Another Update

Wow I am falling way behind on my blog entries.  No post about the fourth Ecuadorian Dinner.  No post about the incredible teen meditation retreat I went to in Massachusetts a couple weeks ago.  No post about my CD release concert last Saturday.  What have I been doing all this time...?!  Oh yeah...school work.

Well, being homeschooled, my school year goes from the end of July to the end of July so July is the mega push month where my mom writes up tons of course descriptions and I add up hundreds of logged hours, write essays, print pictures, burn CD's, finish my math book, finish my chemistry course, and ask various people for evaluations. Then we grade everything, sort it all into a neat portfolio, and finally take it in to NARHS (a program that gives high school credit for homeschooling).

So, even though I should be writing a book review on Soul Made Flesh (for my science class) I am going to do a quick summary of the big events of the past few weeks.


Ecuadorian Dinner 4 (June 18th)
Our last Ecuadorian Dinner went fabulously.  Part of the way through the dinner (I believe we may have been serving tea) the sun came out through the dripping clouds and a beautiful, double rainbow appeared.  It arched over us, a ribbon of color as the setting sun painted the trees and grass yellow-gold.

Meditation Retreat (June 24-28)
The meditation retreat was amazing.  Over 60 incredible teens in a beautiful building with old oak and pine trees spreading their shadows across the lawn.  Five wise and witty teachers who taught us so much.  And many wonderful volunteers who played music with us and smiled a lot.  It was so nice to be able to take a break from all the fundraising and high school.  I barely thought about home at all for the four days and it was so refreshing to just let it all go for that short time.
When I returned I had a kind of euphoric feeling that didn't wear off for a couple days.  It didn't change my life drastically, it wasn't like a turning point or anything but I feel like I learned some useful lessons about life and humanity as well as meditation.

CD Release Concert (July 9th)
It was lots of fun.  Had a great performance and talk afterward, sold lots of CD's, had great conversations, only got one brownie.  We filmed the concert but didn't manage to record it.

Well, thanks for reading!
Adios,
Clayton