Kroka Ecuador Semester 2014: Blog #3: Preparations Begin!

This week was a jumble of schoolwork and working out, deep conversations and everyday chores.
Monday and Tuesday were spent designing a new entrance sign for Kroka and learning about Permaculture. Designing was fun, but also tested our abilities to think practically about what is feasible with our materials, experience and time.

On Wednesday, Grandfather Ray came to Kroka and led us on an early morning walk through the woods. I am not sure exactly what we learned, but I know that somewhere between entering the forest silently before dawn and emerging with the first light of day, we changed. Something about the stillness and the hidden beauty, or maybe simply the spirit of the awakening world transformed us. We will now always carry with us the energy of the awakening forest on the quiet morning.

On Thursday, we switched gears completely from schoolwork and reflection to an overnight whitewater practicing trip with Misha and Pasha on the Deerfield River. It was fast-paced and wonderful and we learned a lot, from how to do an on-side turn to how to open up and share around the fire. The scenery alone was enough to make the trip spectacular, with the hills rising up on either side of us, the trees on the brink of turning and the water moving swiftly all around us.

We returned stronger and slightly wetter on Friday night and were swept away immediately into parent weekend. Our families arrived on Saturday and left after lunch on Sunday and in between we got to spend time with them and to reflect on this time of transition in our lives. It was a weird and wonderful experience to share our home and lifestyle here with our friends and family. We really loved taking our parents on the beautiful walk to the Beaver Pond and showing them around. Saturday night was spent dancing the Virginia Reel and sharing our stories as the rain beat down from the monochromatic sky. Saying goodbye on Sunday was hard, but as we rode away on our bikes for a quick trip to Gustin Pond we took a step forward as a group.

These past few days we have been waking up and running before chores and going straight into academic work and sign building with a few Spanish classes after breakfast. Academic time has produced beautiful pages for our semester book which will serve as a compilation of all we will learn on this journey. While half of us work on writing and drawing, the rest of us have made huge strides in the creation of Kroka's new entrance sign, working alongside Hugh in the round, wood-smelling yurt workshop.

This Thursday and Friday we will be learning first aid and hopefully getting certified in Wilderness First Aid. Then it will be a frenzy of preparations and goodbyes before we fly on Monday!
We are ready now to go to Ecuador, ready for the physical challenges and also the deeper challenges that will push the spirit within us to greater heights.

Hasta Luego,

Mary Kate

Reflections

Jump out of bed and stamp
your feet on the ground.
Feel the rotation of the Earth
and appreciate our perfect distance from the sun.
Fill your lungs with the cool, smogless air
and take time
To really see
To really dance
Throw your self conscienceness
to the wind and find
the you that will be.

~Bethany

Community

As the weeks go by people change
Change is what inspires us to keep moving
Moving gives us a sense of freedom
Freedom is what every human strives for, but it is our community that roots us together
Together we are free but sturdy like a great oak spreading her branches wide and majestic
toward the sky

~Lucas

I am the Harness

I am the piece of weathered leather that hangs from the barn wall.
I am the piece that straps around the strong glistening bodies of the horses.
I am old and fitted to my tasks.
I am often covered in dirt and sweat and soaked with the heat of the unrelenting sun.
I carry in my leather stitching the knowledge of farmers to till the land.
I also carry the magic and wonderment of the horse.
These animals who hold power so great we can hardly fathom, yet we attempt to harness.
Harness with my soft brown leather and worn buckles,
That strap in and around their powerful bodies.
Bodies that know the earth, the sky,
A harness that holds the fire, the power.

~Elsbeth

Thoughts on Being a Tree

And then I thought
What is this life?
What are these roots, these rocks, these branches?
Why don't I move like the mouse,
Soar like the seagull overhead,
Creep like tha caterpillar on my bark?
Who chose this stationary life,
A life of strength and majesty?
What does it mean to stand tall as a tree?
What can I help but that my branches are wide, my roots deep?
What is it really, to be a tree?

~Mary Kate