Kyle and Lynea

The whole process...

2012-02-09T14:27:00.000-08:00

Joy has 2 coffee trees in her backyard that have never been used to make coffee before. I asked her if I could, and she was more than happy for me to try. Here's the whole process. And yes, this is my favorite post ever!

I picked the cherries off the tree. And because there were so few, I gathered some from the ground.

Each cherry has 2 halves. The cherry skin is on the right, the beans still encased with the slimy pulp are in the middle, and the dry "green" beens are on the left.

The cherry skin

Beans encased in the pulp had to be dried in the sun, and once dried I pulled off the dry casing individually.

The dry "green" coffee beans that have been de-pulped. Ready to be roasted!

The roasting process! I've been roasting coffee for a year and a half now. An easy (but not always consistent) way to do it is in a pan on the stove. Warning: open the windows cause they will be hot and smokin'!

The goal is to roast the beans evenly. This is much easier to accomplish with an air roaster, but when a flame is all you have, a flame is all you need. Just make sure to keep the beans moving around in the pan or they will have burn marks. And during this stage, imagine the coffee roasters of old, roasting coffee over their campfires, telling stories, and staring at the open sky while their flocks sleep.

All that work for this much coffee!

Just enough for one cup.

My nifty hand-grinder.

Meet the hand grinder.

And now, how shall I brew? It's Aeropress time! My favorite way to fully taste all the unique flavors of the coffee.

Meet the Aeropress. This little guy is the cheapest and easiest way to make an espresso style drink without lugging around a 25 pound machine.

And finally, yes! The tasting. Much better than I could've ever thought. I was waiting to be disappointed, knowing that I would still be proud to have done it all myself. But this coffee was the real deal! Smooth, sweet, almost honey-like, with some floral notes. Reminded me of some kind of sweet bread. As they say in Panama, "Tan rico!"

And to review:

1. Pick the coffee cherries

2. Remove the skin and let them dry in the sun

3. Remove the dried pulp

4. Roast the green coffee

5. Grind the roasted coffee

6. Brew in your favorite manner

7. Enjoy!

Parable of the water filters

2012-02-06T12:37:00.000-08:00

I recently heard a story that a cultural anthropologist told about getting clean water in an area where there was none. As the story goes (the short version), a group of foreigners visiting a small village noticed how the women had to walk miles each day to get water from a dirty stream. As a result much time was wasted on this journey and most of the children died from water-born diseases, since the water was not clean anyway. The foreigners, knowing the easy solution, helped to dig a well in the village, said "you're welcome" and left feeling good. Consequently, the infant mortality rate dropped significantly, the children were healthier and the village grew much larger. Eventually, the population got to be so large that the land could not provide enough food for everyone. Many experienced starvation and the rest had to vacate the very land that had been in their family for centuries.

Not a very heart-warming story. Here's a few things I get out of it, in no particular order:

1. Our best intentions don't always work out.

2. It takes time and discernment to know what is best. We still might not get it right, but I think we're responsible for thinking of the short and long-term solutions.

3. We must exercise humility in all things.

4. If we have an idea, it might help to hook up with people that have tried similar things before or join people that are already doing something similar, in order to skip avoidable pitfalls.

What are some things you get out of the story?

Having said that, I think that everyone still deserves clean drinking water, and thinking too much into every situation might inhibit us from doing good where we can; leading to inaction. As the saying goes from Ecclesiastes:

Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.

So, the medical group that came down last week also brought some nifty little water filters that you can read about here. They're easy to install and simple to maintain. I got to be the one to drive Dave and Ken around and help them deliver the filters to families that requested them.

As one of my co-teachers in India said: "Water is more precious than gold, for without it, we could not survive."

A couple of the organizations that uses these filters:

http://www.givecleanwater.org/

http://water.compassion.com/water-of-life-video/

We're stuck

2012-02-05T17:55:00.000-08:00

Not that it's totally a bad thing. We get to spend more time with Joy and Yari here in Volcan, and we're having a good time. But we're almost out of gas and the town has no more at the gas stations because of the road blockages by the Ngobe Indians. It's actually a pretty good idea that they've cooked up: Block the major highway through Panama, which has many consequences for the entire country. It definitely has everyone's attention, and we wait to see the outcome.

We've just learned that the Indians are now on the main road in our town, so just in case phone lines and internet lines are cut (as the government did in other places to try and stop the Ngobe from organizing), we're doing good, and the protest seems fairly peaceful so far. We're all hoping that the Ngobe will be heard and that the government will have a fair solution. But for now, we can't go anywhere.

More online, here or here or here.

Protests and Finca Land

2012-02-04T11:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we drove up the mountain a bit to Cerro Punta which is where the majority of the produce is grown in Panama. Just driving through made me think of ways we can get back there someday to work for a bit. There is food growing everywhere up there. Even on the side of the road! Beautiful. Notice how they farm on the side of the hills. Amazing.

Cerro Punta is in the Chiriqui region along with Volcan which is where we have been staying. We happen to be stuck here right now. Literally. Not a shabby place to to stuck though.

An indian group is mad at the government. The Ngäbe-Bugle indians have a right to their land. There's a law that says so. Except the government thinks it's ok to mine what's under that land as theirs. For example, iron, copper, gold, etc. This naturally ticked off the indians because it's their land.

So, they are protesting. This means that the Interamerican highway (the only main road that goes from Panama city all the way up to Mexico) is being blocked by burning tires and thousands of people. Fun. This road block is between Panama city and the Chiriqui region (which is where all the food is grown). This is resulting in thousands of people not being able to get home, the city running out of produce, and the Chiriqui region running out of gas (we have less than a 1/4 of a tank with non left in town). It's annoying, but we (and most of Panama) are in support of the Indians. They should have rights to their own land. Unfortunately, it means week long protests and road blocks. Please pray Martinelli (the president) will fix this soon. I'm glad we are stuck where all the food is, but I'm not glad for the rest of the country and the thousands of Costa Rican's stuck with no where to stay and limited resources.

This is also why we have the time today to add 5 new posts :)

A picnic in the jugla (hoon-gla)

2012-02-04T11:40:00.001-08:00

Picnics are always great after a long week. Kyle, Yari, Jamie, and I packed our lunches, drove part way into the jungle, and then walked a bit to a beautiful lake. Jamie is 9 years old. Her mom was helping Joy at the house and her sister, Jesse, just had a c-section, so she tagged along with us. We had a blast.

This is the beautiful baby, Josiel. He is 10 days old. Kyle drove Jesse and her mom an hour down the mountain to the hospital when she needed to go and brought them home. He is thin, long, healthy, and perfect.

More Coffee

2012-02-04T10:37:00.000-08:00

Yari's grandpa works on a finca de café, so we were able to go visit.

This is Yari. She is explaining that today we will go to the coffee farm owned by Michael Janson (a known coffee brand) with our friend Jamie. Then, we will go for a picnic lunch by a large lake in the jungle. (Picnic pictures in next post).

The actual coffee trees were off this site, but this is where they dry and roast the beans. The dark strip are the beans still in the cherries. The cherries are red on the tree but turn dark when drying.

A worker will come and rake the beans periodically and the cherry shell will eventually shed leaving the green bean.

Drying beans.

Need a workout? Open a coconut.

2012-02-02T05:34:00.001-08:00

A coconut gave me a workout the other day. I was sweating by the end of the whole process. However, the taste of it is so worth the work!!! I know how to use dried coconut from a plasitc bag in smoothies, cookies, and friend rice. I know how to open a can of coconut milk to add to my curries and smoothies. I do NOT know what to do with a full, whole coconut. Although I ws successful opening one the other day, I know there has to be a better way. What I want to know is how do people out in the villages open one? I used a screw driver, hammer, machete, spoon, and a very strong husband. They may have machetes and strong men, but I know they don't have a screw driver or a hammer.

Those question may not be answered here, but hopefully you'll enjoy the info, pics, and videos.

Here's a site that lists the benefits of all the parts of the coconut:

http://facts.trendstoday.info/food-and-drink/the-many-uses-of-the-coconut

Joy and her husband found a coconut with roots on it at the beach. They dug it up and put it in the back yard...in a few years they'll have a coconut producing tree!

First, I got the water out with a screw driver and hammer.

Then I used my super strong husband and the machete to crack it open on the lines.

Then I had to pry the meat away from the shell. That's the real hard part.

Now it's ready to eat!!

And the blind shall see...

2012-01-31T10:32:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday a medical team made up of doctors and nurses from all over the US came to Volcan to set up a week long clinic. There has been two clinic locations. One for general medicine which has been mostly mom's and kids. The other clinic was strictly for pulling teeth and two eye surgeries: cataract and another I can't remember the name of. There were so many people needing surgeries that the screening team had to only take patients with two bad eyes so they could fix one. The idea was, if they couldn't fix every eye, they wanted everyone to at least have one good eye. The clinic has been open for 3 days so far and they've been averaging about 30 surgeries a day...that's 90 practically blind people seeing again!

The doctors allowed us to go in a watch a few cataract surgeries. I'll spare you the details, but Dr. Burcham was a great teacher explaining each step to us, and continually reminding us that if we felt hot or weird to go sit down. We actually saw him pull out a cataract that was about a centimeter in diameter. It was crazy.

As Kyle mentioned, I have been in charge of cooking, helping with laundry, cleaning, etc. at Joy's house for patients that have come from out of town to rest overnight after the surgery and a handful of translators. We've had the pleasure to get to know a few peace corps workers in their 20's who have been in Panama anywhere from 6 months to 2 years. It was great hearing their stories and projects they have helped on.

I have truly enjoyed cooking for everyone. I was a little intimidated at first because I'm cooking for Panamanians and an American from the South. As you know, I am from the north so I have no idea how to make pork chops and bbq beans. I suggested just heating up the beans, but I was dead wrong. There is a whole process of things added and then they are slow cooked forever. However, after proving I can cook Southern, I had a few Panamanian tests: Pollo Guisado (poy-yo geesaldo) and Hojaldras (o-hal-drrrras). Luckily Aunt Lisa made Pollo Guisado for us in the states so I had a good recipe to go by. Hojaldras is a fried bread made from lots and lots of kneading (see video)

It was a blessing to be able to serve and love people like that: through food and hospitality. I really enjoy my job this week! One lady that stayed with us had to be led around the house by her daughter because her left eye was totally blind and her right had a very bad cataract. After the surgery she was able to walk all by herself. She was able to see our faces and say thank you for taking care of them and feeding them. It was a beautiful moment.

Being at the house was great because I could practice the little bit of Spanish I have and when I got stuck I could type in into Spanishdict.com for quick and easy translation. I actually had an hour conversation with a man named Baldilio like this about hydroponics. I know 5 Spanish verbs, numbers up to 10, a few family member words, and the word allergic. This makes for a boring very short conversation, but with the online translator to help me find the words for grow, water pump, soil, fertilizer, I was able to teach someone a very easy way for him to grow organically where he lives with bad soil and no land space.

