NHESP 2010 - Update 4

Boston, MA - on the way to the airport

Dear Readers,

Shelter for overnight solo

After the parent weekend, much needed to be done. First we finished our solo. Each one of us built a shelter and a fire, and we spent the night on our own.
Then with one and a half days to go before our trip, we finished academics, washed clothes, packed, wrote thank you cards, and thoroughly cleaned up camp. The night before we left, we had a delicious goodbye dinner at Lynne and Misha’s, and that was it. Goodbye, Marlow.
As we approached Quito International Airport after the three-hour and forty-five minute plane ride from Miami, my fingers were tensely crossed. I wasn’t sure of American Airline’s crash statistics, but I was convinced I could summon a good omen on this leviathan of the skies. I can’t say I’m a man of God, but at that moment I prayed.
Michael, who is from Ecuador, pointed out Cotopaxi, the 5,897m (19,340 ft) mountain we will attempt to climb as the culminating event of our journey. The mountain was center stage, being showered by the full moon’s white luminescence. It is hard to believe but the colossal mountain easily towered over the gray clouds.
I think everyone of us was quite thrilled to get off the plane; when we set foot on the tarmac, the energy was flowing. We thought, we are no longer preparing, no longer dreaming; now we were here. Welcome to Ecuador!
A bus was positioned next to the plane to pick up all the passengers and bring them to customs. Now I want to really stress the timing of this next event. When I say ‘the second’ I mean the actual second. So the second we “Wild Cherry Sunrise Dolphins,” excluding Carina and Marcela and adding Lisl, stepped foot into Quito’s customs area, all Ecuadorian eyes were on us. No longer were Connor, Pedro, Iyla, Gabe, and myself segregated and coined the “gringitos” due to our lack of Spanish. But every single one of us became a full-fledged “gringo.”
We waited in line for a bit, putting to use some of the Spanish lessons from the yurt, while each one of us smuggled an Orchard Hill apple or two. We proceeded into the next phase, picking up our twenty bags of luggage, each fifty pounds. Under the mass pile of baggage Dylan had accidentally snagged a woman’s bag who wasn’t in our group, which caused a bit of a scene. We successfully brought all our stuff through security. They were either overwhelmed by our gringo power or fed up with what looked like to them, too much unnecessary stuff for a less than three-month stay, so we didn’t encounter any holdups.
I was the first one out of security and without truly knowing who the man who was waving at me was, I returned the gesture. He looked like who I thought he must be, the infamous Mathias. But this couldn’t be Mathias, the man I heard numerous tales about who had, a few months back, plummeted down a 120 foot, dry waterfall and shattered almost every bone in his body. This man was standing tall with his partner, Nicole, looking like any other dude. It was beautiful to see the brothers reunite. Michael had left seeing his brother, Mathias, in an awful state, confined to a bed. But now Mathias, literally defying all odds, was prancing around with only an insignificant limp.

Class with Thomas

We crammed our hefty luggage into Mathias’s truck and our sluggish, odorous bodies into another bus and set off. The bus was dead silent since we all were fixated on the lit city of Quito. Stray dogs, graffiti, and young people filled the dark city. We soon were on the main highway called Avenida Simon Bolivar, named after the man who liberated Ecuador from Spain alongside San Martin, an Argentinean. I found it amazing that an Ecuadorian graffiti artist “MtM” had covered buildings, along the entire stretch of the road, which ran many miles. Heading southeast, we reached the neighboring city of Cumbaya. Michael told us that when he was young, the city used to be farmland adorned with cows. Now Cumbaya is quickly developing and even has a McDonald’s.

At Palugo

After a forty-five minute ride, on the outskirts of Pifo, we came to Palugo farm. This is the home of Michael and Mathias’ family, the Dammer’s. Just beyond the Palugo gate, we were dropped off with our gear. We trekked in the dark, for about fifteen minutes. By now you could really feel the drastic change in altitude; the heavy feeling in our chests disabled us from walking fast. We reached El Chozon, where we were greeted by the new members of our pack, Tupac and Shiram. Exciting vibes were flowing as we all introduced ourselves. With two more wolves, we made up a pack of 15. Approaching 21 hours on the move, we called it a night. 
The next morning, as we climbed out of our dwellings, we became briefly fossilized by the magnificence. Surrounding Palugo stand eight rocky mountains. To the north of Palugo stands Cayambe; to the northwest towers Pinchincha; to the southwest stand Atacazo, Corazon, Singcholagua, and Iliniza; directly to the south towers Cotopaxi; and to the southeast stands Pasochoa. Three of the eight mountains today have snow, but forty years ago, all the peaks were snow-covered. The view of the landscape is magnificent. I’m telling you, Palugo is the epitome of beauty. Green-tailed trainbearers, turkey vultures, brown Swiss cows, rabbits, guinea pigs, dogs, lizards, and alpaca are common around the 200 acre farm.

