I decided to show up at my own life. One manifestation of that decision is a one-month resolution. Year-long resolutions have never worked for me. Resolving to do something for a month allows me to throw myself into the choice with greater vim than I would have otherwise. This month I resolve to take one picture a day and to write something about that picture. Every day. Maybe it's a blog post, maybe it's a short story, or a list, or an essay, or a poem, or a fake advertisement that leaves me cracking up at my own humor at 2 a.m. The point is to be present enough to notice and aware enough to process. The first picture in the series was taken from my bike. A reminder to latch on to the sights around me instead of complaining about a cold commute on two wheels. Because, even on the coldest days, biking to work is inherently a privilege and indicative of other, related privileges.

Sit Tight

It's been six months since my last post. Triple yikes. As most of you know my life has been jam-packed with business...40 hours a week at the school and 2-3 days at the organic farm. And playing softball badly with an awesome team. I feel that so much has changed and so much has just stayed the same. Lately I've been taking a step back to really look at my life and where I want to head next. I think I kept expecting everything to fall into place in one of the many corners of the world I touched down in, But surprise, surprise, no dice. Now, as I look at what steps come next, the focus is going to be less on what is immediately gratifying and exciting and more on what is fulfilling in the long run. But that's a bigger question and damned if I know the answer to it.

I forsee...magic.

My skis were still warm from the wax when I loaded them in the car. I leased some boots, Steve adjusted the bindings, and all the rest of my gear has been loaded in a bag since about 2 days after returning from Argentina. Am I ready to go skiing on Sunday? I do believe so.

11 days in

Let's evaluate my January goals. So far, so good. Not perfect, but decent. I've managed to write every night and do a picture & paragraph for each day. The walk/jog/run thing hasn't worked out, but I biked about 30 miles last week, so I think that was pretty good considering. I finished one book and started another. All in all, pretty good. And now a couple of my favorite pictures.

I resolve?

I usually don't make New Year's Resolutions. I just feel so pressured to succeed with generally-unreasonable goals and then explode. But this year, I was very anxious to keep the ball of personal growth rolling. So I have made what I feel to be some modest goals. The catch is that they are only for one month, most of them. If, after a month, I still like them, I'll keep going for another month. If not, it was a month's worth of trying something out. (Some of these goals were taken from/inspired by this blog.) 1) Document every day with one photograph and one paragraph. Pretty self-explanatory.
2) Define one long-term goal and work on it for 30 minutes every day. Writing. Blogging, journalling, poetry, prose, whatever. This round is just going to be about making a habit.
3) Run 12 miles a week. Multiply by 1.5 if walking and by 4 if biking.
4) The 8th Avenue Bibliophages have committed to reading 24 books by the end of the year. Every time we finish a book, we put a dollar in a jar and at the end of the year we each buy a new book and a new books to donate somewhere.
Other plans for the year include reorganizing the whole garage to make room for seedlings, composting, gardening, as a house we plan to host at least one party/dinner/movie a month, guitar lessons, cooking more, canning, finding people to jam with, etc. etc. etc. We'll see how it turns out! Cheers!

BRB

So Anne picked up a shaky me and all the belongings that had been at my parent’s house because, no, I STILL haven’t unpacked from Argentina. Naturally, by this point, I have already analyzed the situation at least twice, which is enough time for me to mourn the loss of my plans to buy boots for skiing the next day and make some “realistic” diagnoses. I come to the conclusion that I am probably losing my mind and a dormant case of Asperger’s is now wrenching its way up through what used to be the fertile soil of normal social interactions. This conclusion is based on the fact that my mind is routinely racing about, oh, a million miles an hour. In a matter of seconds, it would not be uncommon for me to attempt sweeping, while making a grocery list, planning a reunion, remembering I need to write letters, construct a primitive blueprint for a portable chicken coop, and try to remember the lyrics to the song of an obscure Canadian band. I consistently have to remind myself to be present, to go through those little exchanges make like “how is work” or “how is your family”, that I enjoy the company of the people I’m around, and that I enjoy it more when I’m not wondering if “La Bamba” is played GCF or GFC while standing around a veggie tray. I blame the accident on this spacey-ness. What was wrong with me, after all, that I didn’t see that car in time?

