We're Being Oriented

So yesterday was a bit of a whirlwind, as was today. We were told that we were going to experience the Global Village, which is a major learning tool that the farms (Overlook, here in Rutland, and Heifer Ranch, at Headquarters in Perrysville, Arkansas) use to teach people about global hunger, poverty, and the problems they face. Basically, the Global Village has several houses that are specific to a few of the countries in which Heifer works. For example, ours has Peru, Guatemala, Thailand, Mexico, Tibet, Poland and Ghana (the latter two are under construction). We drew numbers, which randomly assigned us to families. Then, Todd (my supervisor) gave a few of us random disabilities. Lauren, my roommate, was pregnant, and had to give birth at some point that night. Rachel, in Guatemala, had a baby, and it had to be in constant human contact, as did Lauren's, once it was born. I had a bum leg, as did a few others.

My family was assigned to Thailand. Since I basically couldn't move, I stayed behind and started the fire, while my family members went to the market place (run by Todd and another volunteer, Glenn) to haggle for food. We actually did really well. We ended up making a delicious rice and kale stir-fry with carrots, and we even scored a few spices. After supper, Peru and Guatemala came over, and we played music and bonded a bit. It was the first time we actually got to hang out as the group of new summer vols.

In the morning, we made oatmeal and added some of Guatemala's salt, our ginger, and an egg from the laying chickens for some delicious mush. That was our experience with the Global Village!

Blah, then today, we had about 3 more debriefings about various (boring) things, and finally got a chance to shower and eat just now. Although I had a good night's sleep on a stilted house with board floors, I am quite tired.

As for the rest of the farm, life is going mostly well. We have one more new lamb today (I wasn't available to witness the birth), and I think some folks are out grocery shopping for delicious organic food. I am going to eat quite well here! The eggs are free and abundant, and when the veggies start coming in we'll have lots to get rid of that Liz (the chef) can't in the kitchen. Also, in about a month and a half we'll process some chickens, so we can have that meat too. (The other day I said "slaughter" instead of "process" and was quickly corrected).

In other news, I made some progress with the baby yaks. They weren't really socialized when they were younger, so they're very skittish. I was able to pet Ferguson for quite a little while today! Quite exciting.

Well, I need to go help with supper and figure out what's going on with chores. More to come (hopefully) tomorrow. I know that I can't explain stuff really well, so I REALLY ENCOURAGE you to go to Heifer's website. You can also learn a little more about Overlook. www.heifer.org.

Seriously, go there. Heifer has such an awesome mission, and I'm learning more about it and loving it more each day. :) Happy browsing!