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.
