Blog #5: In a Foreign Land

“There is a crack. A crack in everything. That’s where the light comes in…”  ~ Leonard Cohen

Paradise, a broader term

Could never match Palugo’s charm

Blissful in the wind that blows

Grateful for the streams that flow

Mountain air is lifting us

Like altered states we manifest

With breath and stretch to open minds

Awakening the triple eye

We feel it on the runs we take

While clouded coverage levitates

Releases rain most every day

Obscuring mountains on its way

But from the farm we see the smoke

From factories on highways float

But look above on clearer days

And Cotopaxi shows her face.

Adjusting to our bubble here

and while the earth she spins her gears

we stride into the town of Pifo

no longer heads upon our pillows

finally we recognize the door

the door we entered: Ecuador

for buildings here are round and bend

into earthen skeleton

and everybody honks and waves

while passing through the streets we gaze

but sometime gazing less than locals

for gringos are looking totally loco (english: "crazy")

little shops semester fill

like October nights fill lungs with chill

fresh fruit in the park we sit

observing Pifo’s colorful kiss

The students meeting Adela and Francisco Dammer: parents of Michael, Thomas, & Mathias

Creators of the Dammer brothers

waiting while we tread through waters

for skies that open do not close

till’ satisfied – semester’s soaked

gather round the fire there

Francisco’s history, politics flair

A man who understands this land

And what the future needs, commands

Sustainability, education

Not highways digging through farms: invasions.

Palugo Farm is generations old. It once had a small country road cutting through it. That road has become a four-lane highway.

While at Palugo, students learned the trades of their semester teachers. Marcia taught about herbalism, while Roberto taught the students how to make their knives and leather sheaths.

Palugo is a land of smell

But also land where families dwell

All together – work as one

They are the stars, Palugo is the sun

Marcia guides us through the herbs

While Roberto gifts us with blades to learn

The art and passion of making knives

Blood will be drawn with wandering eyes

Fear not for Jamie the shaman is wise

The gauze that he wraps is always on time.

Students have begun their first Ecuadorian expedition: from the Andes to the Rainforest: biking, white water paddling, and community service

In bliss, relaxation takes hold in our minds

But till Friday the ninth we prepare for the ride

On specialized bikes with gnus (inflatable canoes) on our backs

We travel through mountain for the low lands lack

Safety from festering Cotopaxi

For she glows in evening down her throat of romancing

Yes, long ago she did caress the land on which we tread

Shaping, gouging, hardening to stone from liquid red.

Now family, friends and blogger readers, heed the words I say

The blog you’re reading, here and now may be the last today…

Oh folks don’t mind your humble scribe he sometimes gets intense

We’re perfectly prepared and geared for dangerous events

And honestly, you people free to walk the streets at night

Your semester friends grow stronger with time, escaping darkness with light.

Skills and Activities

Knife making – w/Roberto

Herbs & Witchcraft – w/Marcia

Permaculture – w/Thomas

Geography – w/Michael

Ecuador: 20^th Century “Wave of Expression” – w/Marcela

Creative writing/Short stories – w/Hannah & Marcela

Food processing – w/Adela

History, Politics, & Stories – w/Francisco

Field trip to Pifo (art/solo) – w/Michael & Hannah

Field trip to Quito (history/Spanish/biking) – w/Mathias & Nicole

Expedition Prep! (bike fitting & boat setup, food processing, general repairs & construction, navigation, gear/med kit organization & supply) – w/everyone

“You have to marry microorganisms, because they are the only dudes that can turn rock into hamburger.”

            ~Thomas Dammer

Cotopaxi you’re a magnet to my eyes

but Cotopaxi you’re a horror

Cotopaxi behind smoke and clouds you hide

Cotopaxi make me cry

Cotopaxi you make darkness you make light

Cotopaxi you manipulate my mind

Cotopaxi you were beautiful and fair

Now your guts are bursting in the air

Cotopaxi turn class 5

And you’re making me alive.

            ~your humble scribe

This blog post was delivered to computer land without photos. We look forward to sharing the farm and expedition photos with you all upon the students return from expedition on October 30.