Busy week...

2012-01-30T15:42:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy week. Joy is helping to host a group of doctors here in Volcan. Lynea is cooking for some of the out-of-town patients that are staying with us, and I've been driving a truck around everywhere playing taxi-man. More to come soon!

Coffee

2012-01-28T06:42:00.000-08:00

Raise your hand if you drink coffee. Raise your hand if you really enjoy coffee and have had many meaningful, life-altering conversations over a cup of this gift. Raise your hand if you know what a French press is (no, not Tony Parker playing defense in the backcourt). Do you know what the term "fully city roast" means? What about the term "cupping"?

Anyway, coffee is a part of most of our daily lives. Most of us don't even think about not having it. In recent years I've learned to appreciate the different ways of drinking, brewing, and roasting it (I'll have to put up some vids of me roasting coffee at home). And now, being in Panama (especially in high elevations), we are right in the midst of a coffee growing culture, a part of the process that I've never been able to see in person. So here's what I'm interested in learning:

How does coffee grow?

What makes some coffees better than others?

Who makes the most money in this business?

Do the workers get paid enough? If I see working conditions will I still want to drink coffee?

Would I ever want to have a coffee shop someday?

Here's our first half-a-day visit to a major coffee growing region. The city is called Boquete. Enjoy.

It's all Christmassy, with the deep green leaves and ripe, red coffee cherries.

Coffee beans (or seeds) come from these "coffee cherries" below. Each cherry has 2 bean halves.

The view down into the valley. Coffee grows best in high altitudes.

Trying a way-too-expensive cup of coffee. But, hey, I had to.

My coffee budget for the week!

Volcan

2012-01-25T17:34:00.000-08:00

The other day we arrived in Volcan at night, unable to see anything. But we were greeted the next morning with beautiful scenery surrounding us. Volcan is at the base of a volcano and is part of the region called the "breadbasket of Panama." So far, we've helped out with the daily chores around the house and are trying to pick up more Spanish. Everyone is really helpful and patient, though. Lynea is picking up a lot for never having studied it in school.

Carlos in the garden, planting corn.

Joy and Yari (who lives with her). They're very kind!

Everyone takes siestas here

Joy let me name her sheep. The sheep is now called Trace. Similar to tres (3) in Spanish. It lost a leg to a dog.

The backyard at Joy's

Volcan is quite stunning when the clouds roll in

The volcano erupted and we ran for our lives!

It's really a cool cloud.

Meet the animals

Starting over...

2012-01-24T17:58:00.000-08:00

Going to a different country is a bit like rebirth; like being a child again. You can't speak, people have to lead you around everywhere, you're awkward and insecure (like the teenage years). It doesn't matter what you've done in life up to this point. You're back at square one, in a sense, learning a new culture, language, rhythm of life. It's good. It's humbling. It's a little disorienting.

Today, we left Panama City and, consequently, our dear friends Keith and Marion. I say "dear" not in terms of longevity in the relationship, but in depth. We really barely know them, but we connected with them really well and had great conversations over our 2 day stay. Very knowledgeable, kind and hospitable sort of folks.

Keith really does not need a cane, but somehow ended up with one in the pic.

Keith and Marion

Keith took us to the Panama Canal last night. It was great, and I'm sure we'll be back during the day sometime to see more.

Today, we got on a bus at 8:30am and traveled 8 hours to the city of David (Da-veed). We were picked up by a lady named Joy who took us to her home in a place called Volcan. We're gonna stay with her for a couple weeks until my Aunt and Uncle get back from the U.S. This week she'll be hosting a team of doctors and 4 Peace Corps translators. They'll be doing cataract surgeries, dental work and other medical "stuff". We'll be helping out as much as we can. I'm not a doctor, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night (I joke).

Some vids of our journey. We got front row seats on the top of a double-decker bus!

Crossing the Canal

Florida Review

2012-01-22T12:14:00.000-08:00

We're far behind in the blogosphere, but here are some random pics and vids of the past few months in Florida. We got to reconnect with many of our friends and family and made some great new friends as well!

A place that sells young couples and swings.

When Judah misbehaves we have to put on "the harness" (or he just got finished with a zip line)

Kenna and Judah

Diogo and Apollo

We took Judah to the farm we've been working at.

Some of Lynea's recent artwork.

New buddy James. He's nicer than he looks.

Heather, Rob and Lynea

At the airport last night with my grown up sister.

No shame, no gain. Denton and I playing the Wii

Zip line

My 84 year old Grandmother jumping off a brick wall. For the first time I was scolding her.

On our way to Panama...

2012-01-21T18:06:00.000-08:00

Sitting in the airport in Orlando waiting to board a flying chunk of metal. More to come soon!

My little community.

2011-10-28T06:47:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I have an idea. It's a good one.

I want a giant claw (like the games outside grocery stores that pick up toys, or the one in Toy Story 2 that picks up the martians). If I had a giant claw, I would put in the coordinates of all my friends to pick them up and bring them to me to live in a community. This community would have housing made from trees, a garden big enough to fee us all, animals (goats, cows, chickens, sheep, llamas, ducks, and mules), natural springs, lots of wild non magic mushrooms, fiddleheads, berries, an orchard, and plenty of cliffs to jump off into water.

It would be like our own little commune. a perfect little town away from the corruption. Isn't that a good idea?

Except Kyle said those already exist and they are called cults. Dang. So maybe it's not such a good idea. But I promise I would not make any cool aid.

The Sunshine State

2011-09-29T15:51:00.001-07:00

Hi all. We are finally settled in here in sunny (sorry to rub it in all your northerners) central Florida and enjoying our 2 new farms. Here are lots of videos for you to enjoy!!!!

Farm # 1: Living Tower Farm

Jan owns a hydroponic farm about a half-mile from our house that looks like heaven! Her way of hydroponics involves starting the seeds in volcanic rock called rockwool (like a little sponge with a hole in the middle). Once the seedlings germinate, we take the rockwool (just like you would a normal start) and put in a tiny pot in a hole in the tower. The food is beautiful and tastes great!!! It never touches dirt which is fun because then we stay clean and don’t have to weed!!! We have learned so much from Jan and Jason so far. Jan has a history in naturopathic/homeopathy remedies and lifestyles and is happy to teach us all we want to know. She has already given me the first step in hopes to out grow this allergy: raw probiotics! Woo Hoo!

Farm #2: Charley and MaryLou Borns.

Charley has 3 milking cows, 1 bull (reproducing male), 1 steer (non reproducing male), 4 calves ranging from 2 weeks to 18 months. He also has lots of chickens, 2 ducks, a bunch of garden beds (used and unused), and LOTS of cow patties! Yuk! Charley and MaryLou are both extremely kind and sweet. We start at 7 fetching the 3 cows and work until 11:30 when MaryLou rings the bell for lunch. It's not fun being allergic to cow milk. But it's really not fun being allergic to cow milk while working on a cow farm with wonderful fresh butter, milk, cream, and buttermilk!!! It's all so delicious! Charley is great to work for. He's very encouraging and happy to have our help. He says things like, "atta girl," and, "You're alright boy," when you are doing something right.

Churning some butter

The pro.

Attempt#1

Attempt #2

Kyle says, "It got really warm all of a sudden." Yep, he got peed on.

Don't worry, I only last about 4 minutes before my hands cramp up!

My only baby right now :) This is a big big bottle and she doesn't waste any time gulping it down! 3 minutes flat.

Upward Over the Mountain

2011-09-14T19:41:00.000-07:00

So, we're back from our John Muir Trail hike with stories to tell and muscles to rest. Our eyes could not hold the scenery and the camera could definitely not capture it. We ended up staying on the trail for 7 days and went 110 miles, which is about 15 miles a day - a lot when you're carrying 40-50 pound packs in high elevations!

In a paradoxical sorta way, we're tired and yet refreshed. The wilderness changes you like that. Drinking out of fresh streams, cooking over a fire, going to the bathroom in a hole you just dug 10 seconds previously, only hearing sounds of nature, jumping into clear lakes, sleeping to the sound of a waterfall - ah, yes!!

Well, enjoy the pics and the quotes by John Muir himself, the man who fought to preserve our national parks (and for whom the trail is named after...obviously). (Click on the photos to enlarge, if you'd like.)

The polite farewell...

The angry, wild, barbaric farewell!!
"Don't leave me!"
Airplanes force you to sit and go nowhere (except to the lavatory). This is where I can think about life, almost outside of normal life. Clarity, and clouds.
On the first day, we meet my dad (Owen) and some gigantic sequoia trees.
I hope Old Dan and Little Ann d0n't chase a coon up this tree (a "Where the Red Fern Grows" reference. Ignore if you've never read it. Laugh if you have)
Our first day on the trail is the day known affectionately as "Death by hiking." We're smiling in this picture, but do not let it fool you. We went from 4,000 feet to over 9,000 feet in elevation. Our legs were not smiling.
At the top of Vernal Falls, where only a month earlier 3 people climbed over that railing and fell off. We decided to stay on this side.
A nice patch of chicken mushrooms. I ate these all summer in Vermont. Robert, if you somehow find our blog and have made it this far, this one's for you.
Doe, a deer, a female deer.
People talk about the mountaintop as the pinnacle of success, joy, etc. and the valley as dreary, lifeless and failure. I found the valleys to be quite beautiful and demand an explanation for this faulty logic!
Lynea did this a lot.

Lynea's dad and mom did a superb job preparing the food for our trip. They cooked the meals, dehydrated them and then vacuum sealed them. Delish.

Getting into the snow. This was right before we went over Donahue Pass - over 11,000 feet!

"Going to the mountains is going home." - John Muir

"This rock looks comfy."
Can you find Lynea and her dad? (Click to enlarge)
We had lunch here (the 3rd day) and coined the place "Eden", for obvious reasons if you're familiar with the biblical narrative. Luckily we did not have to face a talking snake or make a really big decision.
We just crossed into the Ansel Adams Wilderness, the place named after the photographer who made this very picture famous (we were not in his original photo).

"How glorious a greeting the sun gives the mountains! To behold this alone is worth the pains of any excursion a thousand times over. The hightest peaks burned like islands in the sea of liquid shade. Then the lower peaks and spires caught the glow, and long lances of light, streaming through many a notch and pass, fell thick on the frozen meadows." - John Muir

Met very interesting people on the trail. 2 guys we met were riding llamas on the trail.
One of the plethora of stream crossings.

"We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us." - John Muir
Resting at the top of Silver Pass with some friends we made along the way (day 5). Remember the Ansel Adams Wilderness photo? That's the mountain range in the back ground of this picture that we were on the other side of in that other picture. We walked far.
Lunch break.
Foot rubs all around.
"I'm tellin' ya, when I was younger I could swim across that river and climb over that mountain in 90 seconds flat."

