From Cape Town to Anywhere
I’m back on American soil! After an amazing three months in South Africa, I have made my way back up the African continent, over most of Europe, and straight across the Atlantic ocean to the other side of the world.…
Category Stories
Photoblog: The Tafts in Guatemala
Semana Santa (Holy Week) is a very special time in Guatemala. For us it was even more special because my parents came to visit. Above you can see them at Monte Cristo’s “Lover’s Point” overlooking the beautiful valleys that stretch…
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There’s some videos going around the Internet about Guatemala, and I want to share them with you. It’s a pretty serious topic, but it’s a conversation that unfortunately needs to be had. Take one minute to watch. Look Alike- Lost- One…
New projects
New projects have been in the works lately around the ecovillage and it’s been quite exciting. First, I’ve been spending a lot of time working on creating a food forest. The idea behind a food forest is that multiple…
Queen Bee
When Hilary and I came to Monte Cristo we were given the challenge of finding some business opportunities that would help with their goal of becoming self-sustainable. Our first road led us to producing honey, a business we researched all…
Reflection at Halfway
We’ve been here for seven months now, a month past the halfway point of our Lumos journey. People have been asking me, “How does it feel? Like you’ve been here forever or like time is flying by?” I’m not quite…
A canine companion comes to the rescue
It’s impossible to travel for a long time in a foreign country without ending up in a few difficult–or sometimes even downright dangerous–situations. Every seasoned traveler knows this is basically a law of travel. I was recently reminded of this…
Watching Hawks
Monte Cristo is really a breathtaking place. In Spanish, the word for it is bellísimo, or the most beautiful it could possibly be. After school Hilary and I sit on the back porch and watch the hawks glide in circles…
Economic dynamics in small communities
I’m going to take a break from my series of posts about working on the tea farm to touch on a more or less unrelated topic–economics. I’m currently writing a paper about some economics observations I’ve made regarding the ashram…
Days for Freedom
For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. – Nelson Mandela March 21: SA Human Rights Day Every year on March 21, South Africa…