I usually call G Dash (she always blogs about people with their first letter and a dash, so I’m K-, but G dash is infinitely more “gangsta”—a quality I value in a blog) in these scenarios. Our conversations are frequently like “that one bag” that has been around for ages, and keeps reappearing at different relatives’ houses every Christmas. We just recycle the same advice one told the other months ago. Thus after several minutes of me blurting out things like, “I’m pretty sure I’m going crazy” or “What is wrong with me” or “it might be Autism”. We enter Phase I—Let Me Remind You about Yourself. This is the phase where the listener reminds the one melting down about basic pieces of their personality that are glaringly obvious to everyone else. In this case, it is the fact that I always have a rough time transitioning from abroad. I tricked myself. Really well this time. I jumped right into Christmas and parties and visits and…and…and. I thought that since I wasn’t angry like I was after Costa Rica that I must be fine. I even suggested to others that a struggle might happen “eventually”, little realizing that I was/am in the thick of it.

We soon moved on to Phase II—I Offer for Your Consideration…The Obvious! In this case, The Obvious is that I made some major life changes while I was away. I changed all my rhythms—menstrual, eating, sleeping, days off, working, resting, etc. That alone is a big deal. Furthermore, something inside me committed, in a no-turning-back kind of way, to living a more sustainable life. This is a limitless idea. Something I could work on the whole rest of my life and never be satisfied, if I chose not to be. (Damn right I split that infinitive.) I shared every minute of entire days, many, many days with people enormously different from myself and there’s no WAY I was unchanged by that. I made a commitment to live my whole life differently, even if I have no idea, mostly, what that means. I just know it will influence how/where/what I drive, what I eat, where I work, what I throw away, what I wear, what I buy, who I date, what lights I turn on, etc. A reader in Portugal could discern that any kind of major change is bound to incite an uprising of glitches elsewhere.

In Phase IIb we discuss another obvious point—I’m an Introvert. That means that when you could smoke salmon on the fumes coming out of my overworked brain, I’m going to withdraw. When I am thinking about a million things, my brain, out of sheer self-preservation, is going to shut down, often at untimely moments. Like when it could be doing things like, oh, noticing stopped cars in front of me. G Dash pointed out that maybe what my body needs is an amount of introspection that I have currently deemed excessive. I think this is true, as part of the picture. But I know that I need to be around people as much as I need to be alone. Which brings us to…

Phase III—And You Might Also Consider. People change! I changed. People at home changed. And coming back, even if I’ve done it before, means going through that awkward process of reconfiguration. Figuring out which relationships still work. Which ones support the changes I’m attempting to make. Which ones can weather the grey area. Which ones somehow are still the same no matter how many continents I go to. Which ones really care and which ones are just nice to spend an afternoon with. I suppose much of this was obvious to everyone around me even before I left B.A. But I’m putting this out there for several reasons. 1) I don’t want it rattling around in my brain. Per my last metaphor, I am already barbecuing, I don’t need bowling going on, too. 2) To explain that if I’m not talkative, this is not necessarily indicative of discontent. 3) If I don’t call, feel free to call me instead, I’ve probably just forgotten about my phone. 4) And to the people who have those open-ended, toss-ideas-around, listen-to-me-rant, or ask-me-questions-about-xyz…may your blessings multiply sevenfold.

F*ck.