The only shower I had.

Farewell Vermont, Hello Cleveland!...John Muir, here we come!!

2011-08-23T08:32:00.000-07:00

Our season in Vermont has come to an end. Many new friends, new skills, new perspectives, new ideas to take away from our time there. We will definitely miss the DuGrenier family, the animals, the fresh berries, honey, syrup...I should stop before I get sad.

But saying goodbye always means saying hello, and we've got to spend some quality time with our family here in Cleveland. Got to see all 3 of our nephews and our one and only beautiful niece. Went to the zoo, the museum and the park. So here's some pics to enjoy.

Is that John Muir?! Actually it's Lynea's dad getting ready for our John Muir Trail hike. Months of planning, preparation and training will meet the trail on Thursday as we enter the wilderness known as the Sierra Nevadas. The trail is over 200 miles, and we're gonna see how far we can get in 2 weeks. Will we come up against bears? Will our legs and feet hang in as we haul our 40+ pound packs? Will we find water? Animals? Ourselves? Stay tuned...dun,dun, dun.

The simple things.

Getting ready!

The donkey had a baby....

2011-08-06T05:21:00.000-07:00

Monday morning started out normal with Kyle and I filling up all the feed buckets. All of a sudden I hear Kyle yelling in the barn, “Neea!! Come here!!” And there she was, the long awaited Marmalade’s baby. Unfortunately I cannot reveal her name because it is still in deliberation.

Lots of cool stuff.

2011-08-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

The Garden.

It grew. A lot. This is an amazing process to watch...and eat.

WWOOF Dinner

Another farmer friend, Leigh, has 4 wwoofers (that’s what we are) working up the road from us. We had them over for dinner in thanks for helping us hay on Sunday. It was a beautiful meal consisting of 12 different food items from our farms: cucumber, duck, chicken, lettuce, arugula, broccoli, basil, blueberries, blackberries, black trumpet mushrooms, chanterelle mushrooms, and the maple syrup used to sweeten the vinaigrette dressing!!!

Bees

Our honey bees are doing great. We went in to add brood chambers (where the queen bee lays her 1,000 eggs a day) and supers (where they store the honey). If the hive gets too populated, the bees will pick a new queen, split, swarm, and find a new home. That would be bad for us because half our bees would be gone. So every few weeks we add more chambers.

Hay

Just a sneak peak to our haying assembly line. We are moving so slowly because this was our 5th round of unloading. A total of 362 bales weighing about 30lbs each. For Kyle and the guys, that’s not a big deal. For Kathy and I....oh man are we sore. It’s a full body workout starting with lifting with the hands/back/shins, walking it with the hands/back/resting on the thighs, and then lifting it with the hands/back/every arm muscle. That’s a lot of hands and back!!!

Robert, Kyle, and I went for a mushroom hunt and now it’s dinner time!

Pigs

A farmer friend of ours, David, has pigs. I like them. They are useful critters...they eat all our food waste, they improve the land, and eventually they give you bacon, ham, and sausage. We are loving learning how to take care of animals that provide food.

Dad's Birthday

2011-07-23T13:37:00.000-07:00

Today’s my dad’s birthday and so I’m thinking about him. He’s lived a really good 54 years. I don’t know this for a fact, but I think my dad wakes up everyday and chooses joy. That’s a hard thing to do, but he does it. When I think about him, I think of a guy smiling from ear to ear, waiting to give us a hug. I think of guy who works hard and also loves hard. He’s an encourager and a supporter and a complimenter. He’s grateful for the simple and taught us to enjoy the small things as well. Not only does he give out gut-busting laughter, but he’ll dish out tears as well. A man who laughs hard and often, but tears up over inspiring, moving stories; a man fully alive...I wanna be like him.

One of my favorite writers, Henri Nouwen, said:

“One of the most beautiful things that can happen in a human life is that parents become brothers and sisters for their children, that children become fathers and mothers for their parents, that brothers and sisters become friends and that fatherhood, motherhood, brotherhood, and sisterhood are deeply shared by all the members of the family at different times and on different occasions.”

I think that’s happening with my dad and I. We’re becoming friends. And I like that.

So I raise a cup of French Roast coffee to my dad, Owen Mitchell, for being the kind of dad I’d love to be someday.

Happy birthday Dad,

Kyle

Wheat, Berries, Hay and the Tale of the Prodigal Ducks

2011-07-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

Lynea and I recently went to a wheat conference. Much of it was over our heads, especially the talk about the genetic structure of wheat, but lots of it was very interesting. It was neat to see farmers, millers and bakers hashing out the best ways to do a local grain system - that is, how to grow wheat locally, mill it locally and bake it locally. This is a tough thing to do here in the northeast, given that most wheat is grown in the midwest. Real folks working through real issues in their lives. Cool to sit in on their conversations and hear about the ancient-future wisdom of growing and processing wheat.

Bringing in the Sheaves

One of my favorite...no, hands down, my favorite thing to do is pick berries. We’ve got wild black raspberries and blueberries that we pick everyday. I’m fascinated by it. Maybe I’m meant to be a berry-picker. Nothing quite like picking a ripe, juicy berry off the bush and popping it in your mouth. It’s a mystery. It’s magical. The earth provides delicious treats that are good for our bodies. I’m sure I could figure out how it works scientifically, but that still wouldn’t explain why it gives me such joy. Kinda like understanding all the numbers behind the earth rotating around the sun compared to laying on the beach and watching the sunset. It’s magical.

Blueberries

Black raspberries

Hay is a cool word. It means “there is” in Spanish, but is pronounced more like the English word “hi”. Which is funny cause the English word “hay” rhymes with “hey” as in saying “hi” which is similar to how the Spanish word is pronounced. There is hay in our field. Or if I was going to speak Spanglish, “Hay hay in our field.” And we cut it, wind-rowed it, tethered it and bailed it.

And finally a story of Rabbinic proportions:

We had 5 ducklings in a cage. 4 squeezed through and ran away, while 1 got stuck in the cage. It was a cold night and we feared the ducklings would either freeze to death or get eaten by a larger creature. The next morning, we put the mother duck in a cage with 3 other ducklings. 1 hour...nothing. 2 hours...nothing. 3 hours later I went to check on the cage and there before my eyes, the 4 prodigal ducks sitting safely outside the cage by their mother’s side. We rejoiced.

We've got about 40 new chicks!!

Babies, barns, and mushrooms

2011-06-27T17:22:00.000-07:00

Our first barn dance!! Square dancin’ and all!!! Great barn, great mood, great potluck, great company, great music, great dancing....what else is there to say? Sorry the you can’t see the video, it was dark lit with Christmas lights. But, if you close your eyes, imagine yourself in a nice twirly skirt or overalls doing a square dance, I’m sure you’ll get the picture.

Kyle has in becoming a mushroom hunter. He has found oyster mushrooms (smell and taste like oysters), shiitake mushrooms (the best in my opinion), chicken mushrooms (consistency of chicken...weird), and chanterelle mushrooms (smell like apricots!). Here is one of his latest, an oyster mushroom.

Why is it that babies bring smiles no matter what species they are? We have new babies on the farm and they result in big smiles and high pitch voices of oohs and ahhhs. 10 ducklings. I can't wait until they are all walking in a row behind their mamma. I love that they are yellow and brown. When they grow up however, they will be white, black and shiny green like their mom.

The weird coloring is from a heat lamp above them.

Making Glass...

2011-06-24T14:31:00.001-07:00

Robert let us blow glass today. Except there wasn't any blowing involved. Lots of turning, thinking, and gravity. Xander taught us how to make paper weights!!! It was hard to focus on what I was making because I had constantly turn the rod. The rod gets dipped into the glass which has been heated up to a liquid. If you stop turning, the liquid falls. A combination of heating, then shaping, then heating, then shaping, then cutting it off the rod makes a pretty little ball. Very complex. We'll show pictures of the finished product after it cools. Enjoy.

2011-06-20T12:25:00.000-07:00

Strawberry pickin'

Wild flowers are out

Kale!

Arugala

Black Walnuts?

Learned how berries come about. They pop right out of the middle of the flower as the pedals fall off. Probably learned that in school at some point, but it's more amazing in real life.

Millions of peaches, peaches for free

I like looking at all the baby fruits. They're cute for one, and they give you a sense of expectation for the harvest.

Blueberries, to be ready around July 4th

Green pepper from the garden

Some of our garden beds. Weeding is fun.

One of the first chanterelle mushrooms to pop up in the woods.

Our first farmers market.

We put down a laminate floor together. Much easier than real wood. Remember the condo Lee?

Planting potatoes.

Lots learned so far...lots more to do.

Kyle

The Barn

2011-06-13T05:59:00.000-07:00

It took us 2 days, but we did it. Barns are dirty dirty places. But now ours is so clean you could eat off the floor!! Well maybe that wouldn't be a good idea, but you get the point. It's CLEAN and organized!!!

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

I found it...

2011-06-13T05:26:00.000-07:00

This will have nothing to do with the farm. However, it will make your tummy smile. 6 months ago I discovered I was allergic to milk. Bummer. It's a bummer mainly because in order to get that beautiful crunchy outside/chewy inside cookie, you need butter. I have been diligently trying to find/create a dairy free cookie that would satisfy my sweet tooth. Lo and behold....I found it. After many many horrible and half horrible attempts, by the grace of God it is here. This cookie is perfect for me in many ways. And no, I did not eat them all in one sitting. Did I want? YES, but I had self control. Of course you can substitute the cranberries and walnuts for raisins, choc. chips, any nut, coconut, etc. Because I love you so much, I will share it. God bless you and this recipe.

Cranberry Walnut Oatmeal Cookies

http://www.madejustright.com/user/recipe/cranberry-walnut-oatmeal-cookies

Back to the farm!!

2011-06-07T12:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long break. We had a great time in Florida celebrating the marriage of Rob and Rachel, the engagement of Jacob and Victoria, and the birth of baby Cole, playing with Judah, long talks with mom and dad, loads of fun on the beach with Kenna and Diogo, and hanging out with other family and friends like the Nelsens. We even got to see Denton for a few days. Unfortunately, we are horrible at taking pictures and only have a few of these events on film.

We spent Saturday at the Strolling of the Heifers. This is a parade/fair in Brattleboro full of animals, food, and people.

Chick Pea Carrot Soup that I found on a blog. So good. I added mushrooms, zucchini, yellow squash, and chicken. I also only pureed the chick peas and orange juice leaving the soup chunky. YUM! http://markbittman.com/31157907

This is what happens to your rhubarb when you leave it for 2 weeks! It grows trees!

Baby llamas at the fair.

