream!
o Shai is our caring
shaman and medic; she has tended to many a wound.
o And I am your loyal
scribe and documenter.
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| Ecuador semester 2012 |
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