felling.

tyring, trying to wash away the destruction,
the pollution
I hear you, I feel you
keep falling, falling
one day you will unveil our barest bones.

"Ah, J'aime le vent!"

I realized I never posted pictures from my trip to France! Ah... what a trip.. totally and completely not what I expected... ended up being very lonely by the third week. But what came out of that loneliness- me becoming a warrior in a sense, to fight for my path to be uncovered again. I actually left the house I was staying at on a Sunday morning (left on peaceful grounds with the woman I was staying with though she becoming extremely gruff towards me) and went to Orleans where I knew there was a big trainstation because I had been there a week or so before exploring around. Of course the country practically closes on Sundays.. so I didn't know where to go to get to all the hotels.

I ended up asking an elderly woman for directions and she smiled and helped a lot.. then she came back and offered to help me find a hotel- well turns out she was so thoughtful and kind that after helping me look around for a hotel, she offered her house to me for the night. It intuitively felt right, so I went with my gut and just did it. It was amazing... her house was in the suburbs of Orleans. Such a cute house! There were items from all around the world everywhere; masks, books, shells, everything! Her husband passed away seven years ago, so she's been alone from that point on.

We just ate awesome meals, like meals I thought I was going to have in France but never had- like cheeses and bread, a cucumber salad, pink wine, melon, many different jams... all in different little waves. It was so cute!

I also got to hear many cool stories- like how her husband went to Africa for 25 years (left when he was 20) to collect and examine insects and shells. There were drawers and drawers full of butterflies and huge beetles- she even had an entire cabinet full of thousands of types of rocks.

How thrilling it was to experience this, this flurry of intuition and trust. I think the entire three weeks I was sitting in the countryside not really knowing why I was there, eventually becoming lonely and defensive, were worth me being able to find this lovely woman in her 70s... and to wrap up my trip like this.

This trip is so special to look back on- all the people I met, from my first restaurant waitress to the man running the book flea market (who thought I was Russian), the man who runs a little decor boutique who let his puppy run around the store, the woman who helped me find where I was going... the man who took me to the bus stop when I was lost another time... the man who followed me for a while (this was unintentional, haha), the Brittish couple who cracked me up when they called their camera a "wee little thing" and refused to open its case while going through security, my first and only taxi cab driver who made fun of me for making him drive me to La Gare de Lyon a mile away, the guy who told me how to say 'frog' in French while we were hauling 180 bales of hay onto a tractor (didn't have a choice...), the guy who helped me haul my suitcase onto the train..
to the French: thank you! Yes, the French will watch as you have a meltdown, a gaunt and numb look on your face as your crumbled map is once again torn open, but they will also help you as much as possible when you ask for help. To Eliane, thank you for being as embracing as family when I literally had no where else to go!

connecticut folk festival

I just came back from two intense days of volunteering at the CT Folk Festival!! Well... intense because it was very very hot and because I volunteered for 12 hours altogether, albeit most was very relaxed and fun (free sustainable sushi for the volunteers!) I think it has been going on for 17 years...! The focus is to come together as a huge group as people who are into the environment, into music, or into both, and it was something I had never experienced before!



They had around 73 vendors I believe- tables and tents set up where everyone from hip and cool, and eco vendors could sell awesome things (one tent had New England made Goat's milk soap, handmade quilts and comforters, and an array of Earthy household materials. They are called the Common Good Market!)
They also had information on where to buy local in CT.... buying local is key to keeping small farmers thriving and to keep environmental costs (such as heavy transportation and factory production situations) to a minimum. Most local products, from what I've seen, come from artisans and local, family run farmers (often Organic).





Some other vendors I loved: Barefoot Books, which is a bookstore that sells books with eco-friendly messages; and Pure Play Kids, which is a store that sells creative and sustainable toys (seriously such beautiful toys... I even bought some soy-crayons!).They even had families come out and let people use their two-seater bikes!




Some mucisians that I really enjoyed listening to were Rachael Sage and Nerissa and Katryna Nields (they have a very Brandi Carlile-esq sound, its very strong and beautiful)

This woman at Barefoot Books also gave me a book for a book reading at my library (something Im planning to do with my environmental club) called The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales by Dawn Casey and Anne Wilson. Great artwork and stories!