Knife making

Over the past three days, we’ve been working on hand-made knives with Michael’s other brother, Thomas. Our first step was to choose the material we wanted to work with for our handles, either white-tailed deer antler or burl. While most of us jumped to using antler; Gabe, Hannah, and Tupac decided to use the hardy burl. The second step was to cut the length of your handle using a hand-saw. To make an antler handle, you boil your cut piece for up to twenty-minutes.During the boiling you start to construct your sheath by cutting a preferably a flat piece of wood in half, and tracing the length of your knife on each piece of the wood, making a mirror image. Then when the antler is boiled the carbon blade can be pounded into it with a mallet. After that is complete, which might take a while, the next step is to carefully carve out your traced blade in the wood in a size appropriate for your knife and then glue it together to dry. After a day of drying, you start carving away at your sheath making it any shape you want. Finally, you wrap your wooden sheath in leather and weave it together. But we haven’t gotten to that part yet.

The group has a lot to accomplish between now and next Tuesday, when we start our month-long expedition into San Clemente, to visit Tupac’s community. Over this next week, we will study geology and permaculture with Michael, and Spanish and literature with Marcela. This coming Wednesday, we will ascend Pasachoa, a mountain south of Palugo, to prepare for Cotopaxi and Antisana. You will hear from me next as we prepare to embark on our expedition through the indigenous communities, jungles, and rivers. Hasta Luego.

Meeting the llamas

Environmental tips:
When you order a pina colada, don’t ask for a straw.
Hand wash your clothes.

Spanish with Julia:
Espina-thorn
Carcel-jail
Pastanas-eye lashes
Cosechar-to harvest
Esfero-pen
Buho-owl

Post Scriptum: Letters will take longer to arrive, friends and family! – Gabe

La vista es muy hermosa con las montanas a nuestro alrededor. Que Rico!

NHESP 2010 - Update 3

Dinner with Katie and Bill, the owners of Badger Balm in Lisl's appartment;
back:left to right: Katie, Jake, Hannah, Dylan, Armin, Gabe, Connor, Iyla, Peter
front: Hakeem, Michael, Julia, Marclea and Carina

Dear Readers,

The old Latin phrase “tempus fugit” means time flies. Keeping that in mind helps us to truly live in the moment, and embrace and consciously observe our experiences.  For all of us who are students, there is right now a sense of immediacy that surrounds us. We are trying to absorb and genuinely challenge ourselves in every way. My feeling is that we are sculpting our beings internally. In this last week, which has felt like a decade, so much luck and so many marvelous experiences have graced us it is as if we each bore a sacred talisman.

Monday morning we ate breakfast and embarked on our drive to Michael and Jesse Kohaut´s house. As we coasted upon the scenic and mountainous New Hampshire roads before making our way into Vermont, our swift, cautious, and observant driver Michael pulled over. A sudden swell of curiosity arose as the ones awake asked ¨what,¨ and the ones now awakened by the stop asked ¨are we there?¨ As if no one had spoken, Michael silently and with much fluidity jumped out of the white Kroka van and walked back about ten feet on the other side of the road. I swiftly climbed out of the van followed by Connor. A pickup truck was heading our way, but I felt the need to beat the traffic as our caring apprentice Carina yelled ¨Be careful, there´s a car.¨  I sprinted across the road to meet Michael at his find. It was two massive turkeys, dead but still warm from being struck maybe 15 minutes before. Connor, Carina, Dylan, Hannah and a few more approached. We stood a few feet back, wary of the kill, except for Connor and Michael. Connor´s initial reaction was to pick up one of the turkeys up by its scaly feet and dangle it exclaiming ¨Wow, this must be about a 20 pound turkey.¨ We decided to snag the larger and less damaged one, on which we could see only a bloodied wing, and leave the smaller turkey for someone or something else. This find changed the mood of the group from quiet to animated, and as soon as all 13 of us were crammed back in the white van, talk started on how to properly gut and prepare the turkey.