It all started with me smashing the front of my car into the back of another car. Why this didn’t happen when I was 16 and routinely driving 20 miles over the speed limit, I don’t know. I wasn’t texting. I wasn’t on the phone. I just didn’t realize they had stopped very suddenly. I swerved onto the shoulder but not before I nicked their fender with my bumper. So there I am standing on the side of the road, looking at the various pieces of my car littering the side, and somehow, I hear Jenny’s voice (how it wedged in through the “oh fuck.” on repeat is beyond me) telling me to celebrate. That snapped me out of my shock long enough to be grateful that no one got hurt (not even Chris Stanley, my beloved guitar), and that at least their vehicle wasn’t damaged beyond repair. I also probably couldn’t have destroyed the fender of nicer people. How often do people exchange hugs at the scene of an accident? Three surreal things that happened:

1) The elderly lady passenger of the other car offered to help push my car off the road, although she was stopped by her daughter reminding her of her bad back

2) The daughter and some random stranger helped me push it off and the stranger parked behind my car till the police showed up since her mom had been “really messed up” by sitting in her car after an accident

3) As we’re exchanging insurance, phrases like, “Wish we could’ve met under different circumstances” and “Take care and have a happy new year!”

Who has the mental and emotional wherewithal to be so present in such a situation? Maybe you have to lead a pretty centered life to find your bearings so quickly after a stressful situation and be compassionate to someone you have every reason to be livid with. I’m pretty damn lucky they showed me grace and kindness when I mostly hear about rage or icy politeness in these situations. To be continued…

89 Big Ones

My badass grandmother turned 89 a few days ago. I'm pasting below an awesome conversation we had on the phone. I post this conversation because it's pretty much the same thing as posting a conversation with myself from the future--deaf, occasionally cranky, but excited to talk to people. Kate: ...yep, I sure had a good time in Argentina. Grandma: Well that's great, honey. K: [knowing my g-ma used to love skiing] Grandma, guess what I got for Christmas? Skis and ski boots! G: Ha! Well, did you get some medicine for that? K: What? No, Grandma, I said I got SKIS and SKI BOOTS for Christmas. G: OH!!! I thought you said you got bit by MOSQUITOES! I fully intend to take a leaf from her book when "getting old" becomes a reality and not just a concept. I plan on swearing less often and at fewer people, but no one can deny the beauty of a well-executed, "Well, where the hell is my cane?!" But the exploring, the never-ending ravenous quest for learning, and a deep unshakable love of ice cream, these are things I can learn from. Cheers to the first 89, grandma, and rock on.

You’d better make a cup of tea if you intend to read this because I intend to blog about the whirlwind that was my vacation ALL in one blog. I hope you can handle it. Right, so we left off with Grace and I being devastated about not being able to trek on the ice. Well, our hostel offered a tour which we woefully signed up for. In the end it rocked our world. A backroads tour, one-on-one meeting/bottle feeding of a guanaco, hiking, and taking a boat right up to the glacier followed by more hiking. We were lucky and got to see multiple enormous pieces of ice fall off and into the water. We wrapped up there and took a flight the next day to Mendoza.

-Mendoza is the wine capital of Argentina, fyi. We got in very late, checked into the hostel and were creeped out by the 3 middle-aged men staying there making gestures about us and the 0 people under 30. So we peaced out of there, stat, and wandered around looking for another hostel. A full hostel hooked us up at this other hostel that was a total refuge for us. And they had a cat. For some reason unbeknownst and incomprehensible to me, Grace named him “Mr. Cuddles.” We got up early the next day, took a bus out to Maipu, rented a bike/map, and headed off. Our first stop was the beer garden which I felt was a nice compromise because I only like wine occasionally but have a deep love for my friend Mr. Beer and Grace is the opposite. (Sidenote, I could have lived at that beer garden, especially since they used earthen building.) Then we headed off to various vineyards and olive/liqueur/chocolate shops. Impressively, we were still able to bike by the end of the day and took the bus back to Mendoza.

-Our last big tourist stop was at Iguazu. Item of note – LAN airlines ran over my pack with a moving vehicle (at least, I reasonably assume this was the case due to the tire tread stains running the length of it) and lost Grace’s luggage which was later returned with part of her wine smashed to smithereens inside of it. Eau de Malbec anyone? Anyway, we rested one day and then spent the next day traipsing about the waterfall, taking a boat into it, and then doing a full moon tour that evening. The waterfall was just as breathtaking the second time.