"Let the water lead us home"

Yesterday (Saturday) was an awesome day!! I started my new job at Miya's Sushi (a sustainable sushi place) and volunteered at Massaro Community Farm, an organic farm that is volunteer run (and headed by Farmer Steve). They grow everything from Turnips to ARUGULA!! + cabbage, broccoli, broccoli rob, tomatoes, and much much more!!! Next week they are getting solar panels to make the farm truly sustainable. They utilize very efficient ways of safeguarding their crops and land such as drip irrigation and strips of wild grasses/flowers (this makes the land more pest-resilient and keeps it au-naturel). Its a really great place...!

So, Saturday was the farm's first annual Fundraising Dinner... food was prepared by a restaurant using food from the farm! First there was cocktail hour and during this time you could take a tour of the farm with the farmer (many did), then came dinner in the fields.. the table was extremely long, as it had to accompany around 80 people. It was covered in jars filled with wildflowers and a long burlap tablecloth. The comfort of the dinner was that it was family style, which is an awesome thing because sustainability and organic farming are all apart of a big picture of caring for the land and for each other as we come to recognize this blossoming yet archaic relationship between all living creatures...

I snapped some shots with my phone, hope they show how beautiful it was! What with the earthy theme and the dessert greenhouse filled with lights when it was dark outside and all the crickets were still chirping...

eco style conundrum

I have always secretly wanted to do a style blog... but thats not really me... so the next best thing would be to post pictures of my fair-trade/eco-friendly fancies around my house.. thats pretty much equivalent to my style lately! Its kind of how I define myself... my clothing style is normally a mess even though the only way I would make it better would be to go online shopping for all fair trade clothing... I just feel so obligated to know where my clothes are coming from! Though I do buy most of my clothes from H&M its because they say they are a socially responsible company.. I've researched them plenty, too.

Style is a hard thing for me! At one time I'll want to dress like a Sherlock Holmes character, matching vest and trousers and all, and at another time I'll want to dress up like some characters from The Last Airbender (funny, cute, awesome cartoon from 2005). Then I think that I will just wear the basics and be contented with getting no more material things, kind of what I learned from yoga (instant gratification is not fulfilling)... Maybe I'll forge my own stylistic path in the future (I think my goal is a pair of boots that last forever (and that keep my toes warm), a giant, warm alpaca poncho and some comfy/chic pants).



I think the solution will be to make my own like eco-friendly cotton or canvas dresses. I need sewing classes! I can't sew..

Pictures: A Peace tee-shirt by Zehn styles, a fair trade basket from Whole Foods created by The Blessing Basket Project Ghana, Journal by Eccolo (awesome paper, beautiful journals), the blue beaded bracelet is from the Thorn Tree Project (women in the Samburu Tribe in Kenya create them and the money made goes towards education in the community for girls), and the other colorful bracelet is from an artist in Thailand (purchased it through Novica). the boots(steve madden) are from Goodwill, so its a nice recycling cycle for a good cause.

"Peace is the only condition without which nothing else is stable" -Sri Aura Bindo. (consider fair trade)

Since Whole Foods opened about a year ago right around the corner from my house, my family has been there at least 2 times a week. Its our staple food store, besides Trader Joe's. The first time I walked in there, it was like walking into an amusement park tailored to the environmentalist.. which in actuality it is.

The most brilliant part is that Whole Foods has allowed me to interact with another world; the organic pinto bean, chocolate almond milk, fair trade world.

Buying fair trade is like communicating care and love to people who could be across the world, another setting, another life. Fair trade is sustainability, livelihood, and the embodiment of a goal within so many who care, the goal being human equality.

I was surprised to notice that many of my friends and a lot of adults I have spoken to this year did not know the essence, importance or even the gist of what Fair Trade is. It was my pleasure to explain it to them! I basically said that Fair Trade includes trading practices in which all human rights are valued and respected, in which workers are payed fair wages and are given working rights suitable to a healthy life.

