Home Again...

Hello everyone,

The Amazon Rainforest!

I am back!  Those wild adventures across mountains, through jungles, over glaciers, and up volcanoes are now just memories.  All the incredible people I met, bonded with and learned from will never leave my heart. 

When I try to tell people about my experience on semester it never feels satisfying for it is impossible to convey how incredible and life changing those few months were.  I can tell people about climbing volcanoes and exploring the jungle but it is much harder to explain the feeling of being in such a wonderful community.  Our teachers, Thomas and Marcia, are two of the most strong, fun, wise, and understanding people I know.  All the students in our group were kind and thoughtful and we survived together for 3 months with only the most minor arguments.  We created a community in which we could be totally honest about our feelings. We solved problems together and tried to figure out how to make the solutions work for everyone.  We stuck together on expeditions, slowing down to care for the sick and encouraging them on.  Our group was full of laughter and comedy, singing and jamming, generosity and hard work.  We accomplished so much together and I hope I can find ways to stay connected with all those amazing people now that Kroka has ended.

Nelly, Me, Hytham, and Leah

Our wonderful teachers! (Marcia and Thomas)

Halloween!

Almost to Cotopaxi!

The framework of the semester that I knew about before going was only a fraction of the experiences we had and by the time the Mountain Expedition came (the last month of semester) I felt like I had learned so much and had so many adventures I could leave right then and go home feeling satisfied.  Of course, I stayed and trekking through the andes at 12,000 feet for 2 weeks ended up being one of the most incredible experiences of the semester and my life.  Even during the hardest moments, while I trudged on through the snow, rain and sleet beating down upon my back, I would look up from the narrow track and see the mountains looming around me, blurred by falling ice.  I would look around at the jagged landscape covered in grass, twisting bushes and crowned with bare, black rock, and my chest would fill with warmth at the wonder of my own existence in this endlessly beautiful world. 

Hiking up to high camp on Cotopaxi.

Choosing the ambitious goal of raising the money to go to Kroka was one of the biggest undertakings I have ever committed to in my life.  Both the year of fundraising and the months at Kroka had an enormous impact on my life and I will be forever thankful for being able to have that experience.  It has opened so many doors for me and the only trouble I am having is choosing which one to open next.  What direction can I go that has all the factors I need to enjoy life.  There is the directions of music and film.  World exploration.  How do I keep the Kroka spirit alive?  Friends.  Family.  Love.


Life right now...

Dewdrops in spiderweb (taken in New Hampshire)

So far life has been going well.  I have been doing tons of composing and improvising since I got back.  I have been carving, knitting, walking Dad into work at 6:00 many mornings, eating with a wooden spoon out of Pilche bowls I made in the jungle.  My Ultimate coach offered to take me ice climbing with him which I hope works out.  Hila is away at Mahoosic guide service doing a dog-sledding apprenticeship (she left 3 days after we got back from Kroka) and I will be joining her there for a couple weeks.  I bussed down to NH on New Years Eve to go to the Kroka Alumni Reunion which was awesome.  It was great to see my Kroka family again (8 showed up from my semester) and I got to meet almost 40 alumni from past Vermont and Ecuador semesters.  After the reunion I went home with my girlfriend, Leah (from semester) and stayed at her house for a few days before coming home.


As for future...

Turn eggs found on our trek to Cotopaxi.

I am looking for opportunities, mentors, other talented musicians to collaborate with.  I just got a CD order from someone who heard my music played at a friends wedding which was an astonishing thing to learn.  I am hoping to continue to share my music with the world.

Filming...I have scripts but no actors.

And, for the next adventure, I am looking at a semester program that takes students to Ladakh, India -- a mountain desert region high in the Himalayas -- to be immersed in the culture and the Buddhist religion, live and work with the communities, study sustainability, and trek through the Himalayas to help the community with the yearly task of bring the huge herds of sheep across the mountains to new pastures.

Himalayas

I am doing a slide show presentation on Febuary 28th (I will give more details once the date is set in stone.) at the Belfast Free Library.

Some student quotes from the end of semester

(they sum up a lot of what I have been trying to say with fewer words) 

I have pushed my body and mind to new limits. I have seen landscapes and wonders I never thought I’d see and have had adventures I never thought I’d experience. So many childhood dreams came to life on this semester.—Clayton

People may ask me what the NH-Ecuador Semester was like, and I could tell them about the birds in the jungle, the trekking through the paramo, the exhilaration of getting to the top of Cotopaxi, but that would not explain the deep connection I have made to the land, to the strong community around me; to a whole different way of life that cannot be explained.—Isabelle

A short burst of love, life, and pure happiness can last awhile, perhaps a lifetime. We can’t be sad that the end is here. We can only take what we’ve learned together and make ourselves a new beginning.—Leah

Thank you,
Clayton