Monthly Archives: June 2016

June 19 – 24

It’s hard to believe I am writing this post from my sofa in my apartment here in Kitsilano. These past three weeks are seeming so surreal right now as I marvel at all of the little luxuries I have a bizarre relationship with right now, after having been away from them for so long. I will recap the past days that we spent at the Ecovillage below and then share some final thoughts and ideas on how I can use this experience in my future teaching practice.

Sunday: This day marked Divine Masculine Day (aka Fathers Day to us urban and mainstream believers). The Ecovillage takes a different approach to days that recognize the Mother’s and the Father’s in the world. Their philosophy focuses on the relationships between the genders and their roles in the world, including parenthood amongst other personalized events. From what I could gather it seemed the intention was to create a day that allows those people who may not have a father in their life, or who want to share recognition of a significant male figure in their life to have the opportunity to share and treasure these people.

I thought it was an interesting concept, I didn’t want to be a wet blanket during an event that meant a great deal to many of the villagers and their significant others. I partook in the early rising to cook an elaborate meal and serve it to all the men in the village. The honoring ceremony and circle of hugs. I can say that it was a valuable experience to witness and to participate in, however I felt very disconnected from  the event as a whole as none of the men who are huge parts of my life were present. I felt like I was wronging them in some way by participating in this strange event where I was instead honoring and speaking to a group of men that I am not entirely familiar with, and have not yet established connections with. The experience left me with a peculiar taste in my mouth and with a regret for not having spoken up about my feelings in the moment.

At our CFE debrief with Brandy, I was honest with the group and shared that this event did cause some discomfort foe me and I questioned whether a lot of thought had been put into how new members of the community may feel about this event. Brandy was very receptive and apologized that she hadn’t fully explained this event and given us the option to take part or not. I felt grounded by having shared my thoughts (even if they were late!) I learned a valuable lesson through this experience though. By avoiding confrontation or not speaking your true opinions in the moment, you create problems within yourself and those around you. This is not a new lesson in my life, and it is one that reappears again and again as I continally avoid confrontation for fear of disapointing others or creating more conflict. It’s a personal quality within myself that I know exists and that I need to actively work on.

Tuesday: We had a lovely down day on Monday. The sun finally came through the clouds long enough for us to enjoy some time at the lake. I felt recharged! We had some time in the morning to do some paperwork and catch up with applications and such as many of us had expressed some stress and concern over not having a lot of time to prepare these documents. It felt good to get somethings off the daunting ‘applications’ checklist. Late morning led us to our final school tour at Brentwood College School. I felt like I was entering a resort when we pulled up. The perfectly manicured lawns and the modern buildings sprawled across the ocean front campus made me feel out of place with my grubby toes and sunburnt nose. We met for a short info session with the admissions/hiring officer, she offered some interesting insights on the expectations on teachers in this environment and the demands of the job. Many of the staff live on campus as they are required to act as a dorm parent one night each week, and because Saturdays are school days at Brentwood!

We then toured about the campus, peeking in at the incredibly well equipped classrooms and unbelievable arts studios. We were fortunate to have a young lady named Carrilina with us (a former graduate of Brentwood) who had many juicy stories to share with us during her time here on ‘the resort’. It was eye opening to see such a well financed and maintained educational facility. I left the place feeling like I would never in a hundred million years want to work in a place like this. I can’t even really explain why I feel this way but it just seems almost too exotic and exclusive a place for someone like me to actually feel comfortable and find community. Never say never I suppose.

Wednesday: This day marks one of the most eye opening, gut wrenching and  thought provoking days in my existence as a human being. Today marked the day wherewe processed meat birds. I don’t want to get into the knitty gritty details and all of the sensations that I experienced through this task, however I want to highlight why this task was such a profound experience.

The UBC girls had been asked the week prior whether any of us were interested in helping out with the meat bird processing project. Several of us hesitantly rose our hands and offered our services, specifying that we wanted simply to observe firstly and not be forced to partake if we were not feeling comfortable. The day arrived and it seemed like the whole village was there awkwardly and nervously waiting to find out whether they could handle the experience or not. Brian, the ‘butcher’ was a jovial and admirable character who brought humour and wisdom to the grim event. He was open and eager to share all of his knowledge with everyone present and this made me feel like rather than focusing on the death of these birds, we need to look at why and how they’re being killed. He walked us through every step of the process and explained everything at length.

