Today was Teacher Paula’s birthday! We woke up a bit later than usual at 7:30 am and Teacher Alan leaded us in singing happy birthday outside of Teacher Paula’s window to wake her up.                                                             Afterwards, we went about our daily chores and got ready for breakfast. On top of getting ready for breakfast, Sam prepared some wonderful Banana bread inside the solar oven for T. Paula’s birthday. I’m very excited to eat some of that later tonight.

For breakfast, Mekhi made most of the very delicious pancakes, which we had with either honey or store bought “maple syrup”. Along with the pancakes we had the usual yogurt with fruit and granola. After clearing up our breakfast meal, we devoted the earlier half of the day to learning more about the Grey Water system which, in short, filters the grease from the water so that the water we use in the house can be recycled for the plants and local vegetation. First, we added more rocks to the one that was just built down by the tiny house. Then, we left the sinks on in the tiny house so that the Grey Water system would fill up with water. While waiting, we hiked down to the creek where we crossed the bamboo bridge that was built in 2005 by the senior project that came.

2005

2016

Down by the creek we discovered a pump that was bringing the water from the creek up to the house we were living in. The pump operated by using the power of a water wheel which powered two pistons, which pumped the water up the mountain to a very large water container which we also hiked up to.

At that point, the water traveled through pipes down to the house. After learning about how we were getting our water, we looked at the Grey Water system already in place up at the larger house. Not only did we get to see what a complete system looked like, but we also got to harvest some water lilies from the older system to bring down and plant in the newer system. The water lilies are placed in each tank to filter the soap and grease from the water that we use in the house.

After learning about the Grey Water system, we came back up to the house and had lunch. For lunch we had delicious spaghetti, which put us all to sleep for a quick nap. After the nap, we set out on a hike to the original cloud forest, which was about 30 minutes away. About 10 minutes into the hike, we encountered Vigo, a neighborhood dog who then followed us on the entire hike and back. We enjoyed his company very much.

When we got to the original cloud forest, it was amazing to see almost untouched wildlife. We crossed swaying bridges and several of us slipped multiple times. The hike was great, as we took in the beautiful surroundings in the company of good friends.

Once we hiked through the cloud forest and hit the road, we turned back around and returned back home. Now as I am writing this, I can’t wait to eat the delicious dinner and sleep like a baby until tomorrow morning.

-Dahoon

The day began at 7:00 AM with the daily chores. Since it was the first morning here, we did a walk-through of each of the morning jobs. First we went through the chicken coop—let them out, gave more food, changed the water, and swept up. Then we went to the geese coop—let them out, gave them food and changed the water, as well. The geese are definitely a lot less friendly. Afterwards, we went to the mushroom log area where it was my job to remove the logs harvesting in the water and replace them with new logs. Mushrooms are a perfect crop for this humid climate. Finally, we harvested a plethora of veggies, for the salad that we planned to eat for lunch and dinner. At this point, we finally got to eat breakfast, which was beans, Mexican styled eggs, and tortillas. The food, of course was delicious.

After breakfast we headed down to the mushroom log area, once again, to rearrange and label some of the log pieces. We established a nice system where some people wrote labels, some nailed the labels, and some carried them over to the new location.

After the logs, we went over to work on the grey water system. On our way we crossed several leaf cutter ants super highways. Take a look. Ants, it turns out, were the first farmers – harvesting leaves to create compost to grow mushrooms in the underground homes!

One of our themes this week is appropriate technology. One of the buildings we are staying in (Sam is there now) has been recently build. We are working on the grey water treatment system for this house. This task consisted of finding fairly large rocks and placing them in a series of 4 circular ferro-cement containers. Once completed, water from the kitchen sink and the shower will flow through these containers. The rocks we gathered and put in the containers plus the aquatic plants (which we will add later) will serve as a filter. The end result will be re-use of the household’s waste water to either water fruit trees or return harmlessly to the soil.Eventually we ventured over to some neighbors who had the coolest house that I have ever seen. This savvy house was built in a way so that there were plants growing straight out of the ground right inside the house. In the photo you can see us in the center of this home. Hopefully we will get the opportunity to visit again.

On our way back we picked up more rocks and then we had lunch. We ate some more tamales and the beans with tortillas. After lunch we had the opportunity to rest for a little and soon thereafter, we went on a five kilometer hike in a recovering 250 acre patch of cloud forest. It was only the four of us guys, machetes in hand, trekking though the woods. It was a beautiful sight, with many hills, bridges, and trees. After the hike we returned, put the chickens and geese in their coops and got ready for dinner.

I also tried building the fire to take a warm shower, and it didn’t work out well; the wood just didn’t catch (high humidity makes fire starting a real challenge in this climate). Sam eventually got it, and I was looking forward to that shower. We ate dinner first, which was customized pizza in a wood burning barrel oven and the huge salad assortment. After dinner I got to take that shower and then we did an interesting exercise to figure out some goals for the week. After a long day, I sure am ready to head to sleep, ready for tomorrow.

-Mekhi

Early morning for the Mexico crew – we ended up packing the van and leaving Westtown by 4ish. A smooth drive later, we were at the airport. We got through security, found our gate, got a quick breakfast, and boarded our plan to ATL. Other than a crying baby, the flight was smooth and gave us a chance to catch up on sleep. Once in Atlanta, we literally walked straight on to our next flight; no time to sit down or get food. We got on the plane, and were off to Mexico.

Once in Mexico, we made it through customs (barely) and exchanged our money so we could buy a quick lunch in the airport.

After eating we got into a taxi that took us to a bus station. That taxi ride was our first real look at the city, although the view from above provided us with a preliminary glimpse of its beauty.

After the taxi we had a short walk through the bus station before reaching our bus. After a few minutes, we were off to Huatusco. 5 ½ hours later, we were at our rally point, waiting to meet up with Alan. After a few strokes of luck, we were reunited, and were off to our new home. Before reaching home, we made a stop to a local friend to pick up forty or so tamales.

We went through some gates, and made it home in complete darkness. After moving all of our stuff in, we went to the back of the mini house and got acquainted with the tamales. After dinner we were invited to and went on a short, back-of-the-truck ride to the middle of our campus, where we took off on foot and went a short but very sweet night hike through our new home.                            After 20 hours of traveling

After getting back, we laid down together outside with the sky over us. We took deep breaths and mentally prepared ourselves to truly give this week our all. We shouted to the world, “ITS OKAY TO BE FULLY ALIVE”. The silence after this may have been more powerful than the shouting itself. With that, we were off for our first nights rest with our minds set on the day to come.

– SAM