Join our mailing list:

News

Dios mio! This is a little overdue, I know. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to do a brief run over of these past eleven days. As with the first week I began the update tradition, I scarcely have words to express all that we have done of late. Our activities usually straddle a diverse range of experiences, and in true Kroka style they have expanded. They now run from continent to continent, from our world to many, many others. As a result we have stepped entirely into the ultimate duality that, I now believe, makes up the kind of life we’re learning to understand. In other words, we are becoming enthusiastic teachers as well as students.

Last Monday and the six days which ensued definitely formed a week of teaching. With the knowledge that these would be our last moments in New Hampshire before our embarkation to South America, each of us worked hard and tied up the majority of our loose ends. While we did so, we entertained visitors of all types and ages, and led them confidently in the ways of our lifestyle. The first group to visit was a troop of eighth graders from New Jersey. They had just returned from a canoeing trip, which was quite a new experience for most of them, and presented us with their leftover grits. We ate them contentedly after a day of hard work on the yurt and the backpacks we’ve fashioned from scratch. Shocked that we would actually eat such things, the 8th graders were even more bewildered when our group leaders informed them we would gobble them up with a smile. If I don’t say so myself, we have learned to cook our local food options pretty well, and man, can we eat! That same evening, Misha and Lynn, the couple who started Kroka, delighted us with their company. After singing several songs with them, not to mention listening to one of Misha’s fabulous Russian folk melodies, we sat down to watch a slide show presentation by Misha about a canoeing trip he took with his family and new-born child. It was very inspiring to get to see how happily the family was to live in-tune with nature.

The following several days were spent along the same lines, featuring backpack making, knife finishing, and food canning in preparation for our trip. The majority of our time, however, was spent on the completion of our yurt. Each day we worked determinedly, hammering slate and sideboards in until the whole structure took on the form of a beautiful Hobbit dwelling. Another, very young, group of admirers showed up on Thursday to help us with the sideboards and take a tour of the Kroka grounds. I must admit that my chest swelled with pride as Dylan and I led a group of wide-eyed second graders, deeply gratified by their “oohs” and “ahs.” Those moments could not compare, however, to those in which when we finally shoved our five hundred pound cupola to the top of the building, all of us running up there to stick our heads out while Lisl snapped a photo. Scott was so excited that he nearly leaned all the way out of the window, his own, gigantic grin pulling him onward. With the stained glass windows we made shining through the doors and roof, our yurt now stands, testament to our tenacity.

Saturday, as many of you know firsthand, presented us with the ultimate opportunity to capitalize on our teaching skills. Suddenly, the time had come for the one, the only, parent weekend! It was an exciting, albeit somewhat stressful affair, and I think we all enjoyed it immensely in our own way. Starting a little before 10 a.m., parents, siblings, and close friends alike began pouring in from all sides of the country, and even from Canada. There was a lot of embracing, followed by picnicking and exploration of the grounds. Chattering, parent-staff meetings, and make-up hugs continued, until the moment for a delicious potluck dinner rolled around. We gathered in a circle to sing, bringing our loved ones into our usual customs. After dinner, we crowded into the communal area to watch a slide show of pictures taken throughout our Kroka experience thus far. We then moved into the newly built yurt, where we separated into an inner circle of students and an outer circle of parents. With the help of Katie, we had readied a musical performance. Among the tunes we sang were a fun, soulful song called “My Soul Was New,” a Latin round called “No Nobis Domine”, and Sum Kari Kari, a song in Quichua, the most common native language in Ecuador. Post performance, the crowd dispersed, some parents spending the night at Kroka, and some families going to sweat it out at a local contra dance!

After some further quality time on Sunday, parents had to take off, and thus we said our melancholy goodbyes. We didn’t have much time to linger on such feelings, however, as we had less than a day and a half to clean up camp, finish all our big job duties, and pack all our gear. We quickly set into motion tidying the big yurt and our lodges. We woke up the next morning only to go stack wood for one of our neighbors and settle back into the craziness of getting ready. I, for example, as the bathroom manager and treasurer, had to rake the bathroom compost pile and do some accounting with the group money. Marcianna, the food manager, had quite a bit to accomplish preparing the snacks and meals for our journey, especially since we had decided as a group not to eat the wasteful plane food. On that note, Dylan was given the responsibility of calling the airlines and notifying them of our little strike. I must say, it’s wonderful to be in a group so filled with eco-cops. I used to feel like the only one!