Save My Ass is an organization that saves donkeys and promotes the usage of them just like horses. We didn't really understand it, but they had funny t-shirts and kissing booths.

Strolling of the Heifers

I learned a new trick. This ones for you Luc!!!

spring is in the air

2011-05-15T08:53:00.000-07:00

we wrote a little song about our time in vermont and sang it at the local open mic. there were lots of good country/folk tunes and there's one down on the previous post of a fiddler (not on a roof).

2011-05-14T12:06:00.000-07:00

we're a part of a local CSA (community supported agriculture). 10 families put money in each week to receive fresh, local food. the truck comes in each Monday and we split it up into 10 parts.

the truck delivery
i can't think of a caption for this, but maybe i'll soon get my ducks in a row. oh wait.
our dear friend sarah, who came to visit with her husband bradley.
with our friends sarah and bradley at the local diner.
the barn
lynea is a licensed cosmetologist. apparently it carries over into the animal world.
tilling the soil.
good music from the local open mic.

time to eat.

new baby chicks

our friendly llama, "critter".

if you're interested...

2011-05-12T04:39:00.000-07:00

Lynea posted a few photos here on the farms facebook page.

Animal husbandry and Woman husbandry

2011-05-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

It's been 3 years. That's right, 3 years since we said our vows and walked barefoot down the aisle. During our ceremony, on that beautiful day, we took 2 separate trees and planted them together in the same pot to symbolize our new closeness. Today, we planted arugala.

It was a fairly normal day - normal being a great thing in my mind. We caulked and painted a room, cleaned emu poop, collected eggs, fed the animals, ate lunch outside, looked at wedding pics and reminisced. Here's one:

The good thing about all these normal things is that we get to do them together, and that’s something we’ve come to value.

In talking about animal husbandry, Wendell Berry writes, “The word husbandry is the name of a connection...To husband is to use with care, to keep, to save, to make last, to conserve.”

Lynea and I are priveleged to stay with a wonderful family on an incredible plot of land in Vermont and learn some basic animal husbandry skills. Each day I feel more of a connection with the land and the animals as I watch the creative process of life unfold. This is good, and I am very interested in animal husbandry, but it's not the most important husbandry for me. The last 3 years I've developed a deep connection with Lynea as I've learned to care for her, respect her and try my best to bring out the best in her. In short, I'm more interested in being good at woman husbandry.

As we reflect on our vows and look at pictures of our wedding day, we renew our commitment to each other and celebrate these 3 spectacular years together. I've found a best friend for life, and I'm truly thankful.

And before I close this entry, thanks to all our friends and family for the love and support throughout our relationship. “It takes a village...”

The end.

(A recent picture from our local restaurant, the Dam Diner. It's next to a dam. Good food.)

Tasting, Extracting and Gathering

2011-05-04T03:52:00.000-07:00

We were privileged to participate in the local, annual maple syrup tasting. We tasted around 24 different syrups, and were astonished at the variances. We did not see Aunt Jemima, but we did taste some great syrups. As we said in an earlier post Robert, our host boss, makes maple syrup each year, and it appears that his was the clear winner of this year's contest!

To taste it for yourself, order it from his website here.

Also, had the opportunity to extract honey from the comb last Thursday. Robert has been bee keeping since the early 80's. Here's how the process went:

First, we removed the outer layer of beeswax so the honey could flow out.
Put the combs in the honey extractor and turn the handle rapidly. This forces the honey to fly out of the combs and onto the sides of the barrel, where it slowly drips down and pools at the bottom. Kinda like the scrambler at a local fair.
Don't waste a drop and taste often!
Finished product.
Gathered some shitake mushrooms as well.

And an edible fern called a fiddlehead. Note the shape (it's like a fiddle).

Then Robert made us a white sauce that included the shitake mushrooms, fiddleheads and some ramps (wild onions) we gathered. Delicious and rewarding.

which came first?

2011-05-01T06:25:00.000-07:00

one of my favorite daily chores is collecting eggs. i’m still astounded at the variety: blue, green, brown, yellow, big, small. why did i not know this before? lynea and i collected 25 yesterday during our nightly egg hunt routine.

surprised by spring

growing up in florida, i never really experienced the seasons. well, i guess we did have slight variations - very hot, hot, less hot. but overall, i didn’t seem to mind. however, i now realize that i was missing out on one of the common human experiences: winter! cleveland winter’s are long. “always winter, never christmas” as some have said. i didn’t notice it the first time i experienced it back in ‘07-08, but then again, i was engaged and my feet rarely touched the ground. this year, i experienced it fully. maybe it’s because i’m a rookie to this weather thing, but it was admittedly hard. all i wanted was shorts and a t-shirt and a nice jog. or frisbee. or the sun. it was never ending! until, all of sudden (drum roll)....spring! life! joy! flowers! no words just sheer amazement! i’ve never experienced anything like it. something in you shifts, indeed, something in nature shifts. the birds are singing again. my shorts have come out to play. the long, cold death of winter has produced the vibrant life of spring. i can’t stop smiling when i walk outside. i’ve even laughed out loud a few times, then looked around to see if anyone saw me laughing at nothing. no one so far, but now it’s on the internet.

i understand now why we use “cold” as a negative adjective and “warm” as a positive. not that winter is all bad. to be sure, there’s sledding, snowballs, activities by the fire, holidays, seeing your breath (which i still think is pretty neat). but this new season has produced in me a wonder that i’ve never before experienced, and i can only attribute it to winter. without winter, i would not have known these feelings and emotions that i’m experiencing presently. without winter, i would not have known what it was like to be surprised by spring.

Day 3-5 on the Farm

2011-04-27T15:55:00.000-07:00

Day 3: Clean out the maple taps.

Maple sugar is made from boiling the water out of the sap. Every winter (usually January or February) a hole is drilled in each tree for the tap to be put in. Each tap is run to a main line leading down to a sugar shack creating a large spider web of tubes draping through the trees. From there, nature does its thing dripping sap flowing down through the tubes. When the barrels are full, someone must boil all the water out of the sap which takes hours...usually through the night. 40 gallons of sap will be boiled down to 1 gallon of syrup!!! When the boiling syrup reaches 219.4 degrees F it’s ready to be bottled up! Fast forwarding a few months brings us to Day 3: cleaning the maples taps, lines and shack. The taps need to be removed from the tree truck, flushed out with water, and plugged up until next year.

Day 4: Cleaning the sugar shack.

When boiling such huge amounts of syrup, you are bound to burn some at the bottom leaving the vessel a mess. Imagine burning rice to the bottom of a pan and then having to clean it without soaking it....multiply this by 1,000. It took 4 of us for a few hours scrubbing and scrubbing. Don’t worry, we’re strong that thing is sparkling!!!

Day 5: Transplanting blackberries.

I used to love transplanting flowers with my dad when I was a little girl...so fun. Transplanting blackberries...not fun. Those darn prickers!!! They were everywhere. Took us a few hours, but we transplanted about 20.

Knocking out the taps.

The Sugar Shack.

Cleaning.

Clean.

Kyle bottling the syrup.

The syrup.

Morgan finishing off the row of transplanted blackberry bushes.

Adventure 2011: Taft HIll Farm

2011-04-24T15:52:00.000-07:00

Two days ago we moved to Taft Hill Farm in West Townshend, VT which has the most beautiful view of the Green Mountains. The DuGrenier family is kind, inviting, and extremely knowledgeable. Robert and Kathy have lived here for 14 years with their 10 year old son Luc. Critter, however, is not that inviting...he’s the male llama that I’m sure you’ll be hearing more of. He shows his affection by awkwardly staring you down and randomly running at you.

So far our responsibilities have included learning how to feed the animals in the morning and to put them away for the night. The animals include: 2 llamas, 5 mini horses, lots of ducks (moscovy, shetland), lots of chickens (taft hill blue foot, lady kathy, copper scotch, and the special breed of luc dugrenier), 5 emus, 1 sheep, 1 ram, 1 donkey, 1 dog, 4 peacocks, 1 rabbit.

The weekend also included 2 inches of snow and slush which caused us to stay in doors on Saturday and work in the apartment in which we will be living once it’s done. Luckily my dad was here to help Robert put in bathroom tile while Kyle and I painted the ceiling.

Easter Sunday was spent eating a feast of a brunch, visiting a friends’ day old lambs, hiking down to Hamilton Falls, operating a back hoe, and feeling old jumping on the trampoline. The best way to convey how wonderful it has been so far is to show you!! Here you go.

PS- We miss everyone in Cleveland!!! Love you all so much. Thanks for being excited with us for this experience!!!

Peanut Butter and Fluff is the closest mini horse.

Horse poop turns into soil that is full of nutrients...notice how green the grass is that grows under the poop!!! This is why animal poop is composted and then spread in gardens...rich and nutritious!!

Dominant male peacock.

The pond.

Emu.
Critter the llama and Black Lightening the ram.
Marmalade the pregnant donkey.

A rooster.

Food

2010-01-04T04:00:00.001-08:00

Still have a few days before school starts, so why not work on our cooking skills:

Lynea made dinner last night: roasted veggies (yellow squash, zucchini, carrots, onions, sweet potato, baby corn, garlic) and gouda spinach chicken.

We collaborated for dinner tonight: I made bread bowls with Papa Harrill's homemade bread recipe and Lynea made some cheddar veggie soup.

Trip

2010-01-04T01:33:00.000-08:00

just got back from our winter trip around India and Sri Lanka. teaching definitely has its perks. if you can survive in the classroom, the long breaks are quite nice. also helps to live in a country where traveling is crowded, hectic, but very inexpensive.

all in all, we had a mixture of fun and tiredness, relaxation and the reality of suffering, good deals and bad ones, time together and time spent with old friends and new ones. Lynea and I got to spend more time together than maybe ever, and fortunately, she still likes me a lot. we dreamed about the future, tried to live fully in the present and talked about how we could learn from the past. here’s a few things we did (click on the images to enlarge):

our trip from Kodaikanal to Bangalore to Calcutta to Shillong to Darjeeling to Chennai to Sri Lanka. follow the green line:

lynea applying henna to her arm in downtown Banglore. notice the yellow “rickshaws”. those are fun to travel in.

a slum school we got to visit in Calcutta. a couple people went to the slums and started teaching kids a few things on the street (kids that don’t have the chance to go to school). next thing they know 50 kids are coming to their place for school each day. so they pull a couple women off the streets and say, hey wanna be a teacher. one of our favorite parts of the trip. hmmm...how can we get back here someday?

Lynea cut some hair at the school…and found lots of lice.

found a treehouse in shillong

at an elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka.

notice the sign. notice who went beyond that area.

beach!