When the killing commenced, I felt a swirling in my stomach and felt some tears welling up. However the urge to cry passed quickly and before I knew it I found this freshly killed bird laying on the table in front of me, featherless and ready to be eviscerated. Wes, another kind villager was our evisceration teacher. He gave us an introductory lesson and then let us loose on the fowl. He stepped in when we had questions or were in need of assistance and provided quality control on the final product. There was a surprising amount of laughter and chatter throughout the whole process, something I was not expecting during such a high intensity activity. I was so proud of all of the UBC girls, even the ones who were adamant that they could not participate in this kind of activity, got involved and got their hands dirty in one way or another. It was a bonding experience to say the least. Near the end of the event, we had become the teachers, guiding others through the process and sharing information.

After the event was complete, and we had bagged, weighed and recorded everything that was needed, I finally had a moment to think about what just happened. I realized that I finally completed the food cycle, with my own two hands. I have bounced between vegetarianism, veganism and being an omnivore for years and I am finally comfortable with the eating poultry aspect of my diet. So many things became clear to me during this procedure that are difficult to articulate, but to keep it short and sweet I truly witnessed how much a tightly knit community can accomplish and how the transfer of knowledge is a beautiful and continuous cycle. I want to write more on the realizations and thoughts that occured during this process but I feel it deserves a whole other entry of it’s own.

Thursday: I was very tired today, maybe a combination of the emotional turmoil from yesterday and the late night in the sauna. Either way, the rest of the community felt the vibes and let us have a mellow day. We picked some berries and nasturtiums in the morning, then cleaned up the dorm in the afternoon. Topping it off with a trip to town for some ice cream. Upon our return we debriefed with Brandy and Mark. It was a settling and rewarding conversation, one where I felt comfortable to talk about any and all of my experiences on the Ecovillage. We did the final meeting in a round table discussion style, responding to the following questions: “What are you taking away from this experience?” and “Did you suprise yourself at all during these three weeks.”

Final thoughts:  I am dedicating this section to the response to the above questions. I had three major take aways from my time on the Ecovillage that connect directly to my expectations for the classroom and the educational system as a whole. The value and importance of community is one of them. Through being welcomed and engaged with such a supportive and lively community, I really opened up to new people, had deep conversations and shared experiences with new friends. I grew as a person. This is the kind of environment that students need in their classroom. They need to feel welcomed, loved and supported in their learning journey in order to really achieve their potential.

Secondly, the learning environment is a crucial aspect of the learning process. I believe strongly in every human needing basic things : light, water, magnetism and good friends, one could argue for food as well.  My needs were met on the farm and I can say I honestly haven’t felt as good (physically, emotionally etc.) in quite a long time. I spent everyday outdoors in the sunshine, touching the soil and being connected to the earth. Recharging my own battery. I had access to high quality ground water rather than empty, chlorinated municipal water. I connected with people and we shared our passions together. I felt fulfilled and was able to learn in all aspects of my being in a multimodal way. Simply interacting with my rich environment presented learning opportunities, I did not need direct instruction or motivation. These experiences came naturally, as they should.

Finally, I surprised myself by developing such an attachement and commitment to a place that I spent a relatively short amount of time. I overcame fears and let my social inhibitions rest for these three weeks and was able to reconnect with who I really am. I came back to the mainland feeling fresh and rejuvenated. I hope to be able to maintain this calm, relaxed and conscious state of mind into the future months and years. I also sincerely wish to have the opportunity to create a community as enriching, joyful and educational as that of the Ecovillage in whatever classroom setting I may find myself one day.