The turkey on the spit

When we arrived at the abode we were welcomed by the master craftsman himself,  Michael Kohaut and his antsy dog named ¨Turd,¨ as I recall. The dog was a Fox Terrier who reminded me of TinTin´s companion in a comic strip that I read in middle school. All of us introduced ourselves and we were ecstatic to be there. All around the property lay piles of wood, and not quite finished beautiful birch bark canoes. He showed us where we would be staying nestled a few feet in the woods, and we brought all our gear and prepared the tents. It was not long before we told him about the plump turkey. Michael (and the dog) were as excited as we were.  Michael introduced us to his humble and knowledgeable 17 year old son, Owen, who instructed Dylan, Jake, Armin, and I on how to properly gut and de-feather a turkey. Our first step was to strip the hefty bird of all its feathers and tiny parasites.  Next we gave it a quick rinse, and Owen showed Dylan how to precisely cut the bird´s abdomen to take out all the unwanted organs. We kept the muscle-ly heart, the liver, and the gizzard. Owen recommended eating the gizzard and showed all four of us how to clean it and prepare the turkey. Armin and I shoved our hands into its ribcage to clean it, and rinsed it.  Then Dylan, Owen, and I figured out how to tie the bird up and stuff it with seasoning.  Meanwhile, Gabe and Armin set out into the woods to search for two efficient Y sticks so that we could make a spit to roast it.

Rest hour

At this point we were introduced to Michael´s lovely daughter, Tashi, and his wife, Jesse. Tashi soon dove into the cooking with Julia, Marcela, Hannah, and Carina who were preparing buttery mashed potatoes. After we all consumed about three bowls of delicious mashed potatoes, we all sat around the campfire and were serenaded by Iyla´s guitar playing. It was soothing as we all took turns slowly turning the skewer. As it began to drizzle, we all got closer together under the tarp and Michael and our skilled navigator Gabe went over the route that we would be taking the next day over Black Mountain, hitting several streams and finally making our way to the West River. Several hours later the magnificent bird was ready to be served to the ones who were still awake.  This included our host Michael Kohaut and his daughter Tashi, and from our group Michael, Armin, Dylan, and myself. We tasted the juicy and spicy meat and it was simply delicious. It was too much to finish then and we decided to serve it for breakfast. It was easy to go to bed after eating that turkey.

"The tree hugger"

We woke up around 6:00 am, and after eating our hearty breakfast and hydrating ourselves by drinking plenty of water,we set off through the Kohaut´s backyard to Black Mountain. It was quite a trek but filled with Michael´s infinite knowledge and Jesse´s wonderful stories. I can´t tell how you how scenic and peaceful the woods were. After a couple of snack and rest breaks we finally made it to our destination of the frigid and immense West River. We were all ready for the main event of underwater rock climbing. Yes, I said underwater rock climbing!  All you need is a pack of daring climbers who are willing to dive into 50 degree water, scuba masks, and the teeming West River. So we equipped ourselves and slowly, inch by inch submerged ourselves in the numbing current. After climbing the rocks under the water in a narrow section upstream a couple of times, it started to feel like a pool. The water exhausted us all though, and later we all passed out around the wispy flames of our fire. After our day of hiking, turkey, underwater rock climbing, stories, and music we made our way back to the house and said our farewells to the Kohaut family who had each offered us so much of their own wisdom. Michael told us about the local ecology, Owen about turkeys and bows, Jesse about quartz and high school, and Tashi about willow to make dream catchers and hand-woven baskets. They were a beautiful and grounded family to spend the sunny day with.

Hakeem, Armin, Julia, Dylan, Iyla;
back: Connor, Peter and Gabe

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were dedicated to building and learning to use hand tools with Ken, who constructed the golden-toned wooden barn. We had an enlightening class with Michael on the principles of Permaculture. We did some knitting with Lisl, which was very difficult, or maybe that was just for me! Hopefully we can all knit a hat in time for the ascent of the 19, 340 foot behemoth, Cotopaxi.  We also had time to slaughter two roosters and make some delicious chicken soup. 

Excitement!