(no photoshop needed)

stilt-fisherman

lynea made a girls week at the train station in colombo…I can hear her trying to tell her friends, “I’m serious! a white girl painted this on my hand at the train station!”

slum school in Calcutta.

stumbled across a wedding at a temple in a narrow street in Calcutta. if you ever wonder what weddings, funerals, marketplaces, clothes, kitchens, relationships, life was like a few thousand years back, check out India. the traditions and lifestyles are rich and ancient.

2009-10-03T02:40:00.000-07:00

Last week was field trip week for our entire school. My class was supposed to to camping out in the woods but it was too wet and cold for the little guys. So, we camped out at the elementary school. We went horse back riding, boating, hiking, and on a trampoline. We saw monkeys, rolly pollies the size of your finger, cows, monkeys, cows, did I mention monkeys? According to the kids, we saw bison, a fox, and a baby grizzly bear. We didn't, but their imaginations get the best of them sometimes. We put their sleeping bags in the library watched a movie to fall asleep too and then dog piled Mrs. Mitchell.

I (Kyle) went with the 10th graders to a city called Coimbatore about 6 hours from our house. We did some various social awareness activities like visiting a tribal village, planting trees, communicating with a transgender community, hearing tough stories at an HIV/AIDS support group and learning about child labor. We also learned how to make bricks (see below).

Making bricks out of mud

As you may know, Kyle and I like adventure. We like exploring, climbing, and anything out of the ordinary. I wanted a bean pod. Not just any bean pod. A 1 1/2 foot long bean pod that you can shake and make music. Naturally they grow on trees, so I climbed up and took one. On the way back down however, the last branch broke and I fell shin first into the edge of a concrete hole. It was a bummer, but I got to see what my bone looked like up close!! Kyle got to take care of me all week with a bum leg...that was fun. I got lots of piggy back rides. I got the stitches taken out yesterday and it seems to be healing slowly, but at least it's healing.

Brick-making is one of the main sources of income at this tribal village. We learned how they do it and then we tried it ourselves.

Random stuff

2009-09-02T06:13:00.000-07:00

Had some students over to the house (I'm their academic advisor)

Found a dead chipmunk under our bed...Lynea looked under the bed and exclaimed, "There's either a big hairball with eyes, or a dead chipmunk under our bed." It was indeed the latter.

Note from us

2009-08-24T22:26:00.000-07:00

well, we’re back in India and have jumped right into a new school year. for those of you that didn’t know, we went back to the U.S. for the summer and surprised some of our closest friends and family. we had an amazing time with our families, especially our 2 new nephews!! but now we are thoroughly excited to be back in india in our “little house on the mountain.”

we’re also quite excited to have momma harrill staying with us for 2 weeks! she has made the grueling journey all the way to india and up the mountain to kodai. wish she could stay longer (she just left this morning).

I (kyle) am teaching full time this year (grades 9-12) and lynea is still doing a superb job with the 3^rd and 4^th grades. the second year of marriage is just as good as the first so far. I’m still baffled by this girl that has come into my life.

I compare this blog update to the first time you work out. it’s easy to work out when you’re in a rhythm, but the longer the break, the harder it is to start back up, especially because you know there will be kinks and soreness to work out. I’m working out the blog soreness now in hopes that the blogging rhythm will start back up.

thanks for taking the time to stay connected to our lives.

uncle kyle

Tough job

With our mother!

First day of school

Uncle Kyle and Judah

Aunty Neea and Mathéo

Videos in order:

1. Lynea visits my 10th grade class

2. My 9th graders learning trust

3. Riding through a town

4. Eating "Indian" style

reflections on the first year

2009-05-10T04:49:00.000-07:00

Today, Lynea and I celebrated our one year anniversary. And to be honest, we didn’t do much that was out of the ordinary. But somehow, that’s one of the beautiful things that I’ve discovered in our first year of marriage – doing everyday, ordinary things with the person you’re in love with transforms those things into extraordinary things. We were discussing yesterday what we should do on our anniversary because we’re supposed to do something special. We both admitted that we had thought about writing a nice letter to each other, and perhaps we will in another week or month or something. Maybe if we were more of the gift type people, we would have done better at that. But somehow, it felt like forcing it. For us, the day-in day-out love that we’ve been able to give and receive has been the most precious gift that we could ever give each other thus far. It has been a special time for us, and the words we could try to write each other or even that I’m trying right now simply can’t do this year justice. We’re not poets, just normal people.

Having said that, we did wake up unusually early (5 something) and took a borrowed motorbike to a couple nice spots to watch the sunrise. It’s been crowded on the mountain as of late, but it was too early for any crowds and we cherished riding through the winding roads alone with the sun beginning to illuminate the sky. We don’t always get away from school much, and as we sat on the edge of a cliff, we were reminded that we live on a mountain in India. I don’t think we purposely tried to get away from our friends and family in the U.S., but somehow we ended up about as far as you can get (just ask my parents who came to visit). In some ways it’s been good – learning to rely on each other, developing our own way of life. In other regards, we’ve missed the heck out of everyone! The internet has made it so much easier, but it still isn’t quite the same.

Oh ya, back to the anniversary thing. We sat on a cliff and I pulled out 150 pictures or so that I had printed up of our first year together. We looked at them all and reminisced. Then we came home around 8:00, made breakfast, got back in bed and looked at some of the pictures and slideshows we had made throughout our dating and engaged relationship. A little while later, Lynea was asleep in the hammock and I would periodically, go outside, look at her and wonder how I got to marry her.

Sometimes it seems like we’ve been married for years, and sometimes it feels like the day before yesterday. I’m so thankful for our friends and family who have supported us in all of our life endeavors and now support us together. It means a lot knowing that people all over the place love you and pray for you and smile when they think of you. We’ve certainly had our fair share of challenges this year – new marriage, new job, new country, new sicknesses. We’ve had to learn how to say no; how to protect our young relationship. I’ve learned that I am more selfish than I thought (thanks for giving me the heads up on that one, Doc), and that I need to be home when I say I’m coming home. But along with that, I’ve also learned a joy that I’ve never known before in living with this girl that I love.

Lynea’s brother wished us a lifelong honeymoon after we’d just married, and so far, it’s been exactly that. We have to remind each other almost every week: “We’re married. We live in India. We’re teachers. We’re married!” It’s almost unreal sometimes.

So today, if I had a glass, I would raise it to my wife – the best wife imaginable for me! To our marriage – for many more years of joy and mystery and just good ‘ole fun. And to God – for allowing me to live this life with Lynea, the most precious anniversary gift I could ever ask for.

April Showers bring May Tourists

2009-04-25T03:12:00.000-07:00

This month has been quite miserable when it comes to leaving the house. There are about 5 billion more people in our quiet little town because of tourist season. Not only are there tons of extra people all over the place, none of them like to walk, so there are cars everywhere as well. Oh, and all the prices skyrocket!! Chicken that usually cost Rs.100 is now Rs.176. That's awful. Other than the stressful shopping days, life is GREAT!!!

Sadly, school is coming to a close. There are only 3 weeks left of real classes!!! Then we have a week of goodbyes and clean up. Our first year of teaching has been wonderful and it went so fast! In my 3-4 class, we are finishing up a unit on space learning all about the life and death of stars, the planets, craters and astronauts. It's been fun, but next month will be more fun. We're doing a 2 week unit on Bubbles!!!! We're going to create water games for the elementary school picnic, explore how soap is made, and what fun things we can do with bubbles, like giant slip n' slides!!

Kyle is finishing his year heading the exchange program. Have you ever prayed for a visa?? We have been praying that all the paperwork, visas, and passports arrive before summer for his students going off to the Netherlands, Germany, and soon he'll start the Australia paperwork. It's coming along, but I think he's pretty happy that he'll only be teaching next year. Visas in India are a stressful thing.

Coffee Coffee Coffee!!! My mother is wonderful. She sends care packages and they always seem to get here at the perfect time. For example, when I'm stressed my favorite chocolates come in the mail. When Kyle's out of coffee, he gets 4 lbs in the mail!! He was able to do another coffee tasting with some friends and make Doc's Famous pancakes. Our friends LOVE them! (Pictures to come soon)

Last night we went to a dinner party!! Our friend Yisu turned 26 and she's an artist at her core. She's always painting for us, so for her birthday we set up an easel and we all painted for her. She had a blast and so did we!

Oh and Kyle made bagels!! They are sooooo yummy! Who needs Panera!? (Actually, I do because they have cream cheese and we don't.)

Well the count down is on. Please pray that we (as well as our students) will finish the year strong and then have a relaxing vacation. We love you all!!!

Do you like green eggs and ham???

2009-03-15T03:55:00.000-07:00

My 3rd and 4th graders have worked so hard the last 5 weeks to perform a Dr. Seuss Musical in honor of 'I Love to Read' month. We have studied Dr. Seuss' writing and illustrations in class and learned songs and movements in music class. Our art teacher is a genius and guided the kids through the wonderful world of paper mache. Each student made their own Dr. Seuss hat from lots of newspaper, glue, and an amazing imagination. It was fun, but we had a few stressful moments. Some hats shrunk and had to be cut and re-mached. Some hats took forever to dry because of no sun. We even had a monkey eat a hole through a hat. Darn monkeys. However, in the end they were finished just in time to be shown off to the school, teachers, family, and friends. Enjoy the pictures and video!!!

The First Shear Glory International

2009-03-07T20:10:00.001-08:00

Well a few years ago God gave LisaMarie Rose a vision of Shear Glory. It was to be an outreach of Christ's love on people who needed haircuts, love, and someone to talk to. La Barberia (of Cleveland, OH) has hosted a few at their shops and have seen people touched by the experience. The stylists have given up a whole day to love on people in need in and around Cleveland. They have seen single moms, children, homeless, and members of Magnolia Clubhouse totally blessed because of this program. The only problem was that Lisa's original vision was global. Start small and let God do the rest. While I was in Cleveland last year I fell in love with this vision and then just happened to move to India.

In January, Kyle and I visited the Bethania Association orphanage a few hours from where we live. While I was there, Priscilla (the lady in charge) told me that a bunch of the girls had lice and a barber had given them all bowl cuts. In America this wouldn't be a huge deal because hair grows and children have all different length hair. Here, girls wear their hair in two long braids for school everyday. If you can't, you are seen as 'the little orphan girl.' It's a stigma that the kids have to live with at school everyday. I told Priscilla I'd come back in two months and cut everyone's hair once it grew a little. Kyle and I went this past weekend with 4 other teachers and 4 students to love on the kids. My friend Cath and I did 26 haircuts in 2 hours!!! The girls that had bowl cuts are now mullets, so i tried my best to cut so that it will grow into a bob. Cath took care of all the other girls who needed inches of dead ends cut off. Some were so scared but we assured them that it was healthy to get all the dead stuff cut. The other girls with us painted nails and drew henna to pamper the girls for a day. Kyle and the guys did construction and played with the boys. The kids were excited and I think we all left more blessed than the kids were!!