June 14 – 20

It’s been difficult to find the time to update all of the happenings here at the Ecovillage as time seems to pass at a different pace here than elsewhere. The past week has been filled with many memorable times, after our trip to Tofino we jumped right into some school visits to local schools and continued our regular routine on the farm. Community building

Tuesday: We went to visit the Sunrise Waldorf school here in Shawnigan this morning. It was incredible. I have been curious about the structure of this form of education and how their philosophy is different than other schools and education systems. The energy in the building itself was so powerful and pure compared to any other school I have visited before. There is no technology used in the Waldorf school and students are encouraged to adopt this kind of lifestyle beyond their schooling as well. The rooms were all painted gentle, pastel colors depending on their developmental stage and the architecture of the building itself is reflective of human development (e.g – lower ceilings for the younger students and specific angles and window shapes to correspond to the different angles and perspectives each human has within themselves) It was a fascinating experience and really opened my eyes to the many faceted sides of education.

For some time I have struggled with the whether I will feel satisfied working in a traditional classroom setting as many of my beliefs and my educational pedagogy do not fit into the standard educational system. Seeing a Waldorf system and how nurturing and holistic this approach to education has inspired me and revived my hopes in finding a suitable place in this career path for me. It was also very interesting to compare the Montessori approach to education with the Waldorf approach. It left me wondering if I end up working in the public school sector, how I could blend these two educational philosophies into a mainstream classroom without disrupting the expectations of the ministry or the individual school that I am working within.

Wednesday: To be honest I can’t quite remember what we did today so it isn’t going to be a huge focus in this entry!

Thursday: I was still swimming in a state of enlightenment from our visit to Waldorf school yesterday so the visit we made to Dwight International School was quite shocking. They are an IB school that welcomes many international students from all over as well as local students into their classes. It was a stark and lacking environment that, in my opinion was not conducive to higher learning. That being said, the staff that welcomed us and showed us around the campus were warm and inviting which made me feel slightly better about the place. It was a mix between the old and new, and the vibe I received from the students that were still there and the construct of the place was that the intent and purpose of the school was still very much in the making. The classrooms were spiritless and cold and the it was very clear that the teachers here focused on content, content, content. I suppose that’s  natural thing in an IB school, but I just wasn’t prepared for the energy that I received from this place. It solidified the notion that I do not belong in this style of education and that if I were to find myself teaching secondary students I would definitely pursue the arts and fine arts side of the system.

A highlight of this visit was the historical richness of the campus. Their gymnasium was built sometime in the early 20th century and had a smell that really took me back. Upon walking in there I was flooded with memories of my family home and the old community centers I spent my time in on the east coast as a kid.

They had just finished writing exams in this space which also took me back to my undergraduate years, and the stress and anxiety that came with these testing periods.

After our visit at Dwight we went on a bread mission. The Ecovillage has an agreement with a local bakery in Mill Bay – at the end of the day, this bakery donates any of their remaining products to the Ecovillage at no charge (provided that we do the pick up!) Mark and the Angels (what we have started calling ourselves) we elected for the task and so we made a whole evening of it. We arrived a bit early and decided to share in having a pint together on the pier. Then we picked up the literal garbage bags of bread from True Grain.

After we loaded it up in Jess’s car we then celebrated with a lovely dinner together at the Cow Cafe. Mark is such a lovely and kind person and I felt fortunate to have the chance to hear his stories and learn more about him. It was an enriching evening and really brought the group closer together.

Something I forgot to mention about this day – we spent the morning rendering pork fat to be used for cooking in the kitchen and for making soap. Arthur gave us a fairly complex chemistry lesson on the properties of fat and water and how soap actually works in removing oil from dishes or from our skin. It was quite interesting and a bit disgusting, both qualities that will help me remember the process for a long time!

Friday: We had a pretty calm day today, most of our time was spent digging trenches for the irrigation system again. We improved in our productivity and managed to get an entire trench dug and the line laid in one morning. It felt good to be using my body again and be physically tired, I needed that. The afternoon was quite wonderful as I had a massage scheduled with the local masseuse – Estelle. She is a wise and witty character who shared some deep insights and whom I felt really connected with during the massage. We spoke about our experiences with Aboriginal education and the truth and reconciliation act and how we are all a part of a bigger picture than what many people are aware of (or choose to be aware of). She was a school teacher herself in the UK many moons ago and in recent years was invited back to teach culture specifically after having lived in the Pacific Northwest for many years. I realized through this conversation how much we all have to learn from our elders and through the simple act of sharing stories and experiences. As an educator I will use this method of information sharing in my classroom as often as possible as it ties so many of our natural human tendencies into the transmission of information.