Anyhow, our long Monday ended with a sweet supper at Lynn and Misha’s. It was quite a feast: soup, spaghetti, fresh tomatoes and onions, hamburger patties, ice cream from our favorite local creamery, and pies that our neighbors fashioned for us out of gratitude for stacking their wood. Each of us ate far too much, said our goodbyes, and crammed into the big yurt where we all slept before waking up at 4:30 a.m. to load the van and head off to our flights!

Tuesday, our day of traveling, was very long. We spent most of our time eating leftover pie, reading, and bothering as many airline staff as humanly possible with our huge load of luggage, which included several large boxes of solar panels and related equipment. We finally arrived in Quito, the capitol of Ecuador, late in the evening. I was a little nervous about clearing customs, seeing as we were carrying huge bins of food. My fears were justified when a customs staff member approached me to ascertain the contents of one of the aforementioned contraband buckets. Grimacing, I answered, “Comida…”, or “food” in Spanish. He looked at me a little skeptically, then broke into laughter, responding, “me encanta comida!” or, “I love food!” It was then that I remembered why I love Spanish. Friendly, laidback, and just plain fun: we were definitely in South America!

After lots of welcoming hugs in the airport, we sleepily hopped into a bus, where we were introduced to Nadino and Samuel, the two Ecuadorian students who will be joining us throughout the rest of our trip. They are from the jungle community with which we will be staying in a few weeks, and are awesome. Nadino is a musician, and Samuel makes crafts and jewelry out of local materials. When we finally arrived at the immensely beautiful farm where we are living, we barely had the energy it took to gawk at the gorgeous adobe stove and then pile onto our beds (yes, that’s right, I said BEDS!!!) for a good night’s sleep.

I awoke the next morning after sunrise, and my heart stopped. Yellow mountains, the highest topped by snow, sparse green trees, and immense, blue skies filled my vision. It was the most beautiful place I had ever seen.

One by one the others awoke and reacted with equal shock and wonderment. Soon we were all in the beautiful kitchen again, taking advantage of all available views of the farm. As it is taking us a while to get used to the elevation, we took a slow hike, taking in the grounds, and spent the rest of the day slowly settling in. We also met Hacinto and Manuela, who work on the farm, and got our first taste of the huge garden where we get all our vegetables. Of course, all our meals have been fabulous, filled with interesting local breads, fruit we’ve never even heard of before, and, the most magnificent, coffee!!! We sat down that evening to go over a very exciting day, as well as assign ourselves to the new chores we have here. These chores include tending to the bucket system bathroom, dumping the compost water, and updating the weather journal; getting vegetables from the garden for cooking, as well as caring for the chickens; chopping and stacking firewood; milking the cows and making cheese at 4:00 a.m.; general maintenance; and, of course, cooking.

We awoke the following morning at 5:30 to do our chores. Mine was garden and chickens, which I did with Samuel, thoroughly enjoying picking veggies, practicing my Spanish, and soaking up some of Manuela’s (whom we all call Manuelita) knowledge. She is an amazing woman who boasts fifteen children, and still refuses to use a gas stove. After breakfast, we spent the morning having meetings with Marcela and Mathias as well as planting trees on the terrace. The whole group was then surprised with a huge treat: a trip to the volcanic hot springs! We happily made the trek down to the road, where we caught a truck and squeezed our large, sixteen-member crew into the back. Our friendly cab driver was so excited about our afternoon concept that he decided to come with us and soak happily in the pools, surrounded by a mountain view even more gorgeous than the one I experienced that first morning in Palugo.

On Friday, I actually fell sick with a stomach bug, and spent the day in bed next to my new best friend (a bucket with some hay inside of it, and a sawdust refill). I did observe the happenings of the day, however, and know that, after a long Spanish lesson, my fellow students broke into two groups and switched between planting trees and having more meetings. As it wore off to evening, I began hearing jam sessions, and was cheered up by Nadino’s Spanish songs and the hypnotic, Salsa-like beats that went along with them.

Again, I apologize for the delay, and look forward to the next update. This next week will include a lot of exciting things, such as building the solar water heater and setting up the solar electricity panels, planting potatoes, felting, and getting ready for our first trek. Until then, hasta luego, y buena suerte!

P.S. The Ecuador pictures are not yet available, as Mathias did something to the camera…