Preparing for the rapids

On Friday we went whitewater canoeing in the Deerfield River with Misha.  We canoed a class 4 rapid, and learned  how to swim rapids, all preparing for the harsh rivers of Ecuador. Thank you so much Misha for this fun and exciting day. Saturday and Sunday were spent with family and friends: brothers, sisters, moms, dads, grandparents, and other loved ones. Thank you all for coming. It was such a beautiful weekend having you all here and teaching you about our lifestyle.

Next time you will hear the chronicles from equatorial lands. Thursday we will fly south and meet what will be our home for the next 3 months.

 All the best, and adios!   Hakeem

Environmental tip from Armin

When preparing to take a flight, take an empty water bottle so that the flight attendants don´t have to waste 2 or 3 cups on you… every action makes a difference.

Chicken of the woods

Poem, by Dylan

The drum beats

An endless array of sounds

That range of tones

Expresses a beauty

So fine a beauty that it can change a view

So wild, so abstract

Change it into a view as plain as the fields of the middle lands

Its beats resonate through our lives

Endless boom, boom

That rearranges the very instincts inside our complex twisted minds

One hit changes all that surrounds it

Is it music or is it the drone of the earth calling to us?

I know what it is

It is a way of speaking, a way of living

A way of seeing.  It is drumming

Yet it is a way of life.

Quote of the week

“I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills”

-Gandhi

NHESP 2010 - Update 2

Left to right: Dylan, Julia, Armin, Jake, Marcela, Michael, Peter, Hannah, Iyla, Connor, Carina (front), Gabe. Missing: Hakeeem

Uphill loaded with gear

       Hello, my name is Hannah Gelb, otherwise known as Hanita or Juana Maria. My dear friend, Hakeem, had been struck by a sickness last week, which involved many trips to the outhouse during part of our farm expedition. Therefore, I have taken on the responsibility of archiving the activities of the past week. On Tuesday, after loading up our bikes to their fullest with panniers and dry bags, we finally mounted and set forth for our first, long ride of the week. We rode twenty-three miles to Westmoreland, New Hampshire, where we reached our destination of Hillside Springs Farm. With sore bums, we dismounted our bicycles and were greeted by Frank Hunter, the owner of the farm. Hillside Springs has been an organic Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm for over eight years, and in this time they have expanded enormously. This year, Frank noted he sold 60 full CSA shares, and 30 half shares. As the afternoon progressed, we were given a tour of the beautiful farmland, which included an apple orchard, a hay barn with mountains of loose hay, the horse stables, and of course the vegetable gardens. Frank, his daughter, Gwen, and wife, Kim, maintain the farm. Because this farm is run completely by horsepower, many of the rote tasks must be done by hand. We made a difference by weeding numerous rows of baby carrots; in return we received fresh vegetables for our dinner. As the day came to an end, we were excited to crawl into our warm sleeping bags for a good night sleep. Much to our dismay however, Mother Nature felt the need for a storm, thus soaking many of us due to our hastily constructed tarp.

A little rest for Armin, Jake and Iyla

Wednesday morning, we helped with the chores around the farm, said our goodbyes, and continued on our long journey. Up and down, over the rolling hills and highways of New Hampshire we went, finally crossing into Vermont from Walpole, NH. Our nifty navigator, Gabe, directed us towards Vermont Shepherd Farm, a sheep farm in Westminster, Vermont. Because it was only slightly out of the way, we left our heavy gear at Harlow Farm Organics, also in Westminster, where we would be spending the night. Our travels continued, up, up, up (or arriba, arriba, arriba in Spanish) a dirt road on what felt like the side of a mountain. The ride was well worth it however, when we finally reached our second destination, Vermont Shepherd Farm. It was beautiful with the rolling hills surrounding us with the colors of fall. Here we were introduced to Dave and his crew. We were split into three groups, each one off on a separate task. Julia ‘Huligan’ and I were sent to the cheese house, where we sanitized ourselves before entering, and were covered from head to toe in aprons. Here we learned the art of making different kinds of sheep cheese. 

Julia and Hannah in the cheesehouse

A tour of Vermont Shepherd

With precision and accuracy, we flipped and wrapped the soft rounds of cheese for draining and aging. Gabe, Connor, Armin, and Peter idly grabbed axes and splitting mauls and set off to chop up a large tree that had fallen nearby. Connor, with his mighty strength, only managed to break two axes. Dylan and Jake were confined in The Cave. As much as it may sound like a punishment, the Cave was actually where the soft rounds of cheese were taken and kept for up to six months, in order to harden and flavor. With full body aprons as well, they brined the cheeses with watery cheese milk drained from previous cheeses. This caused bacteria to grow in a coat around the cheeses, protecting them until they were sold. And last but most definitely not least, Iyla proved her true strength by weed whacking and raking the whole area in front of The Cave. She only paused briefly to entertain Julia and me in an Eminem serenade.

