somewhere between asia and south america

Saturday, June 20, 2009

mOVing to California!!

Yay, I got a job! Last week, I traveled to Northern California to interview for a peace studies position. The school gets around 20 kids per semester out on 230 acres (gardens and forrest) to take intensive classes on Peace, Social Justice, and Environmental Sustainability. Check it out: http://www.woolman.org/!!!

Although, I applied for the peace studies position, but once there they convinced me to take the Global Issues position. It's really just peace studies on a global level and most of my class will be lessons on globalization(globalization from below), the affects of globalization on countries in poverty, etc. I am going to bring a new emphasis to the program on youth potential for peacebuilding which the administration was really excited about! I also will be in charge of the field trip to Mexico where the students go each semester to learn about border issues. They also work with Habitat for Humanity and do a field trip about food where they visit OG farms, factory farms, a slaughterhouse, a Genetically Modified Food lab, and more! Sounds perfect for me, eh? Both of us are so excited. Red will fit right in and is pretty confident about finding good work in the area (if not on campus). Ooh and we picked our house on campus too! You'll see in the pics.Thats the short of it!Starting in the first week of August our address will be:Emily or Red--Sierra Friends Center13075 Woolman LaneNevada City, CA95959

from The Woolman Semester poster, pretty perfect!

working on building a new play structure at the family camp

dirt road on the property

11 yr old fertilizing the OG garden!

main garden

teens and pre-teens working hard in the garden

little girl taking a break

there's a cow-op on the land!

tons of hiking to be done on the 230 acres

bonfire pit

the students will live in A-frame cabins like this!

our new house!!! called the redwood house!

the drawing studio

ceramics studio with 6 pottery wheels!

kiln

Japanese climbing Kiln to fire your pottery at different temps!

the meeting house

field in front of the cafeteria...sweet soccer field included

the cafeteria

Friday, June 12, 2009

tHe uPdaTe

Hi Everyone~

As you can see, I didn't write or post anything for ages. But hey, look! We finally got caught up! (the posts you see for June and May are actually from all semester, click on the months at the right)....Life has been so busy, so so busy! But all in all, everything is wonderful. We are coming to the end of our time in Costa Rica, I think a favorite year in both of our lives. Our lives have been really different--well I don't know if there exists a place like Mastatal anywhere else. But both of us have had amazing mind opening experiences. And both of us have really grown a lot through what we are doing. It definitely makes the time we have spent apart (we see each other around 1.5 weeks a month) easier because we have both been so inspired and happy. As you can also see (in the pics!) we have both been able to visit each other's worlds, too.

Classes are over for me! Now it is job searching and thesis time. I am really excited about what I am writing about. Many of you know, but I am designing a Peace Studies and Sustainability Dev. summer leadership camp. 1/2 of my thesis is a breakdown of that program and the other half is me talking about why it is important: kids aren't learning peacebuilding skills and values in school and camps are a great place to learn, etc! Hopefully, someday it becomes a reality. It would really be an amazing blending of what both Red and I are passionate about.

However... even if that takes a while to get going, I can use the curriculum I am creating for it in other settings: in a school or after-school program, too.

As the pictures will tell, for me life has been about friends from all over the world, cultural events, class (peace, human rights, sustainable development, conflict transformation...), a couple weekend trips, and music. While life for Red has been about creating, living deep in the jungle, living sustainably, seeing amazing nature, and living in a wonderful community of hardworking artist types.

In July, my father is coming for graduation! Then, I am going to be a dialogue facilitator at an amazing kids peace camp called "Kids4Peace" (follow the link!). The camp brings 12 Jewish, Christian, and Muslim kids from Israel and Palestine to summer camp with 12 American kids. All between the ages of 10-12. The mission is to break down stereotypes and promote religious tolerance. I couldn't be more excited to be a part of this important work.

During July, Red will be with his folks and then I will go to mine and well, that's all she wrote for now :)
All we know past that is that Father Jared will be conducting a marriage for his cousin in September. Oh yeah, and we are going to try to settle in the US of A... for a bit.

Love you all! Thanks for everything--we realize we are very lucky people!