Nuestras Raices

Being that its is my first weekend back at Smith and school work has not yet become a crippling burden, I wanted to do some things that I have never done before as a student here.
At 8 o clock on Saturday morning, myself and 15 other girls went to a community farm in Holyoke called Nuestras Raices (Our Roots) for the chance to participate in a community service work day. Nuestras is a gorgeous 27 acre property outside of the city that boasts 1/2 acre lots for $25 a month. Their main goal is to provide training and workshops for beginning farmers and sustainable, local and fresh agriculture for the urban population. Besides UMASS and one Indian lady all of the plots are maintained by Puerto Rican individuals or families which means no matter where you are there is a PR flag waving or a colorful tropic scene painted on the side of a building. When we arrived, there was a strong smell of pork in the air and our guide/boss-for-the-day, Amy (a recent Ag major from UMASS) explained that the farmers all chip in so they can have a pig roast every saturday to raise money for the organization. Another fun side note is that they just recently built a horse stable to rent out stalls and a man was out working his stunning paso fino stallion. I know from watching Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations that the paso fino is a heralded Spanish breed and has a very distinct ride style. check out for a little flavor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tJARMFTVqk&feature=PlayList&p=72A72180378ECF32&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=10
Anyway, the point of me sharing this experience was that we got to do some smelly, dirty, awesome manual labor including weeding, trash dumping, spreading wood chips, setting up canopy tents with metal poles covered in slugs, and putting up fence. I was amused when Amy asked us how many people knew how to use a weed whacker and I was the only one to raise my hand although she decided not to cut the grass because it was so wet. I brought my camera but again had terrible results-i think that i keep forgetting to check the shooter settings. im probably taking videos without knowing it. sorry mom. i know i know...it's sad. Because the farm is only a 15 minute drive from campus I'm really hoping that I will get the chance to volunteer there as often as possible this year. Not only do I think that volunteering is important as a member of a community but it is also good to know what a broccoli plant looks like. I wonder how many of us don't realize how detached we are from the foods we eat and the places and people that they come from? good good stuff man, nuestras raices.

I also made it to the Smith Art Museum's Night at your Museum event that takes place every second friday and this week hosted the final days of Leslie Dill's exhibit. She is a Smith alumna and my new favorite artist. My fingins are tired so I will provide a web address for you to check her out so I can feel good about not completely writing off the experience because her work is incredible. She draws her inspiration from Emily Dickinson poems which were included in the write-ups next to each piece which was great for me because I don't remember ever really reading Emily's work which I found to be complex and difficult to navigate at times. great poetry but hard too.
http://www.huntermuseum.org/exhibition/7/i-heard-a-voicethe-art-of-lesley-dill/

okay shower time!!
good vibes and sunshine
love
e