Something About Taiga: Livin it up Panya style

Where does time go after it has engulfed us in this present moment? What have become of the days except memories? Time is escaping and vanishing with every stomp in the mud pit, every sleep under a mosquito net, every batch of paint mixed, every laugh shared and every lesson learned in the never ending 'learning by doing' process. I have less than a month to check off all of the projects that I have added to my inspired idea list... And finish the ones that have been started that are eagerly awaiting completion... EEEEK !! I look around the farm, in awe at the progress and accomplishments that have been created not just by us (meaning the "lifer's"), but by hands from around the world, of all ages that have come to Panya to reach beyond their comfort bubbles of city life full of amenities, or expand beyond the binds of a text book, or break away from a routine, monotonous work schedule to expand on a different way of living life. The last group I will see at Panya this spring was the "save the best for last" group... 30 High Schoolers from the International School in Bangkok which can be translated as challenging for us, challenging for them, and in my mind, the one group I would want the week experience to make the biggest impact on. Now, this was the high school that Christian went to, his dad taught at for 12 years, a very prestigious, exclusive, highly rated academic school. Not known for their progressive environmental thinking though. Many of the students have never stepped foot outside the city perimeters, many, come to find out, didn't realize we are in a BIT of a global crises concerning oil and resource shortages, specie extinction, climate change and all of the chaos that culminates from these issues. Notice though, how I used the term "didn't". To back up a bit, my mental image of this group was derived from Christian who, having attended this school and leading the life with the interests and awareness he leads, made me think that this school promoted progressive, environmental, "out of the box" thinking. So when I found out that we could be dealing with freak outs regarding the compost squat toilet, the tents with all the creepy crawlies around, girls who like to take hour long showers and now forced to take navy showers to extremes, I was a bit apprehensive, but excited to hopefully inspire and present to them a simpler, but also fulfilling way to live life.

The first couple days was rough trying to get any bit of emotion or enthusiasm out of the students, but to their credit there was NO wining or acting appalled at the accommodations. After an attempted interactive conversation about peak oil and if that means any thing to them, most proved to be completely unaware or unfazed by any pertinence of the global situation.

So the days went by, demonstrating as well as we could that work can be fun, and "look at the amazing things one can build and create with local, free and reused resources, and with our own hands"!!

I was in charge of seeing that the whole cottage got painted with batches of natural paints that I created and meticulously tried to keep track of proportions so I could replicate colors and mediums. That proves to be a very difficult task for me as I start mixing away, adding a bit of color, a bit more clay, oh, a handful of sand here, maybe a splash of water.... Somehow though, the cottage is now a even toned "earthy" yellow, with earth red window frames. The boss in me kept coming out a bit to heavy with the kids as I was cracking the whip, and I often had to stop and remind myself this was a fun learning experience and we were not paying them by the hour!! The third day I saw the look of dread on their faces as the group gathered around the work site, the monotonous pains of painting obviously taking its toll.... I was also told that I worked like a robot.... OUCH .... So, thank god for the mud pit. It all started with Geoff and I diligently gathering buckets of mud (or mortar/plaster to be politically correct) so we could keep our child labor force rolling. Somehow the robots started malfunctioning, flinging bits of mud here and there. The full face splat that landed on me heated it up and the fight was on. One by one brushes were dropped, adobe bricks abandoned and we had a full on audience. It only took one adventuresome student to cannon ball in and the whole lot of them forgot about their clean panties and nails and joined in. I think that was the best thing that could have happened. A veil was lifted and spirits were raised. I even overheard a few comments saying how this is "so much cooler than school". So, all in all a success.

Before a group departs, we always have a reflection circle. We go around the circle so everyone has to talk, even if it is one word. Amazingly, these kids who were so bound up and shy and quiet had the most remarkable and moving comments. One of the more gregarious kids said how he wanted to look into community gardens in Bangkok. Another girl from Japan made the comment that she finally realized life can be "fun and cool without TV, and nature isn't that gross". Fun and cool were the words that summed up the circle, but still they were incorporated with new awareness of the environment and the fact that there is more to life then text book academics. Hearing comments like these made the whole week of nonstop effort and keeping things rolling completely worth every minute.

So, for the next month, nothing to do but sit back and consume our copious amounts of homemade wine and thumb through the pages of a good book while swaying in a hammock......

YEAH RIGHT. There are two houses (small bungalow style) that were started with the kids that need to be finished. "Leah's" house was destructed because of termite damage and is now being rebuilt, her being the designer. It is turning into quite the adobe brick fortress. Two other buildings need new thatched roofs before the rains, the gardens are in full production mode, with many veggie and fruit varieties being saved for seeds. I have a whole list of side projects on the cottage where I live that I would love to see done before my potential return next winter....
The days are split up now, with a 4 hour long 'siesta' mid day as it is getting WARM.
March 18th Christian and I head to Bangkok for a sustainability conference where Panya has an educational booth and Christian also is giving some talks and such... Then we have a few days to relax maybe on the beach and then we head to Taiwan for 2.5 weeks for the permaculture course that Christian is teaching and I am volunteering at!! Then I fly on home. Just in time for the snow to be melting!
My dear friends Mary and Peter flew back to Seattle today , they are the first to reintegrate themselves back into their former life. Leah and Geoffery leave this weekend.... Many short term volunteers will be coming and going, but it is hard to say goodbye to old friends, essentially family, and take the energy to meet new people when it is so temporary.

There are lessons learned and insights to be gathered from every intimate relationship that is created, whether it is a hour long connecting conversation, a lifelong friendship, a partnership, a romantic affair, or a group of people with very diverse personalities living extremely close and connected for 3 months. The challenges have been there especially with a few individuals, but I know that I will take with me the good and endearing qualities from all and the small annoyances that have arisen will disappear over time.