It's crazy how God works. Using someone on the other side of the world to carry out a vision.

(The sunset picture is a view of our mountains while driving down!)

Long Time No Write.

2009-02-26T02:18:00.000-08:00

First of all, it has been entirely too long since we’ve blogged! But like the old saying goes, better late than never. So let’s jump right into it. Here’s our life in a nutshell the last 2 months.

Coffee-Tasting

Learning to appreciate the earth and the wonderful gifts that God gives us everyday has been one of my goals over that past couple of years. That’s

why I decided to host a coffee-tasting for our Indian and non-Indian friends alike. Here in India, a tragedy has taken place called “instant coffee.” It has become so popular that people don’t even realize that a coffee imposter has taken the place of good, fresh, strong and mo

st of all real coffee. So, I managed to round up 4 French presses and 4 different types of coffee beans. I grinded the beans, brewed them all at the same time and poured them in 4 separate cups for all of us to taste with our coffee-tasting spoons. Mmmmm…What a wonderful experience. You can really taste the different flavors when they are put right beside each other. Lynea even tasted them!!

Republic Day

Republic Day is comparable in celebration to the 4th of July. Everyone stays up for fireworks, there are parades, and group celebrations. Our school has an assembly inviting people in the community to come and celebrate. Some of our friends talked us into participating in an all staff Indian dance. Surprisingly we were the talk of the day!! It

was a fun morning to have all our hours of practice come together and pay off!!!! We will try to get the video up soon.

Class
In my 9th grade class, we were discussing what it means to have faith and to trust someone. We did an activity called the Blind Walk, where 3 members of a team are blindfolded and a leader has to direct them through difficult obstacles to make it to the goal. It was lots of fun and way

better than sitting in a classroom listening to me talk.

In Lynea’s 3rd and 4th grade class, they’ve studied food (cooking all sorts of delectable dishes), the 5 senses, magnets, electricity, reflections, and bounce. February is ‘I Love To Read’ month, so in honor they have studied Dr. Seuss and are in the process of learning a Dr. Seuss musical. They are wonderful singers and dancers.

Field Day

Elementary field day is a

chance for our elementary students to show off some of their athletic skills as well as learn about teamwork and encouragement. There are traditional track and field events such as high jump and the 400 yard dash. But there are also fun events such as the 3-legged race and the shoe fly (see who can fling their shoe off their foot the farthest). Some of Lynea’s

students thought it would be fun to play tackle Mr. Mitchell.

Senior Trip
We had the chance to go to Kerala with the seniors on their senior trip. We stayed at the

beach, which was really nice and relaxing (although the overnight bus rides there and back were not). Lynea met some locals from the nearby fishing village. What a different lifestyle these kids have, compared to our childhood.

Traveling and seeing new things still does weird things to us and makes us ask questions. Wouldn’t have it any other way, though.

School has been pretty good so far. It has been a really busy this semester! But overall, married life is going great!!! We love you all and promise to write before the end of March!!!!

P.S. I planted carrots!

Rajama, Christmas, and the Orphanage

2009-01-04T05:56:00.000-08:00

This is a little recap of our vacation after Thailand. We also added lots of photos to our Flicker ( go to picture main page).

RAJAMA

Do you remember my story of Rajama and the peanut grinder? If not, go back a few

blogs and read about Rajama, her granddaughters, and her need for a peanut grinder. Well because of your generosity and love, we were able to not only buy her a peanut grinder, but also pay for Anapriscilla's college bill this semester!!! While we were in Thailand, Heather was able to buy the grinder and have it delivered to her house. She was so surprised and she's been crying ever since. This is huge that she won't have to rent a grinder anymore. Thank you for being faithful with your finances even though the economy is crazy. Thank you for loving an Indian Grandma and her family. She definitely feels it and thanks God every day!!! (Pictures: Rajama, her son, two granddaughters Beena and Anapriscilla, and the grinder that looks like a time machine.)

CHRISTMAS

We arrived back in Kodai December 23rd and spent Christmas eve and Christmas day with the Nelsens and the Stewarts. Kyle says it was a real white Christmas because of all the white folk. It was a wonderful first Christmas as a married couple. If we can't spend it with family, we want to at least be with friends that we consider family. Great food, Great friends, Great time. (David and Lisa Stewart are sitting next to me. Heather is in the middle and David's parents behind her. Brian is taking the picture. Oh, and of course all the kids: Andrea, Tiffany, and Elijah Stewart and Cyrus, Isaiah, and Lydianna Nelsen!!)

THE ORPHANAGE

Kyle and I made a trip down the mountain Saturday and Sunday with a few others from the school to visit a friend in the hospital and then to spend the night at Bethania. Bethania is an orphanage with about 35 kids ranging from age 6 - 16. Our school has close relations with Bethania and our students often do service projects there. We had a blast playing with the children and learning about them. Their stories are often tragic and heart breaking. However, their smiles light up the world and their laughter clears the sky. It's often hard to find words for experiences like this. Your heart breaks but you are so thankful for people like Priscilla, Charlie and other workers who have dedicated their lives to serving and loving these children so they can have an education, a dream, and a future. Orphanages have had a profound impact on our lives throughout the years. We have held children in many different countries and we seem to have a huge sense of belonging in places like this. It'ard to come and go so quickly. It makes us wonder if we'll ever be able to stay at a place like that for more than just a visit.

In India, women decorate their bodies with a brown paste called henna. In the states, you'd call it a fake tatoo. A friend of mine did it to me the other day and it was started to ware off. One of the little girls was admiring it so I used marker to do a simple one on her hand. She loved it. Next time I visit, I'll have to bring a few tubes of henna and do all the girls.

PHUKET, THAILAND

2008-12-06T20:43:00.000-08:00

We were supposed to fly to Bangkok for 5 nights but because of all the craziness, we flew straight to Phuket. That's ok because Phuket is like heaven. Sun, beach, ocean, sun, bathtubs, Starbucks, fruit smoothies, sun, pools, McDonald's (sorry Dad and Doc, we had to eat there once), great stir fry, sun, sun, and more sun. Phuket is a big island with lots of small beaches and small islands off of it.

First we stayed at Karon Beach for 5 nights, ate breakfast buffets, fresh fruit smoothies, banana pancakes (a crepe with bananas and chocolate), snorkeled, and were really really lazy. We took a boat tour of the Phi Phi islands. We snorkeled with beautiful fish and coral, fed monkeys (yuk), ate great food, swam where the movie The Beach was filmed and unfortunately got a little too much sun.

Then, we rented motorbikes and drove a half hour north to Surin Beach for 3 nights. This was also a lot like heaven. Sun, great dinners on the beach, gorgeous pool, sun, fried bananas for 1 baht (like 3 pennies), elephant trekking, sun, and more sun.

There was this cool buoy/floating/dock/walkway thing. (See picture and video) We discovered that when a wave comes, if you run up the walkway and jump off the top of the wave you get tons of air. So fun. So tiring.

The elephant trek was exciting. We bonded with our elephants by sitting on their heads. That was fun and scary and really hard to balance. Elephants are massive animals with huge feet and really big jaws. They could definitely crush me in one second.

Best part of Surin....The Lotus. This is a grocery store. They had Ritz crackers, 3 different kinds of Campbell's Chunky soup, Smuckers strawberry jelly, dried shitaki mushrooms, and best of all.......Philadelphia cream cheese.

We are now back in Karon for 6 more nights before mom and dad leave. More adventures to come.

Mom and Dad Mitchell come to visit!!!

2008-12-06T20:24:00.000-08:00

Friday, November 21 was a beautiful sunny day. My students spent the afternoon making gingerbread cookies and reviewing what we learned about the USA. Although I was fully there with my kids, my brain was waiting in expectation for Kyle and his parents to arrive from Madurai. When they came, I ran and gave them the biggest hug!!! The sun was shining, the temperature was perfect, I was eating amazing cookies made by my 3rd and 4th graders, and now we could share our new Kodai life with our parents.

Friday, November 21 at 9pm was a mess. It started to rain.....and it didn't stop until we left Friday, November 28th. YUK. It is odd for it to rain at the end of November with that much intensity, however, when there is a cyclone over southern India...run for cover. It poured nonstop the last week of school. Our laundry never dried, the mold came back, the fire wood got wet, and that damp annoying feeling was definitely present. But praise the Lord for rain boots, rain coats, and umbrellas. Owen and Lauren experienced the bad side of Kodai. At least now they will really be able to sympathize with us when monsoon season comes back in July.

Thankfully, rain doesn't hinder relationships. We were able to share our parents with our friends allowing them to get to know all the people we've come to love here in Kodai. Oh, and they got to experience Cheese Dosai. Soooo good. Unfortunately, our last day in Kodai (the day to finish up last minute responsibilities and to pack) I woke up vomiting and found out I had E-coli and a bacterial infection. YEA!!!!

Just in case you do not know what these are....it is vital that you have a bathroom handy at all times. Lucky for me the next day we had a 3 hour drive down the mountain, a 9 hour train ride, and a 4 hour flight. Sweet! The odds were definitely against us, but the Lord healed me quickly and I was fine by the time we got off the train!!!!

As you may have heard, people have been going a little crazy in this part of the world the last few weeks. There were bombings in Mumbai, more bomb threats in Chennai, protests in Bangkok which is where we were headed, and all airports closed in Thailand. We arrived in Chennai not knowing if we would even be able to get to Thailand, but they had a flight to Singapore and then to Phuket (our final destination). Do you know where Singapore is? I do now!!! It's amazing. They have Starbucks and Subway!!!! Dad was a little stressed because our plans were totally changed and we weren't sure what was going to happen. Kyle and I were in heaven...Starbucks and Subway in one place!!!!! And they had toilet paper in the bathrooms!!!!

That is our travel story. Next up....Phuket!!!

Lynea's Grade 3/4

2008-11-22T19:28:00.000-08:00

My class did a read-a-thon to raise money for a village school called Kombai. First Assembly sponsored the kids at $.10 per page that they read for a month. F/A donated above and beyond what my kids ever dreamed of raising. Here's a little thanks from us to you.

a normal update + a message from us

2008-11-02T04:33:00.000-08:00

Our Adventure to Pillar Rock
We needed to get away for a day but during monsoons you don’t have many options. So during the 2-hour break of rain one Sunday, we took Brian’s bike and drove about 20 minutes out to the edge of part of the mountain. Pillar Rock is mostly a tourist trap, but it is very beautiful with the clouds rolling in. Kyle is so good looking we can’t go anywhere with out someone asking for his picture. I think because he’s white, so good looking, and way taller than most Indian people. It was a beautiful ride and our first bike ride together. Kyle did great. It’s hard driving on the opposite side of the road. When you get into a pickle, you automatically want to go right which can be detrimental here. However, my husband is amazing and got us home safely.
Harvest Fest.
It seems no matter where you are in the world there is still Halloween or a Halloween substitute. The elementary school had a harvest fest last Friday night for all the ES students and a local Cresh school (preschool). The ES secretary is in charge of this preschool for Dalit children. Dalit means they are not allowed to go to English schools because of their social class. Every year the 5th graders run the harvest fest booths for the Cresh school in the morning and then the teachers run it at night for our students. I dressed up as a cat and Kyle a scarecrow…a very convincing one too!! We were in charge of the apple-dunking booth. It was gross. The kids were just dunking their whole head under water. Some kids came 5 or 6 times. By the end of the night the water was just full of spit. Luckily kids don’t care about that stuff, but I couldn’t take it. The students all looked so adorable.

