What a whirlwind first day of CFE! As soon as we turned down the road heading into O.U.R. Ecovillage, the excitement took over. We grabbed all of our things and were shown to the building we’d be staying in – a nice house/future B&B. It was really nice to have some time to get settled.

We went on a condensed version of the site walk. First, we saw the sanctuary – a warm building with a living roof and “breathable walls.” It was amazing to find out that the walls of the building were made by hand using only straw, clay, and sand. We were told that we would get to participate in building structures like this.

We were then shown a “cold room,” another handmade building – this time made by grade 3 students! They built the structure on a south facing slope, so as to use the landscape itself to keep it cool.

We had dinner with some students visiting from a nearby high school, who are leaving tomorrow. After we are, we were thrown right into the pan and were asked to lead this group in ice breakers for an hour! Being the eager, prepared individuals we are, this was no problem. After some games, we ended the night with ping pong, card games, and karaoke.

Tomorrow I look forward to seeing the grounds more entirely, as well as getting a better feel for what sorts of things we’ll get to experience during our 3 weeks here.