-We then took a bus to Oberá. We evaluated the a.c. situation and realized the purpose of the air conditioner was to blow sortofcool air toward the front of the bus while leaving us hot and with drippings from the a.c. on our heads. That is the first, and hopefully last, bus ride I spent with a folded scarf balanced on top of my head. We had to take this bus because I SWEAR the ticket lady had told us the bus we wanted left half an hour later than it actually did. Then we transferred to another bus, spending all but our last 2 pesos. We arrived in Oberá with 30 minutes to spare (read here: 10 minutes for Kate to fly by taxi to withdraw money from her emergency fund to pay the 7 pesos to get out to Mama Roja). Luckily we were saved by Reneé who showed up with pesos for bus fare and empanadas for Grace who was at that point “where someone is going to die if I don’t get food.” We also got to say hi to Tania and head out to the farm. -It was, of course, lovely. Looking back, I would have planned more time there. But I enjoyed every last second there. Kim made an AMAZING dinner and lunch. We jammed, talked till the wee hours of the night, laughed hysterically, etc. I said a rough goodbye to Spot 2 which is ever-present in my heart *fist pump to Spot 2*, pirated a lot of files, packed an insane amount of stuff into my bag, and headed into town for a rather melancholy ice cream stop. More tearful goodbyes later and we were at the bus station saying goodbye to Tania, one of the sweetest, kindest people I have ever known.

-Another deluxe bus ride (this time in the very front on top looking out the big front window), we arrived in B.A. with enough time for lunch with Tim tron, another difficult goodbye, a nap at Grace’s hostel, and a long flight home. Of course these are only tiny snapshots of the things that made my mind crack and grow bigger and the flooring beauty in so many varied forms and the funny things and the annoying things and the time when people almost died because we were cranky. But it was an epic trip and one I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

Vacation Saga Part I

Let’s BeBop! Well, here it is. Whirlwind blogging. I currently write from the Trelew airport, waiting for my flight back to Buenos Aires where I will pick up GRACE and voyage madly. Here’s what went down so far: -Mama Roja wrap up. I’m not blogging about that because I think it would make trivial something that was incredibly powerful and moving. Let’s just say that I have never cried so much about “heart spiders” or had so many friendship bracelets burned onto my wrist in one day. Maybe as I start to look back at this, I’ll process things I want to share, but for now I need to focus on not going crazy with missing people/this weirdo life I’ve led for 3 months. -Meghan, Danielle, and I head to Buenos Aires on the most deluxe bus ever. Meals, movies, snacks, coffee, dulce de leche, you name it. Plus a pillow, blanket, and personal curtain. Worth it. After booking our hostel via bus wifi, we drop our stuff off and head to Siga la Vaca. Danielle’s system promptly decides she needs to be on her death bed and she spent some quality time with certain trash bins all over Buenos Aires. Meanwhile, I ate about 1,000 pounds of meat and even ate some pork that I liked. Meghan and I drank an interesting quantity of wine and also ate a “chocolate volcano” and “cheesecake” which we referred to as “cheeseflan.” The next day I went to the Recoleta cemetery. Pretty cool and gave me some ideas for my burial (tall pole with a tiny ship on top). Then, I met up with M&D and went to a place I saw called Be Frika where we ate…SALADS. This was pretty shocking. Also, fruit smoothies. Crazy. After that I peaced myself out of there, caught a taxi to the airport with a guy we met from the UK and flew to Trelew.