I rounded out the afternoon with a little bit of gardening, helping to transplant some parsley into their new homes. I was on dinner duty and what a whirlwind it was! We decided to make pizza for 30 people, all of whom have varying dietary needs so it was particularly difficult to find and execute recipes that cater to everyone’s need. In the end we served up 5 different pizzas (an hour late) including cauliflower crust, traditional crust and sweet potato crust. No one was too upset by the lateness as it was a delicious meal. Teamwork was the only thing that got us through this crazy kitchen experiment – I was grateful for the other kitchen magicians today.

Final thoughts: We were recently talking as a group about the kinds of things that we are learning during this time  and in general about the title of this practicum as “The Community Field Experience”. It’s been challenging to explain to others how this three weeks is part of my degree and considered a valuable learning experience. I am coming to the realization of how incredibly valuable having a community is for having a happy and healthy life in general. This realization reinforces what I already know about creating that kind of community in a classroom is. The Ecovillage is a reminder of how a strong community can nurture and support all of it’s members and how monumental things can be accomplished by a small yet determined group of people.

A fellow UBCer recently professed that they aren’t really sure that they are learning anything here. This comment really opened up my eyes to how troubled and stagnant many people’s opinions surrounding ‘education’ really are. I responded to this remark with a discussion about how it’s difficult for us (who have been confined to traditional, classroom based education systems for far too long) to really appreciate how much we are actually learning. We’re so accustomed to being seated in a classroom or lecture hall and having information either read to us or displayed on a screen. This is what we consider ‘learning’. I reminded them that we have been engaged in a rich learning environment for the past 2 weeks, constantly learning but in ways that are so foreign to us we often don’t recognize them as ‘learning’. It was an interesting concept to discuss with fellow teachers and I sincerely hope that through this discussion, everyone has expanded what they believe ‘learning’ really is.

After having worked for 7  days straight, I was invited to join Jess and Aileen on an impromptu road trip to Tofino. We were let off a bit early on Sunday afternoon and spent 2 nights camping in Ucluelet. It was such an invigorating and much needed time for me for a variety of reasons. I felt very privileged to be invited by these two ladies whom I have not known for very long. They were very generous and open to sharing this experience together and we formed some connections and memories over these days. Both Aileen and I had never been to Tofino before so it was a big deal for us! Being back on the coast was a powerful experience for me. I know that Vancouver is technically ‘the coast’ however it has a very different feel and energy about it compared to the wild and expansive coastline of Vancouver Island. I grew up on a very similar coastal environment on the Atlantic so it really brought me back to my roots and reconnected me to my childhood and adolescent years.

Another big accomplishment we reached on the trip was the chance to go surfing for the first time! (For Aileen and myself atleast) Jess was a wonderful guide and did her best to share her knowledge with us while we frolicked in the water and got ravaged by many waves. Surfing is something that has been on my bucket list for YEARS now so it felt wonderful to finally try it out. I felt like I was conquering some fears and really just embracing the opportunities that come up unexpectedly.

This trip also included some wonderful camp fire conversations, s’mores and tasty beer and food. The communities of Uclulet and Tofino are quite special and have this kind of slow life vibe that I have missed so dearly since living in an urban setting. It was nice to be able to take the time to chat with the locals and ask questions, we made some fantastic connections between all of our lives as we had friends who happened to be friends in this tiny little pocket of the world.

Here we are at the end of week 1 already! The time seems to pass at a different speed here on the farm and it’s certainly been a big adjustment from the chaos that wasa the 10-week practicum. I’ve summarized below what our daily duties include and some of the new information and I’ve acquired so far in my stay.

Arrival: Monday eveninig after a long adventure driving in from Pemberton and racing to catch the ferry! Sam (my beloved partner) and I arrived in a frenzy a bit later than the other CFE visitors. We were greeted by warm and charming cob buildings, chickens goats and many smiling faces. We managed to catch up with the already in progress tour that had begun. Brandy (our organizer) was welcoming and  understanding of our delays. She was also very accomodating and allowed Sam to sleepover and join us in meals in exchange for some gaden work which was a refreshing change of pace where everything is still very much a ‘pay cash for your services’ approach.