Iyla's Eminem serenade

Gabe found a new friend

Harlow's Organics

      Tired and hungry from our 17 mile bike ride in the morning and an afternoon of work, we slowly made our way, up and down again, back to Harlow Farm Organics, about eight miles north. Upon arriving at dusk, we were greeted by the owner Paul, and given two dozen ears of corn, 4 dozen eggs, enough sausages to feed a small army, and an abundant amount of associated vegetables. Slightly overwhelmed with food, we cooked ourselves a feast including roast corn on the cob, vegetable stir fry, and other assorted goodies. Sleep seemed to last a mere few minutes, but as morning rolled in, we again gorged, this time on eggs, toast, and fresh sausages. With our tummies full, we started our workday by picking various vegetables, and weeding many rows of blueberry bushes. Here we finally met up with Hakeem, who was feeling much better.

Harlow’s is completely different from Hillside Springs because tractors till the land and many Jamaicans are hired to work as part of a government program. Harlow’s delivers to many supermarkets, including different coops in the local area. We had an enjoyable morning as we learned the ways of a mass production farm. Splitting up at times, we helped with a large order of broccoli, kale, and collards, and then watched as our hard work was sent off to be packaged. Then we biked 18 miles back to Kroka, only stopping for a short time at Walpole Creamery to enjoy some maple walnut ice cream and a brief refreshing dip in Lake Warren.

Peter, refreshed from the lake

Morning swim at Gustin Pond 

    Upon our return to base camp, we spent Friday relaxing and unpacking all or gear. Saturday, we were very lucky to have Marina join us again for a water testing session, followed by a wonderful theatre class taught by our lovely actress, Marcela. Finally, Sunday morning we slept in until 8am, then spent a few hours stacking wood for our friend, Wilma, in Saxons River, VT before heading out to Michael Kohout and his family. Here we will be exploring river ecology and forest life, meeting the mushrooms of the woods and doing some underwater climbing with masks in the river.

     This concludes our thrilling second week here at Kroka. You will hear from Hakeem next week, as he will be back in action!

I would briefly like to shout out to the Gelb family, Happy Rosh Hashanah!

Sincerely,

Your substitute scribe, Hanita

Environmental tip of the week: Marina came in on Saturday and taught us about water testing. It is important for your water at home to be tested for sulfur dioxide, and also magnesium and calcium which causes ¨hardness.” making it difficult to properly wash your hair and can be dangerous to your health.

Spanish with Dylan 101:

granja= farm

Eso= that

Bicicleta= bicycle

Llevar= to carry

Logistics of our bike trip:

Kroka to Hillside Springs: 25miles

Hillside Springs to Vermont Shepherds to Harlows: 27miles

Harlows to Kroka: 18 m

Total: 69miles

NHESP 2010 - Update 1

Flying high

Hello, to all you Kroka Update followers. My name is Hakeem Lewis and I hail from Harlem, NYC. We have embarked on our four-month journey, one of which is here in Marlow, New Hampshire and the remainder in Ecuador. I will do my best to closely archive our arduous and thrilling adventures.

Reverence is the most appropriate word I can conjure to accurately captivate the flow of emotions that sparked when I first step foot out of my mom’s Toyota RAV4. It was like ¨Whoa I’m actually here, I’m no longer just saying I´m going to Kroka!¨

Exactly a week has gone by since that moment, only 7 days! I feel like I have been here for such a long period of time. By the magnanimity of some omnipotent being, we have been blessed with a pack of 13 hungry learners.  Already I have acknowledged some of the copious and fervent strengths that our pack has to offer. Our group consists of Connor, the Siberian Tiger; Julia, the sweetheart; Jake, the masseuse; Gabe, a.k.a Jimi Hendrix in the making; Armin, the German mushroom connoisseur and comedian; Pedro, the beautifier a.k.a the easy going sea turtle from Finding Nemo; Dylan, the high spirited cello protégé; Hannah, the outgoing and awesome alarm clock; Iyla, the knowledgeable and caring medic; Michael, a.k.a. McSkills, or the man with many crafts; Marcela, the yoga guru; and last but not least, Carina, the loving and cackling, madre hyena.