-By flew to Trelew I mean I sat in the airport for multiple hours during the delay and got in after midnight. There was a shuttle to Puerto Madryn, a few hours of sleep and then up early the next day to see…PENGUINS AND DOLPHINS!!! I went with a couple girls from Holland and a lady from Wales. Here’s the lowdown on the dolphins at Playa Union. Not so big, those ones. They’re black and white Commerson’s dolphins. They liked to swim under the front of the boat like they were racing it. We also saw sea lions and various birds and shrimp boats. Then we headed further south to Punta Tombo which is the largest colony of Magellanic penguins. They’re little guys. Probably came to my knee-ish. No bonding allowed, however, as they a) are probably damn tired of a million tourists tromping through their habitat snapping photos of them and b) they have veeeery sharp beaks. In fact, there is an ambulance permanently stationed at the entrance for those who don’t respect the penguins and learn the hard way. It’s their birthing season so we got to see eggs, babies, and adults. They were everywhere. The surprising thing was the climate…I always thought penguins lived on icebergs and such, but it was hot there. Upper 80’s lower 90’s hot. And it was sandy and scrubby…not unlike parts of Idaho. A 3 hour drive later and we were back in Puerto Madryn and I was packing for my bus.

-I bussed that evening to Trelew and then from their to the Welsh immigrant town of Gaiman. For those of you who don’t know about the Welsh, I’ll explain a little about how they spell things. Basically, centuries ago, people got greedy about vowels. Very greedy. So greedy in fact, that they hoarded almost all of the vowels and smuggled them out to other lands…like Hawaii. The people revolted. There was mass chaos in the streets because there were no vowels anymore, really, and the ones to be had were exorbitantly priced. So the overlords got together to try to figure out how to calm the uprising and they came up with 7-for-1. For every one vowel a person has, they get 7 consonants for free. This served its purpose. The people were satisfied and felt even a little indulgent and so began flinging extra consonants everywhere. It should come as no surprise that the name of the b&b I stayed at was Yr Hen Ffordd. I HIGHLY recommend this place. One of the oldest buildings in town on the oldest street in town. While there I visited some Welsh chapels (closed, therefore boring), visited the first house (coal-powered iron, anyone?), and ate the best pasta of my life. Gnocchi stuffed with plum, pancetta, and walnut in an onion, pancetta, tomato, cheese, cream sauce. I accidentally almost died. I also went to a Welsh tea house and ate way too many tea cakes and black tea. Yikes. All in all, I feel that I honored my Welsh heritage, even in poking fun at it. I rolled onto the plane to head back to B.A.

-In B.A., reunited with Meghan, we went with our new Italian friend to the Sunday San Telmo market. It was pretty cool and I carved my name into the table at Plaza Dorrego Bar. Then I picked up a lost Grace from the bus station and we all took a ferry to Colonia, Uruguay. It’s a small town with cobbled streets and lovely old architecture and a UNESCO world heritage site. We saw the lighthouse, old buildings, went to the beach, and flung ourselves into the laguna off of rope swings. We ate some delicious foods, like a chocolate/dulce de leche cake. Our last night, Grace and I decided to try the typical Uruguayan sandwich called “chivito.” At the restaurant we went to, this “sandwich” is the size of a prairie wagon and consists of steak meat, ham, cheese, and fried eggs on top. We ate about 20% of it and then asked for a box. Somehow, after this, it still seemed like a good idea to go to a tiny wine and cheese bar we had seen earlier. I think it was just to sweet to resist. Tucked in a little wall on “Street of Sighs” (translation) with only about 4 tables, we ordered one of the “smaller” plates and a week later I still haven’t finished digesting it. Which is why the 6:45 a.m. bus to Montevideo the next morning was so awesome, especially on 3 hours of sleep. Yet, somehow we made it to Montevideo without barfing and flew to El Calafate.