My First Stuffed Chicken
As some of you may know, before moving to India I could cook pancakes and eggs. Oh and I could make a mean salad. Sadly, that was as far as my talent went. However, I am proud to say that I have broadened my horizons since being in India. I cooked my first chicken…(Mom I was actually able to find the hole this time!!! But all the guts were still in there and I had to pull them out. Gross!). I spiced it and filled it with apple-onion stuffing. It was so good!!! Sorry I’m bragging but I was so proud.

Mapping and the Earth
During the month of October my class was studying maps and the Earth (rocks and the layers of the Earth). To bring the unit to a close, we had a treasure hunt. I had the students in 6 groups running all over the ES campus. There were 10 stops. At each stop they had to complete a task with their group and then figure out the clue to get to the next stop. One of the tasks was using the library search to find out how many books we had by Eric Carl. The hardest part was figuring out how to spell Carl. Carol. Carul. Karel. Carel. They were so pooped by the end of the Hunt. They had been running up and down and around! But they all finished. I was very proud of them and they had a blast. Luckily I have an athletic husband who was willing to chase them all around the campus taking videos and pictures for you to see.

Monsoons = Mold. Lots of it!! If I say anything else I’ll get bitter so I’ll leave it at that. Just know that we had a rough 2 weeks in the middle of the season.

A Friend Needs Help

2008-10-24T04:36:00.000-07:00

I have a friend names Rajama. She is a grandma supporting her 3 sons, 2 daughter in laws, and 6 grandkids. She is also putting two of her granddaughters through college to be teachers, which costs WAY more than what Rajama makes from being an ayah (a maid). She works for Heather and Brian Nelsen (my principal). Between the Nelsens and Rajama, they have been able to pay off one school bill but still owe $5,000 ($1,000 by December) for the other granddaughter to finish school. To make extra money, Rajama makes homemade amazing peanut butter and sells it to the teachers for 200 rupees ($5). She only makes 40 rupees ($1) off each jar of peanut butter. In the past she has had to rent a grinder from a neighbor. But, that one is broken so recently she has been grinding the peanuts by hand. If she had her own grinder, she would be able to make more money off of each jar because she wouldn't have to pay rent to her neighbor. And, it would give her a better chance of paying the $1,000 by December 23rd.

Rajama has been bound by her low social class her whole life. That social class binds her children and her grandchildren. However, if her granddaughters can continue to go to school, this could break her entire family and future generations out of this low social class. The girls will be able to get good jobs teaching and be able to support their families allowing Rajama to retire.

I have already shared this with a few of you and together we have the peanut grinder covered. Heather found one for 5,000 rupees ($125). However, Rajama still owes $1,000 by December 23rd. She only makes $50 a month. Our math skills will tell us that this is impossible for her to do it on her own. If you would like to pitch in (even $5 will help!!!) Please write a check to Carol Harrill and send it to : 1531 Parker Drive, Mayfield, OH 44124. (Sorry we don't know how to give tax credit). My mom will put it in our account which we can access from here. Thank you!!!!!

We love you all so much....and Thank You for the comments!!!! We love them, I know we don't respond but we read every single one. After we post, we check multiple times for the next few days seeing who commented. Keep it up, it keeps us going at times!!!

Life on a mountain in India

2008-10-11T03:16:00.000-07:00

Well, we celebrated our 5 month anniversary yesterday!! We celebrated by looking at video clips and pictures of our wedding, reminiscing about our long and storied marriage. Ok, maybe not long, but we do have a few stories so far. Speaking of stories, it's fun to have people over to the house and hear about their life journey. The other day we had some people over to celebrate the life of our friend Chrissy (it was her birthday). Though the rain put a damper on our bonfire, it didn't mess with the great food and conversations we had under our roof. Speaking of roofs, we're so thankful for our house. Lots of people around here don't have much of one and we're really blessed to have a great one. Hopefully it can be a place of peace and refuge and acceptance for anyone who needs it.

Speaking of refuge (this email is all about tying everything together by saying "speaking of"), I (Kyle) have been creating a vegetable refuge in our backyard known to most as a garden. I've found that I actually miss manual labor, and it has given me joy to get out and get sweaty and dirty, making manly grunts every so ofte

n. A lot of my work involves being in an office, and if you know me, you probably know that this kind of thing won't satisfy for the rest of life. But for now, it's serving its purpose. Anyway, back to the garden. Our maid, Selvie, saw me working in the backyard, and she started scolding me, claiming the work was too hard for me and that she would call a gardener to come and do it. I know she's just trying to protect me, but I tried to explain that I like it and that it feels good to get dirty. She didn't underst

and. To her a white person shouldn't

be doing manual labor like that. I also get weird looks from the neighboring workers who work at the small motel behind our house. They stare at m

e, and I smile. I'm not an

expert at Indian culture, but I think it could be a couple things. For one, the caste system is still in place, though not officially. You're born into a certain caste and you're expected to do certain jobs and not do certain jobs. I hope my perspective doesn't offend anyone, but I just don't see anyone being able to make a good case that this system isn't still here (though I admit to still knowing very little). As a westerner coming here, I'm seen as a job opportunity for someone who does certain jobs, like gardening. So when I get out in the backyard and work, it's not only a strange sight, but job-threatening as well. Hmmm...It's a hard thing, trying to promote equality by your lifestyle (having no problem getting dirty or helping the maid do the dishes), and also support gardeners who need all the money they can get for their family. So, in that social context, I decide to get my shovel and bucket and walk the street picking up fresh horse and cow manure for my garden (I eventually met this guy on the street who offered to deliver some nice soil/fertilizer to my house for a good price). People were staring at me so hard, and I just tried to smile everything off. I had a few people take a picture of me with their camera phones. So I smiled. At least they have a picture of a smiling white guy picking up cow manure instead of a scowling one. One of the many things that I learned from my Dad is that it's always better to smile.

Speaking of smiling for random peoples' pictures, Lynea and I had just finished our tandem bike ride around the lake (more on that later), when these guys walked up beh

ind me, stood there waiting patiently for us to finish our conversation and then asked if they could have their picture with me. I asked if it was because I was white, and he said yes. I obliged, and now I'm forever in some random person's photo album, probably known as the tall, skinny, white guy they met in Kodaikanal. Lots of westerners are bitter about all the attention they draw from the locals: the pictures, the stares, the laughs and shouts as we walk by. I've tried to embrace it, just smiling my best smile and saying hi, answering their questions (sometimes in the gibberish language I make up as I go...this always confuses them and one guy even asked if I was from france, to which I replied in my own language that he and I both didn't understand).

Oh yes, the bike ride. The school had a long weekend last week (wednesday to sunday), but we still had some weekend chaperoning responsibilities like the "around the lake bike ride." Let me first say that riding a bike in India is life-threatening. Secondly, the rental bikes aren't guaranteed to work when you need them to. Lastly, the only bike they had left for us was a tandem bike. It's kinda like driving a 15 passenger van when you're used to a Ford Fiesta. Great fun!! Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt.

And now for my better half...

Well that's a hard act to follow!!! But I'll try to keep your attention just as much. I have come to realize that I LOVE teaching and LOVE LOVE LOVE my kids....and I tell them that every day! Currently we are doing a read-a-thon fundraiser for a nearby village school called Kombai. Kombai has 105 students, 55 of whom are boarding kids. They have no bathrooms, no clean water, no cafeteria/auditorium/room big enough for them all to meet, small classrooms with tiny hand held slates to learn from, and to top it all off, the boarding kids sleep on the ground in the grade 1/2 room. Our elementary school has done some outreaches there in the past and our 5th graders decided they wanted to get clean water, bathrooms, a covered court and a playground for the children at Kombai. SO.....we are doing a read-a-thon for the month of October raising money for this school. My students are doing amazing in their reading!! One of my students had read 1,054 pages over long weekend!! She's 8 years old!! My students are motivated youngster who really want to help. My class is being sponsored by my church back home, but if you still would like to donate, let me know!!!

Speaking of long weekend, I p

ainted again!! This time I tackled the bedroom (see picture). It was fun, although my maid was here that day and kept trying to tell me not to stand on the dresser because I might fall. Thank God she didn't see Kyle standing on two chairs stacked on top of a table. She would have had a heart attack. Now we have a nice picture to look at when we wake up each morning.

Please leave comments if you have any because we love reading them!!

Finally, another post

2008-09-20T04:22:00.001-07:00

First of all, we need to apologize for not writing for over a month!! We were battling health problems, closing out the first quarter, and planning for field trip week all at once. But that is no excuse for not keeping you posted on all our fun and adventures. So, here's to make up for lost time.

Four major happenings.
Happening #1 Decorating our first home!!! Kyle had seen a picture on my sister-in-law's website that inspired him. He showed me and I got inspired, so I painted our living room. Kyle also wanted to spice up our corner table so he found a sweet looking stick in our yard and placed it between a lot of our wedding pictures. My next task is the bedroom.....wait until you see it!!!

Happening #2…closing out the first quarter. Grades Grades Grades. Oh my goodness we had to write so many reports for grades! And you can't just write the same for everyone, you have to make it personal. It's nice communicate to parents how their children are doing, but it takes FOREVER!! My students are wonderful and I love to talk about them. I love each one of the little rascals! They are sweet, kind, hilarious, and so darn cute! It's hard to ever be mad at them because of their cute little faces. Dimples, missing front teeth, puppy dog eyes, you name and I have it! We are in the middle of studying oceans/water. I will show pictures of all their ocean animals and water experiments soon.