Biking in the New England woods

I would love to give you an overview of our week, but where should I commence? Monday morning, at around 5:20am, our newly appointed Logistics Manager Hannah, awoke us. Connor got up first, then Pedro. Pretending not to notice the morning call, Dylan and I slipped a bit deeper into our warm sleeping bags, as a suitable but temporary panacea. We met on the field, greeted by the rising sun usurping the cool fog.   After our morning jog and stretch, we went into our morning chores, ranging from: preparing breakfast, chopping fire wood, maintaining our composting toilets, home-keeping (“hormigas de lluvia” which are rain ants from the jungle who do mega cleanings), water collecting from the nearby well, harvesting ripe vegetables from the garden, and tending to the cow, horse, and sheep.

Iyla's birthday rappel

Tuesday morning, Carina, Armin, and I cooked pancakes for Iyla´s 17^th Birthday with three pans over the roaring flames. Armin and I covertly stuck pieces of pancake into our mouths to relief our noisy stomachs. We decided to eat our hearty breakfast on the face of the rock wall.  We packed up all the food and headed up to the road for a brief meeting. Connor, our Gear and Bike Manager, briefly went over our rock climbing gear and made sure our bikes were well-equipped for our trip, two and half miles away to Marlow Profile, a local climbing spot.

Zooming down those foggy desolate roads was sublime. You worked up a sweat, riding your way up a hill, and then cooled off from the fog and acceleration cruising down. We each carried one or two packs of equipment and food on our bicycles, which added some extra weight. By the time we reached our destination, we were all invigorated by the adrenaline pumping through us. Undaunted by the myriad of wet, twisted roots and jagged rocks, we pursued into the lush woods only to be relinquished by natures fluctuating and acrid terrain. So we put down our bikes and hiked for about 15 more minutes to the face of Marlow Profile. We ate a wonderful breakfast and then practiced tying the figure eight knot and the fisherman´s knot used in rock climbing. After rappelling down the face of Marlow Profile for a couple of hours, we rode back to camp to cook lunch.

Spanish class with Marcela

I have never learned so much in one week. We indulged in theatre, Spanish, succession-based forestry, environmental science, axe and knife use, sowing backpacks, poetry, essays, and several other things I’ve forgotten to list. I believe our lessons are more rigorous and effective than contemporary methods of education. I think this only balances well when a schedule is as eclectic as ours, not to mention the celerity of it and the resourcefulness. These incredible activities and lessons could not be what they are without our three main soulful and resourceful teachers Carina, Marcela, and Michael. It´s like they have already lived a hundred years, they are full of knowledge, humor, and patience. It´s one thing when you get a really intelligent teacher; but it’s another when that intelligent teacher can pass on his or her knowledge.

This update is merely skimming the surface. Oh and another thing, due to our musical talent, our band ¨Crème Without Butter¨ will be performing at Lincoln Center in January. Parents, I strongly encourage you to arrange some twigs and scatter some mud and manure throughout your children’s rooms. I hope you can keep your children at home when we return. We are living in sustainable paradise!

Pedro on the sewing machine

Special thanks to Lisl, who taught us the long and methodical process of sewing backpacks. I learned a lot from that experience and no longer take for granted what you might think is a simple backpack. Special thanks to Tom, who taught an insightful class on Forestry, and Marina, who taught us about composting human manure and soil testing. Additionally, Happy Birthday to Misha! You’ll hear from me next week, after we come back from our four-day biking expedition through organic farms. So long.

Song of the week­:

Tiera mi cuerpo

Aire mi aliento

Agua mi sangre

Y Fuego mi espiritu

Quote of the week: ¨Man did not weave the web of life: he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.¨  - Chief Seattle

Environmental tip of the week: ¨When showering or washing hands, wet skin, turn off water, then scrub, scrub, scrub. Then turn on water again to rinse.¨ By Hannah 

Spanish 101 with Dylan:

Buen Provecho= Enjoy the meal

Que rico, cocineros= How delicious, cooks!

Mantequilla= butter

Albahaca= basil

Sazón= with spice

Lab work in our Environmental Science class with Marina Belenkey from Brandeis University. Thank you so much Marina for coming all the way from Boston to teach us.