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.