Happening #3…Field Trip Week. Every year the entire school PreK-Grade 12 goes on a week long field trip in the middle of September. Each grade goes to a different place(s) in Southern India. My class gets the pleasure of going to Poondi Camp. The school owns a wilderness campus 2 ½ hours from Kodai in a town called Poondi. Since my kids are so young still (8 or 9 years old) we only went for 3 days. We had an absolute blast!!! Field Trip week is not just a random week off of school between quarters, it's an extension of the learning that takes place in the classroom. The kids were able to experience a wide range of activities at camp: Zip line, rock climbing, archery, team building to learn the importance of communication, hiking, getting lost on a hike and having to find their way out of the woods, how to make rope from leaves, making a fire, rafting, and creating team songs and skits to go along with all they learned. On Thursday, we took the kids to the lake here in Kodai to go boating and had so much fun. Friday was a recovery day because we were so tired! Overall, camp was amazing and we can't wait for next year!

Happening #4…Subduing the jungle. Kyle got inspired yet again to fix up the house. There is a jungle in our back yard with weeds taller than my 6'4" husband. He took our machete and went to work tearing out all the craziness back there. Now we have a pleasant little spot where he would like to plant a garden. While I'm painting the bedroom, he'll be planting a garden of string beans, broccoli, carrots, and who knows what else. Luckily for us, we don't get monkeys or bison around our house like all of our friends. We only have to worry about the darn crows that are always on the roof.

I promise it won't be another month and a half before you hear from us again.

Lynea

P.S. Check out our new picture links at the top, on the left or click here to see some of our newest ones. Also, look below to see more of our living room transformation!

Lynea Transforming Our Living Room!!

2008-09-20T00:17:00.001-07:00

pomegranates are so good!

2008-08-03T02:42:00.000-07:00

with all the things that have been happening in our lives for the past few weeks, I might actually be most excited about the pomegranate that I (kyle) just ate. I'm not sure how I missed out on these heavenly fruits back in the states. maybe I didn't know about them or just didn't look on the right aisle, but i would encourage anyone who is reading this to stop, leave your computer, find the nearest fruit stand or grocery store, purchase a half dozen pomegranates, come back to the computer and finish reading the blog while enjoying this incredible fruit. Go!!...

ok, so hopefully you have a pomegranate by now, but if not, make sure that you find one soon. i can't get over how much i enjoy this fruit now. it looks like a normal fruit,

similar to an orange or an apple in shape. but once you open

the outer layer, you don't just find one piece of fruit like a banana or even a few pieces like an orange, but you find hundreds of little tasty treats (called arils) just waiting to be consumed by an appreciative mouth. the color of the aril is bright red (looks to good to be true) , the taste is so sweet and yet, it is quite healthy. ok, enough about pomegranates. but seriously, it will enrich your life.(transition into what we've been doing)...

Lynea has been doing an incredible job with with the 3rd and 4th grade. and i'm not just saying that because she's my wife. i've been down to see her in the classroom a few times, and the kids absolutely adore her. they are like little sponges, excited to learn and soak up everything that she presents. the only thing the kids get in trouble for is getting out of their seats while raising their

hand because they are so desperate to answer the question. they make little noises...oooh oooh oooh, me me me, aaah aaah aaa

h. if only we could all maintain that excitement and desire for learning throughout our lifetime. as for me, i've been teaching some middle school classes and coordinating events for the exchange program. i've been able to visit 2 orphanages in the past couple weeks (a boys one and a girls one) with some of the exchange students from the Netherlands.

everytime i visit a place like that, i find myself remembering my first experience with an orphanage in honduras when i was 19. it changed my life forever. it's the reason that i began traveling, the reason i married the girl that i married (because we have a heart for the same things) and the reason that we came here. i know it might sound absurd that i would attribute

my life now to a 2-week trip i took 5 years ago, but it was during that trip that i began to think more deeply about my life. and it was all because of the kids. out of all the huge and catastrophic things that are going on in life, maybe the most profound thing we can do is spend time with children, who don't seem to be worried about the election or global warming or the next paycheck. sure, some can be quite selfish and bratty, but what i saw in honduras the first time and what i've seen at the 2 orphanages and even in my classes since i've been here is beautiful. i'm not saying that everyone must go to a different country or to a foster home or an orphanage in order to solve your problems or

experience true joy. but maybe we all should consider what it means to become like a child. they seem more worried about who's it during tag than if they'll have a meal on the table at night. and even though these kids that i hung out with the past couple of weeks initially appear to have less than me (seeing that there's 32 of them in each home that's only slightly bigger than the one the 2 of us stay at), i think they actually have more of what really counts. some are there because of the tsunami that wiped out their home. some are their because their parents died or couldn't take care of them. and yet you would think by their smiles and laughter that nothing had ever happened. so may we all be more care-free, laughing and smiling more often. may we gain a deeper sense of trust in God, finding fulfillment in the simple things in life. and may we understand even better what it means to become like a child and see with our new kingdom eyes.

i just heard lynea say buuuurrrrr, and so i took the cue and put another blanket over her. she's in bed not feeling so well. she threw up last night, and i must say that it was pretty good for a girl.haha. we're getting along fine and i'm learning how to be a better, more nurturing husband (i know that nurturing is motherly word, but she is sick and i feel that i'm giving her that type of love). we don't really have a given set of responsibilities so far. we trade off and switch it up often. i usually make breakfast and she usually makes dinner. though this could be switched depending on the day. i did the shopping at the open air market today, though she's better at it. we like to do most things together, seeing that we haven't even been married for 3 months (feels like 10 years...in a good way). we have 2 bathrooms, one we use for the toilet (bec

ause the shower head points directly on the toilet seat) and one we use for showering (imagine a shower head placed randomly in your kitchen and turned on without a shower curtain...ya, everything gets soaked including the other toilet that we use for decoration). but, although we have 2 bathrooms, we only have one bar of soap we share. sometimes we realize that the bar of soap is in the other bathroom after we're soaking wet, trying to share the hot water that doesn't last too long. no need to be worried, though. this is one marital crisis that can be solved by a quick game of rock, paper, scissors (the loser has to run out of the warm, steam-filled bathroom to the other freezing cold one, retrieve the soap and come back). come to think of it, a lot of things in life could be solved by a quick series of rock, paper, scissors. or maybe we should just

buy another bar of soap. on that strange note (i'm trying to be somewhat open about our lives without going over the top), thanks for reading our update and being a part of our lives. thanks for all of your prayers. pray that lynea gets well soon! we love you.

kyle and lynea

We're here!!

2008-07-14T03:24:00.001-07:00

We made it!!! 56 hours later we made it to Kodaikanal. Our house is perfect...well almost perfect. Our showers make the entire bathroom wet, the toilets leak, and the power goes out on average all the time. But, it's perfect. We love it. We cannot wait until our shipment comes so we can finish decorating and really settle in. So far we have met a few new staff that we have connected very well with. There are people here from all over the world! I think there's about 40 or so nationalities represented between the staff and students.

Right now, we're going to lots of meetings, learning about our new responsibilities and trying to get over jet lag. Lynea will be teaching grades 3 and 4 (they're combined) and I will be taking over the foreign ex

change program at the school as well as teaching a few middle school RE (religious education) courses. It might not sound overwhelming, but I assure you it is!

Altogether, though, things are turning out quite nice and we are excited to see what God has planned for this season of our lives.

Uh oh. I just got a call informing me that I do in fact need antibiotics! Indian food is good to the taste but extremely hard on the stomach and I'm already having my fair share of aches. Pray for us to get well soon, since Lynea is in bed not feeling well either.

Anyway, that's it for now. We love ya.

Kyle and Lynea

Leaving...

2008-07-09T09:41:00.000-07:00

We are sitting in the Orlando airport waiting to start our 50 hour journey to Kodaikanal. I can't even begin to explain the emotions running through us. We're excited, nervous, joyful, sad, and can't wait to jump in the puddles that this adventure brings us. Before we leave American soil...I have to take a second to say Thank You. Thank you to our family for loving and supporting us. And thank you to our friends for loving and supporting us. Thank you to anyone who has offered encouragement, prayer, financial support, emotional support, or a hug along the way. We could not be doing this without you.

We have successfully packed up our life in one shipment (that will arrive in about a month), four check in bags, two carry on bags and two instrument cases (that will hopefully arrive with us in India!!!!) Packing up puts your life in a sort of perspective. As you sift

through your room full of memories, it reminds you of

where you've been, where you are and as you shove it all in a suitcase...where you are going.

The Sunshine State

2008-07-02T07:56:00.000-07:00

We've now been in Florida for 3 weeks. Man was it hard to leave everyone in Cleveland. Our time there was full of love, laughter, and volleyball with our friends and family. Although it was hard leaving, we were welcomed here with wide open arms...and we hit the ground running, helping with Kenna's (Kyle's sister) wedding. The wedding was beautiful!! We now have a new and improved appreciation for everyone that helped with our wedding! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!! Weddings are crazy behind the scenes! Since the wedding we have spent much time with my new Dad and Mom. We went to the beach for a weekend and played in the waves, went running, played some frisbee, and had some great conversations. Owen and I played horse the other day, he beat me 3 games in a row. I don't get it...both my dads can run circles around me. That is not right. These last 7 days will be filled with love, laughter, and not volleyball (way to hot!!!) But I will be challenging Dad to one more round of horse. Pray for me...ha.
Lynea

We're married!

2008-06-02T14:42:00.000-07:00

Well, the wedding day couldn't have gone any better. We're still having a hard time believing that it actually happened like it did. The weather was beautiful, the food was tasty, the music was delightful and the smiles and tears were all over the place.

After the wedding, we jetted off to a cozy little cabin in the southern part of Ohio and enjoyed the sights and sounds of nature that we don't always get here in the city. Then we headed up to Niagara Falls (stopping to camp out in our 2 person tent for one night on the way - which turned out to be rainy and cold, yet adventurous nonetheless) for a couple more nights.

Now, we're gearing up to head to Florida to stay with my (Kyle's) family for about a month before we fly off to India.

The end is near

2008-04-20T14:18:00.000-07:00

In less than 3 weeks from now, Lynea and I will have already embarked on a new journey affectionately known as marriage. As the end of our singleness draws near, we're beginning to learn new lessons in selflessness, humility and love. Over the past couple years, we've built our friendship and communication skills, talked about our pasts and dreamed about our future. We've been together for months at a time and traveled apart for what seemed like forever (though it was only a few months). We've asked other people for wisdom, read books together, learned each others strengths and weaknesses and sleeping habits and eating methods. We've learned how to be patient and how to express our feelings with each other, how to have deep conversations and playful ones. We've laughed and played and danced and climbed trees and sang and even cried a few times. Yet there is still the unknown of what it will be like living everyday with the same person for the rest of your life; what it will be like to wake up every morning with this person's morning breath and slobber all up in your face. I imagine that there will be times to celebrate and times to cry, times to be together every second of every day and times to give each other a bit of space, times to be romantic and times to be brutally honest. We don't expect marriage to be the solution to all problems, and we don't expect each other to meet our every need. But we do expect something beautiful and fresh to come out of this joining of our lives as we begin a new life together. And we hope that you can celebrate this with us!!