-El Calafate ended up being my favorite place. After 3 months of jungle heat, the cool, brisk wind of El Calafate was like electricity. The hostel we had tried to book was full, but they directed us to their sister hostel which was cheaper and just as great. We checked in, cooked some gluten-free spaghetti with veggie sauce, and then discovered the devastating news that the trek-on-the-ice tour was booked for the next day. TO BE CONTINUED

Finishing touches

So, I realize I’ve failed dismally at blogging, apparently since October 21st. I attribute this to my surrender to the internet vacuum that is Oberá. And also, we’ve pretty much just been building non-stop. We had quite a few workshops at the end of things we taught each other. But for the most part, our main focus was on the building. Here are some things I took away from the process (yeah, I’m beyond the technical blogs): -Readjustment of plans and goals is critical. That’s why we added columns, for example. The wall was “wonky” and wobbly, so adding the columns added stability. -Adding glass bottles for beauty. After laying the bricks around them, you carve out space for more light to filter through them. -We finished laying all the bricks, I believe. Line after line after line, we finally made it up to the roof. -Plaster layer one. It’s already cracked nicely and is waiting for the other layers. -“Meatballing” – the process of adding tons of fiber (tensile strength) to the plaster mix and shoving the wads into places that need stability but are too small to put bricks in. -Natural painting. We used lime and iron oxide and painted 2.5 walls of our cabin. -Making shelving and niches. -And much, much more! We didn't finish the house. Not by a long shot. In a way, that was a bummer, but when I look at how much we accomplished and hear about how long a project like this normally takes, I feel just fine. Ultimately K & M will finish all the layers of plaster, add artsy things like tree sculptures/niches/shelving, they'll put in sinks/counters/composting toilets. They'll cover the floor, probably with a tinted cement mix with wax over top. They'll put in doors and windows. And they'll put on the roof. And after breathing for a while, maybe a long while, they'll add two additional rooms on the side. Rock on. Basically, natural building is crazy. In many ways, you can make it simple or complicated and you can do that now or later. But the nice thing is that if you stick to basic stability principles, if you eff up, you can fix it or make adjustments. I learned that my personal style is to do more measuring/leveling now and hopefully have fewer adjustments later, but I also learned ways to build more freely knowing that we could readjust. Hopefully I can rummage around for a project and start melding what I know already with new learning about what works in non-jungle settings.

Ye Olde Smalle Update

We continue forth. Most of our concerted efforts are on the house, with a few forays into the kitchen and garden. We spend most of the days laying layers of baked bricks and mud mortar. The walls are high enough that we can start incorporating bottles as sort of a stained-glass situation. I'm learning about using plumb lines and levels and lining things ups. I could post some technical how-tos on this, but I haven't quite wrapped my brain around it enough to blog coherently. I also spend a good amount of time flinging mud at other people. Word like, "punk", "rude", and "idiot" have been thrown in my direction, but I know it's all in love. I have told everyone that they should worry about when stop flinging mud. If you go to the Mama Roja website, you can see results of this mud-flinging. http://mamaroja.blogspot.com This will be the last post for a while. We're mostly focused on just building the house, anyway. We'll be building on our day off, Tuesday, having an all-day fiesta/birthday party/Halloween party/pizza making party/costume party on Thursday and then heading off to some Jesuit ruins on Friday. Should be good times. Below is the pyramid root cellar at the Chacra Suiza that we visited today.

Oops. Didn't realize it's been 2 weeks since I last posted. We've had a lot of rain lately (think 4.5 inches in one night), so lots of indoor activities. I did a "workshop" on how to make bagels. We've made peanut butter again, peach jam, chipas (Argentinian cheesy bread thing, but didn't quite turn out), and other tasty treats which I cannot remember at this time. Mostly our focus is on building the house. This mostly consists of sifting subsoil and hauling it in buckets up the hill to mix with the sand we hauled in wheelbarrows up the hill to mix with the water and pine needles that are already up there to make the mortar. AND hauling wheelbarrow loads of bricks from the base of the hill to the top of the hill. I am getting stronger. It helps when my hutmate and I sing medleys consisting of 80's jams, Disney songs, and showtunes while huffing and puffing up the hill, one pushing and one pulling the wheelbarrow. I also found an intercambio partner. Basically, I blurted out at the waitress at the store/restaurant where we buy our bulk food that if she wanted to, we could have Spanish/English conversations. It was weird, but it worked. We're visiting a farm on Friday run by Swiss immigrants where we will be eating meat raised right on the property. (Who ever thought I'd be excited to eat meat?!) Next week we don't have Tuesday off, but we do have an all-day fiesta where we will make pizza, probably empanadas, and then take 3 days off after that. I'm planning on heading to some Jesuit ruins nearby. Love to you all.

