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The Girls got a new carpet for their floor!!!

Hola, everybody! Another week has gone by, and here I am, your quintessential paper girl. We have certainly been busy bees these past seven days, and have been working hard to prepare for the steps ahead; namely, we have been trying to finish everything we started here in New Hampshire before gallivanting off to Ecuador.

The center ring…is it going to hold ???

Throughout the week, we dedicated a large amount of time to the completion of our yurt. With the roof up and boarded, Monday and Tuesday were spent nailing in the first several rounds of slate. Kroka purchased these sheets of beautiful rock from a Vermont company that recycles roofing materials. On top of such “yurty” activities, these days were positively filled with construction, as we also set into the difficult task of backpack making. We also attended our last math lessons with Hans, who has us make paper models of a stained glass lamp we designed for the lovely little structure we are building.

Aside from one rainy day, the rest of our week went the same, although we were surprised with a few treats. Katie and Bill, our famous adopted parents of the Badger Balm company, stopped by a few times in the evening to sing and tell amazing stories, which we listened to in the main yurt by the wood stove, our clothes drying on a line. It’s during times such as these that I feel like a character from Little House in the Prairie. Brett, a fellow student who comes all the way from Alaska, was lucky enough to go off the Ken the carpenter’s house, where he constructed the steeple for the yurt as a part of his “big project.” He is studying the history and architecture of yurts, and thus found the outing very helpful!

As Saturday rolled around, the tempo completely changed. Instead of sleeping in as usual, we woke up early in order to bike some thirty plus miles to Major Farm, a sheep’s cheese and yogurt farm just outside of Putney, Vermont. We arrived very tired and eagerly accepted the yogurt we were offered by Dave, the owner of Major. After eating a well-earned lunch, we spent the day doing farm chores such as painting the farm store, logging and stacking wood for winter, tending to the sheep, and turning and brushing cheese in the cheese cave. I was lucky enough to be chosen for this last activity, and was thrilled to experience the cheese caring process. Starting from the oldest cheeses, Raina and I turned each eight-pound roll over and covered it with brine, a fermented form of salt water. I then brushed the little hairs that begin to grow on the rolls with Katie. She knew all about the process, having taken a class in school on the subject of cheese making and studying as agriculture major at Hampshire College. It would be pretty difficult to dislike that room, as it happened to be the best smelling place in the world. Even Brett, who is allergic to mold, wanted to move in there. “If only I could smell the cheese without my sneezing, I would be in heaven,” he told me.

Biking…. where are we going ???

On Sunday, after washing our clothes outside and hanging them to dry, we headed off to the town of Bellows Falls where we saw a puppet production about the animals of the Brazilian rainforest. The performance was not quite as good as we’d expected, but we enjoyed it anyway, and found compensation in the giant cones of ice cream we consumed afterwards at the Walpole Creamery. There, one scoop is four scoops, and luckily all that amazing ice cream is made on site out of milk from a local farm. Following our sugar fix, we headed off to the Boonies of New Hampshire to visit Ken. After helping him stack some lumber, we explored his beautiful property and were amazed by the yurts he has build there. Deborah was very excited to see his (what kind of cows?), who greatly resemble Chubaca. Remember him? He’s that furry creature from Star Wars.

Cheese and yogurt!!!!!

As we drove back from Ken’s, the group checked in with one another, and some important concerns were addressed. There was a consensus that we all needed more solo and group time, and that we craved some light activities. It’s for that reason that we are going contra dancing this evening, to everyone’s delight! After our talk, we all agreed on rewriting our group ideals, and expressed gratitude in being a part of such a communicative community. That was definitely a key part of the week for everyone. I can certainly see that we are bonding and taking on our responsibilities.

Of course, the obvious must be stated: we are so excited for the parent weekend, and, of course, for Ecuador!