As I prophesied in February when I turned 17, this year has been the biggest source of energy and learning in my life. (I want to share an experience that is feeding my love for fair trade)

I went to the Milford Farmer's Market over the weekend, knowing that it may be a bust but still being irrevocably drawn to the feel of a local market setting.

I was glad I went, I found a tent that sold hand made goods made out of Alpaca wool (cruelty free). And thats the connection between human and animal, animal and land, ecosystem and human, and the passing of time and human that I love. Even in Milford, CT, home to no indigenous cultures, humans can still care and profit from animals. This type of farm and relationship is what will keep this loving system going in the future.


I really want to share that I found fair trade ear buds...! I search practically every brand I purchase to see if it is sweatshop free, normally before I check if it uses environmentally sound manufacturing practices. Here is the link:

Most would be surprised at how many brands are suspected and brought into the spotlight for using sweatshop standards to make their products!

Our involvement with fair trade promotes indigenous cultures and peace around the world, and unfortunately that fact is not glued to american media. I can say with assurance that Indigenous cultures are essential to life on a grand scale (and of course so is Peace!)


Some other websites to get fantastic fair trade items:
www.Serrv.org
www.thehungersite.org
www.ayindisa.com (store local to CT)
www.novica.org (I have ordered many things from here, awesome shipping, beautiful packaging and stories of artisans)
www.shopdava.com (store right in Hamden, CT. the owner, Coleen, is very nice and insightful!)
For information:
www.greenamerica.org

"Thats just plain ignorant, man"

So this year, me and my friends participated in One Day Without Shoes (created and sponsored by TOMS shoes). I wasn't sure how this was going to go as we were headed into a semi-strict public high school (for.. school). I created a facebook page for this--> it was a page where I told my fellow students to donate shoes to Soles4Souls, which is a non-profit charity organization, and also to join along on OD w/o shoes if they so pleased. 30 people said they would go barefoot! I was thrilled. I guess I never blogged about this.. but I wrote something that night, both to remember that day and also as a possible article in the school newspaper.

"I found solidarity in my math class. I found solidarity in my french class. I didn't feel ashamed in my science class (spirit was boosted).

By around 10 oclock I found that some teachers aren't humans...

Case 1: I can recall one lumbering towards my friends and I, hood up, skinny body with clunking feet. His little round face complete with glasses looked at us; I had shoved my feet into my shoes out of sheer terror at the sight of him. And then he said that thing that makes him that thing.
He said "You need to put your shoes on" with a long, cool voice, then he completed his monologue with "thats just plain ignorant of you". Me and my friend were audibly choking- didn't know what to say first or how to say "haha" "what you just said was so ignorant" and "are you kidding" all at the same time. My friend said "well I don't think its ignorant... its for a good cause" something along those lines. I followed with "its about raising awareness. We want people to think. Its a conversation starter- we want people to learn what they wouldnt otherwise know"

I don't know what he looked like when he said this, I just think of a bird. He said "Thats great. Put your shoes on" and walked away. Later I spoke with a girl who had had the joy of meeting this pleasant teacher; she said he said the same thing. He said what we were doing was ignorant, twice. It wasn't a word slip- hes an english teacher. My Mac says "ignorant- adjective- lacking knowledge or awareness in general; uneducated or unsophisticated" then it gave me a sample sentence in which the word ignorant was next to the word stupid.

case 2: A teacher was traffic directing the crowd while telling us to stop our little "protest"

case 3: One joined in with us, then yelled at us

case 4: one joked around, pretending to step on my friends bare feet

case 5: one nodded his head, and smiled and said "cool"

case 6: one said that is was fine to be barefoot in his/her class, but to put on shoes when leaving

case 7: one said, okay, lets just not talk about it

case 8: many saw and didnt say anything"

I mean all in all, it was semi-successful. Me and my friend even walked around during a fire drill when it was pouring rain barefoot, thats something to spice up a day in school. It was great. I do appreciate my things a lot, especially my shoes. It was just nice to relay information concerning the global need for shoes to people who didn't already know.

I was amazed to hear stories of people going barefoot in cities like London...!

*photo from brittney t.'s photostream on Flickr