Update: Fermentation

Update on how our fermented mixes are going can be found here.

Wine & Aperitif

Mulberry Wine: -1 Kilo organic sweet fruit, 4-5 liters water, 1 kilo sugar Bring ingredients to a boil, let it cook together about 10 minutes. It’s okay if you have stems and seeds in your mix. Remove from heat and allow to cool to body temperature. Add about 1.5 tsp yeast. Put in a non-airtight, covered container and store in a cool, dark place. Stir every few days if desired. In 3 weeks-one month the wine will be ready. At this point, you can strain off the wine and drink it while it has a sweeter flavor or you can let it sit longer therefore losing some sweetness and gaining a stronger wine flavor. Hesteridina (Aperitif): -10 whole cloves, the rind of 3 oranges, 250 g of sugar, 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary (10 cm length), ½ liter grain alcohol (or cane alcohol, 96 proof), 2 liters water. Chop rind into small pieces and dry in the oven. Mix all ingredients in a large bottle or carboy. Shake every 2 days and store in a cool, dark place. Ready in 15 days.

Iguazú Falls

Well, we had our first end-of-month break. We all went to Iguazú Falls. Google it. Here are some memorable points: -Sprinting for and missing the 7:45 bus. Walking 45+ min to the next town and doing the SAME thing. Misplacing my beloved slouch hat and handkerchief in the process. Meeting really awesome street vendors and spending time talking with them and hearing about all the stuff they make and places they’ve traveled. A cheap, good hostel. Going to the falls, realizing my stomachache wasn’t going away, and in fact it was getting worse. Looking at the most amazing waterfalls ever for about 6 seconds and then trying to run to the nearest puking spot. Getting stuck behind two old ladies blocking the path who did not seem to grasp that I WAS GOING TO BARF ON THEM. No amount of “excuse me”’s helped. I finally got past them and spent the whole rest of the day on a bench and then creeping down the path with frequent rests on the side of the road. The next day we went back, took the boat tour into the falls and the river float. Amazing. Enough said. Drawing trade night. You basically start drawing and then pass it around the circle trading once you get sick of your drawing. Someone waking up having no idea where their wallet was or why they weren’t wearing pants. Not one, but TWO people finding out that they had burrowing insects in their feet that needed removal. Street surgery. Of course there was more to the trip, but these are some good highlights.

Technical Blog: Natural Building III

Recap: We have filled the retaining walls. We compacted them with walking. We compacted part of the porch completely with the stomping tool. The A-frame is up. Now, we want to section off the porch and kitchen areas so we can build small retaining walls that will provide the support for the walls that will divide inside from outside and kitchen from bathroom. I think the original retaining wall provides support for all the other walls we’ll construct. We measured 125 centimeter from the edge of the original retaining wall to mark where we’ll put the dividing wall for the porch/living area. We drove in a stake at one end of the room. Then we did the same thing at the other end of the room. After that, we used a plumb line hung from the A-frame to make sure the stakes were straight. So, we now have a stake at each end of the line that will eventually be the wall dividing the porch from the living room. We tied a piece of string between the stakes to give us a guide to build a straight wall. We dug a trench deep and wide enough to accommodate a line of bricks – one brick wide, two bricks high. Next, using the string as a guide, we put down a layer of cement (see recipe below), then a row of bricks, then a layer of cement, then a row of bricks. Note – don’t stack the bricks in columns. You gain more stability by shifting the row down a half a brick. (If this doesn’t make sense in writing, just look closely at the bricks in the pictures.) When you’re laying the bricks, you can be really professional about it. You can get out a level and make sure every brick is perfectly aligned. We didn’t do this. The steps we took were enough for K&M to feel satisfied that the structure was stable. Aesthetics aren’t so important with the bricks given that they will soon be covered with a thick layer of mud. Recipe: Cement: 4 parts sand + 1 part cement mix + around 1 part water (give or take) If you don’t have a fancy machine, combine all the dry ingredients in a mixing unit using a hoe. See ours below. Once mixed, make a well in the middle and add a little water. Once combined, repeat until the water and mixture are thoroughly combined. Have someone who knows about cement give you pointers on a good consistency. Wetter is better, but you do hit a point where it’s too watery. Tips: pour the dry cement from a close distance. Dumping it from high up causes it to waft everywhere. Yuck. Letting the first bit of water sit for a while in the well makes later mixing easier.

