One Month

Well, I have been here for a month now. I was trying to decide when I would call it a month officially. Thursday was the end of the fourth week, Saturday was the first day of the new month, Sunday was the anniversary by date, but by the time I actually got around to posting a blog about it I was already into month two and behind schedule by a day. Some things never change.

I feel like I am growing and learning here. I am thinking a lot and asking myself all kinds of questions. There are so many amazing and varied things in this world, and so many people with different ideas and dreams. Our community is diverse but we all have the same concerns about our families, our communities and the future. We are all separated from people we love in a new home trying to learn to live together. Some of my fellows are getting reports from home about turmoil or unrest. There governments are split or under attack, or even attacking. When they leave this place in a little more than a month they will have to go home and to hostile governments and business interests that don't have any love for rural leaders that would encourage the masses to stand up for themselves and take back their lives and their food. Or their countries are split in a struggle for power, a struggle that is leaving their families in harms way. But while we are here, we are safe and inspired. I pray that these wonderful people will be able to take what they have learned here back home with them and share the love and compassion that they so ably display here.

Our weather is changing, and the temperature is dropping. We have harvested a lot of food and begun planting some of our winter crops. The food is wonderful and warm. I always look forward to meal time.

Speaking of food, I have had some culinary adventures both inside and out of ARI. I have eaten fried crickets served as a snack during dinner. We regularly get a side of baby fish in a crunchy sweet sauce, the was a restaraunt where you pick sushi from a conveyor belt, fresh sashimi at my roomates house, fish guts served in a kind of gravy, cow guts that are regularly served with beer to cure hangovers, the largest bowls of Ramen noodles I have ever seen , and a myriad of variations along these themes. To tell you the truth I haven't find much that I don't like to eat. I am getting especially adept at using chopsticks .

This weekend we got to go fishing at a little river aout 40 minutes away. We used little worms from the bottom of the rocks as bait and caught 31 fish in about 45 minutes, I have included a picture of one of the largest of our catch. We brought them back to ARI with us and they got cooked up with some of our farm raised fish and served a dinner, whole.

As a recap for the month, I have gotten very acquainted with our chickens, harvested rice, climbed three mountains, started learning Japanese, gone fishing, visited Tokyo, dried my clothes on the roof, soaked in an Onsen (hot spring) , adopted three bicycles, eaten crickets, and eaten sushi from a conveyor belt.

Thank you for all of your support. I hope you enjoy these little updates. I will add more pictures later. If you click on the pictures it will take you to a full size version and my online photo folder. Peace, Love and good food for all.

Mike