the farm - april & may 2009

knowing that an abrupt jump back to reside for the summer in michigan would result in a severity of culture shock i feared i would be unable to withstand without breaking, a perfect opportunity came into my path to spend time at the world hunger relief farm in rural, elm mott, texas.











world hunger relief is a christian training farm for those interested in learning hands-on skills in organic agriculture and sustainable rural community development, internationally and domestically. volunteers and interns assist in the community-supported agriculture "CSA" garden, in the goat milk dairy, in free-range egg and beef production, urban garden initiatives and in hosting educational tours and groups who come to learn for a day or a week about world poverty issues, sustainable and organic farming, and local small-scale food production.

essentially through keeping up the CSA, dairy, free range eggs, etc, we are learning about basic methods that a rural community in a developing country context can provide for their basic essential food needs through family or community plots and small animal production (goats, rabbits, chickens).

the farm allowed me to stay connected to a circle of people involved in development work, and a local billingual spanish-english house church helped keep me connected to the latin american community.

at the farm we planted, weeded and harvested the csa garden...

took care of the free -range chickens and collected eggs...

cleaned out our composting toilets!


took care of the very pregnant goats...

til they started "kidding". then we named the babies and helped with bottled feeding.

which, with only a couple babies was no big deal...but as more and more were born, got to be quite a production!

baby goats love the banjo!


then there was milking (probably my favorite chore)

and taking care of the baby chicks and the rabbits....


and in our "off duty" there was time to spend fun times together...

and pick lovely texan wildflowers...

and eat yummy salads we picked from the garden with goat cheese we made from our milk.

and discover we have a pomogranate tree!

and of course visit with the baby goats who provide hours upon hours of free entertainment.

so that was the farm. a perfect place to transition back into the U.S. and start to learn a bit about small-scale organic agriculture and international rural development work in preparation for possible future paths.

and with this entry, i conclude the blog "guatemala untitled." thanks for tuning in and sharing the highs and lows of these past two years in guatemala - for your prayers, comments, thoughts, and encouragement that helped me make it past the rough spots.

and thanks to those of you who suggested i do this "blog" thing in the first place, despite my mumblings and initial refusals, i think it did serve as a good space to debrief and reflect, in addition to stay connected to you in a space that could provide a bit more depth than two-page quarterly letters allow for.

as i prepare for a year-long volunteer assignment state-side (to start approx Sept 2009) i will consider whether to start a new blog. if i do, i'll be sure to post a link!

i have loved getting reconnected to some of you now, since returning to michigan for the summer. blessings to you all in all you do, wherever you are in the world. keep in touch!

goodbyes - march, final week

goodbye to semilla and casas program friends and co workers....


who gave me a "depidida" (going away party)




and to the friendly couple who greeted me each day from their food stand when i headed to work.



and to my former host family (and dear friends) carlos, sylvia, citlali, itzel, rocio, janser and ricky, who helped me adjust to life in guatemala and learn spanish in my first couple months.


and to buds alex, dennis and davis, who took me out to one last night of grilled street food before a relaxing evening of witty jabs and guitar-playing attempts.



and teary goodbyes to mcc co-workers before they boarded their bus for meetings in coban.



and a sleep-over and movie night my last night in guate with mcc bosses daughters nataly and melany (the female-colombian versions of my brothers matt and ben, i swear it!)


and one last goodbye to my colorful, sunny pad...

adios, que nos veamos pronto guatemala.

goodbyes - march, week three...

week three sent me to costa rica to visit my cousin, ashley, a peace corps worker working in an indigenous reservation there.

it was so good to visit with ashley. she put up with a lot of my complaining about the heat and humidity. (i lived in a spring-like temps area of guatemala, so am now a wimp for temperature extremes). but we found ways to insert silliness and icecream into our days to help us cope :).

we did a lot of catching up with each other, as a 7 year age gap kept us out of each other's radars until now. but with time's way of diminishing age gaps, we have now found out we are not only peers, but good friends!

and i am so grateful to God that we were given each other as family to share these similar paths and passions together.