Tuesday: We woke up in our cozy little tent and joined the rest of the forces for breakfast at 7:30. The food is hearty, delicious and plentiful here. I had understood that they make every effort to eat only products that they produce themselves but understandably that is very difficult to achieve when you’re feeding such great numbers. Post breakfast we joined the building team in their tour of the natural buildings on the propety. Chad, the natural building course facilitator was very thorough and had a great depth of knowledge to share with us. We were shown examples of earth ship (rammed earth), cob, straw bale and light/straw/clay homes and learned the basics of natural building practices. I LOVED it. This has been an area that’s interested me for years now so it’s been really rewarding to get a taste of this style of building. Later int the day we worked in the garden with Kenix, clearing beds and planting lettuce. We are all now in great anticipation of our garden salad! The end of the day was complete with some dormitory snuggles with the rest of the UBC girls, we watched a movie recommended by Brandy called the ‘The Clean Bin Project’. It was inspirational and really gave some insight into how the villagers here at the Ecovillage strives to live their lives.

Wednesday: Had another delightful sleep in my tent, although I was a bit lonely with no Sam. We met with Brandy in the morning and had a really thorough and deep ‘check in’ conversation. Everyone had the opportunity to share how they were feeling and discuss how they were settling in to the village. It was great to connect with the other members of the program and to have Brandy share her wonderful wisdom and insights. Today was my first lunch cooking duty and I worked with Freja and Muktallah to make some soup and salad. It was a success and it felt really good to be in the kitchen again! The afternoon led us to making a schedule for our next two weeks and then into kitchen craft time. We made cilantro chutney and with 6 people in the kitchen – it was a bit too busy! We’re saving it for an Indian themed food night.

Thursday: We had a fantastic morning of games and sharing with the young people on the farm. Mark presented his presentation on the importance of play as well as his proposal for a card game focusing on permaculture and sustainable living. SO COOL! We then just played games and shared resources between one another. I felt like a kid again and loved it! We took part in the morning routine with Freja, Mila and Kade (the 3 children who live and are ‘educated’ her at the ecovillage) We sang many songs and learned a lot through their teacher, Carolyn. Lunch was a great time as we had the chance to chat with two lovely ladies named Leslie and Rose who had some wonderful stories. The afternoon led us to digging trenches with Trent to support the installment of a new irrigation system for the orchard trees.

Friday: Conquered some new fears today! We started the day off with a great stretching and check in with Mark, it felt good to take the time to care for my body and reflect on the past couple of days. We then moved into learning about the compost and assisting Mark with incorporating the new kitchen compost into the big bins. It was incredibly smelly, but I was proud of how I handled in and showed no fear of getting in there and shovelling some rotten food. It was great to see how the fantastic soil they use here comes to fruition. It is such a simple and beautiful process that so many people overlook and assume is too difficult to accomplish on their own. After lunch we carried on working in the trenches with another farm hand, Arthur who was full of laughs and good conversation and helped the time pass quickly. We finished the day of with a pig decoy activity where Krystal and I ran frantically from the pigs to deter them from the person who was delivering their dinner to them. It was exhilarating and a great cardio exercise!

Saturday: Today felt like a Saturday, it was hard to motivate myself to do a whole day of work and luckily Mark was feeling that we had earned an early afternoon which was great. We did a major kitchen overhaul with the rest of the ecovillage in the morning. It was a uniting experience as it really reiterated just how valuable team work is. A huge job like cleaning an entire industrial kitchen and a cold storage room in just one morning! It was really validating and encouraging to work with everyone here and see such a rewarding end product. The afternoon we began working on interviewing all homesteaders on the farm to accumulate a list of skills and talents that people can share with the students. This is to support the learning of the students now that Carolyn has left the ecovillage.

Final thoughts: It was a bit of a struggle to adjust from such a busy life with no extra time to so much freedom and down time. It has been wonderful to have such a supportive community and to get to know people and live in a beautiful and love filled village. I have really started to embrace the conversation and the simple moments that I have with the members of this place each day. I started the week feeling like I had to go from one task to the next and just get something accomplished, but now at the end of the week I am really starting to unwind and realize that some of the biggest accomplishments and most memorable moments come from the simple and wholesome interactions. Photos to come soon!