Technical Blog: Natural Building II.

Okay, so I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by the thought of blogging about the whole earthen building process. There’s a lot going on and I know I’m forgetting some of the important technical details. But the best way to retain knowledge is to teach it. So, I apologize if I’ve missed any steps, but at the bottom of the post I’ve listed some other resources for further learning (a drop in the ocean of options). Recap: We’re working on 2 projects, a drop-toilet repair and building a house from scratch. The house is what I’ll be covering here and, when our internship is done will include a small kitchen, bathroom, living/sleeping space, and porch on two sides of the house. They plan to expand later. What we’ve done so far. The house is on a slope, so it was constructed in 3 levels (not stories, but heights, like steps.) Each layer had a retaining wall built of multiple layers of baked bricks with cement between. There were also sturdy pillars in each corner and in the center, back wall of the house cemented into the ground. This phase was completed by the neighbor and his crew. Yes, we could have done it ourselves, but K & M wanted to lay a really good foundation. I believe it was the same crew that also put up the A-frame, with help from a few of the interns. Then came the super awesome work of hauling dirt uphill by wheelbarrow load and bucket. Learning lesson: take breaks! Use water, mandarin oranges, and mate tea liberally. Plan a pizza night for the same week to boost group morale. We filled in the retaining wall and stomped it down by walking on it. We also compacted the dirt further using the tool shown below. It might have a name, but you basically just lift it up and let the weight of it slam down. Once the dirt has sunk down, you add more dirt and continue the process until the slamming tool produces no major results. [Why? This means when you put your cement floor on later, you run less risk of it caving in or cracking badly.] Barefoot Architect – Johan Van Lengen, Home Work Handbuilt Shelter – Lloyd Kahn, Building Green – Clarke Snell and Tim Callahan, The Good House Book – Clarke Snell

Does anyone else get this stuck in their head?

Technical Blog - Medicinal Mud

Best taken from subsoil with a high clay content. Take care to use soil from non-polluted sources (i.e. hasn’t had chemicals/pesticides/etc. dumped on it, not near a road, etc.). Dig down at least 30 cm (about a foot), and dig up however much subsoil you feel that you’d like. Lay it out to dry on a tarp or something in a cool, shady spot protected from the elements and animals for at least 10 days. It must be completely dry. Put it through a fine sifter (like the one in your kitchen, or slightly bigger). Bottle and store in a way that moisture can’t leak in. You can bottle it with dried calendula flowers or dried plantain (again, the ground plant, not the banana cousin) for added benefits. Proponents of medicinal mud have claimed many and varied benefits from ulcers, arthritis, thyroid imbalance, phlegm, getting rid of parasites, ovarian cysts, bug bites, facial scrubs, chest cold relief, etc. Internally: Mix about 1 cup water with about 1 tablespoon of the dried mud (use less for kids). You can either mix it up and drink the whole sloshy mixture OR, you can mix it, let the bigger pieces settle, and then drink the cloudy water on the top. Take it on an empty stomach (1/2 hour before food or 2 hours after) i.e. before breakfast and lunch. Take once a day for a general cleanse. Or take 2 times daily, three times a week and then take 15 days off. Externally: Mix with a bit of water, apply in circles. Can apply externally for ovarian cysts, rub on for 40-50 circles. Use once a week as a facial scrub. Apply to chest during colds.