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Found photo- group 3 shenanigans on the roof!

CLASS OF JUNE 2017

Photos from Day 28- so, I'm a mega-nerd, apparently. They must've thrown out a few questions that everyone got wrong, because I know I got more than 2 wrong.

Photos from Day 28- my temporary tattoo, courtesy of a bored but very talented classmate Christine!

Photos from Day 28- names for our theoretical earthship villages!

Kat's Log: Day 28

Last day :(

07:30- woke up early, had a nice long REAL shower, and then had some oatmeal with raisins and dried fruit for breakfast. LUXURY!

08:45- Left the beautiful Picuris earthship rental and headed to class.

09:00- Community Assignment, with Phil. We learned about the growing pains of the Greater World community and the setting up of their ‘home owners association’, basically. Then were split up into brand new groups to create theoretical rules for our theoretical earthship community. Whether the land should be communally or individually owned, what rules you might have for letting people in (or kicking them out), etc. A very interesting exercise! Definitely useful to think about for the future.

11:05- break. Our final exams are returned to us, graded. See photos for results.

11:30- Q&A session with Mike Reynolds. In the end, mostly story time. I finally got to ask what this whole “harvesting rainbows” nonsense was about. Not spoiling the answer ;)

12:45- school’s out for the summer! Joe and I tackle cleaning up my earthship. Given that it’s not too big and we’re with two, it really doesn’t take too long! Once I have my cleaning deposit back, I spend half of it on books in the gift shop, then make a round of goodbye hugs, and we head out!

15:30- swing past the post office to mail the American mobile phone I borrowed to it’s next owner, and a little something to my bro.

18:30- made it to ABQ! Opted for a hotel rather than camping, after some deliberation. After cleaning out my earthship and a mini-roadtrip, I admit I smelled a little funky and didn't want to subject other passengers to myself without a shower.

19:30- had some delicious, plentiful dinner, saw a classmate at the restaurant! Then went back for a restful night of Die Hard marathon.

Kat's Log: Day 27

Stayed up way to late finishing the homework, but I really want the prize (a free book from the giftshop) and luckily class started an hour later the next day! 10:00- Owner/Builder Experience with Kirsten. She told us about the 8-year saga of building her own home, starting with a simple 120-square foot hut during the period the community was shut down from building, to adding a curved greenhouse, and ultimately a second "U" to make a beautiful, large finished house. 10:20- Individual Study Proposal Overview, also with Kirsten. She gave us a brief introduction to what kind of projects are generally done /immediately accepted, to give us some inspiration, and promised to send us some example proposals so we could see how to set up ours. 10:45- FINAL EXAM!! I think it went well (not just because Kirsten claims no one has ever failed)!! Thank goodness people were reviewing out loud while I was working on homework last night. Really helped me with a few questions. 11:15- went to claim my free t-shirt (and buy another) in the gift shop. Then chatted with classmates until everyone was done with the exams and it was time for... 12:30- ...PIZZA PARTY! Delicious! Helpfully, a staff member from the office tracked me down and allowed me to check in early to the (fancier) earthship I rented for tonight! 14:00 - Dream Earthship Review with Ron. All the earthships we drew for homework, week 1, are put up on the projector one by one so we can explain what we would do different (if anything), now with a month's worth of knowledge under our belts, and get feedback from classmates and Ron. 16:00- Joe, good friend, tool provider, chariot arrives on base! We take a tour of my simple pod, then head over to settle in to the "Picuris" global model earthship. Made pasta for dinner and got rid of a lot of my remaining food, yay!, and finally saw the Garbage Warrior documentary about Mike Reynolds, founder of earthships. Then planned out schedule for tomorrow and headed for bed!

Photos from Day 23- sitting in the Earthship ampitheater after the corn hole tournament

Photos from Day 26

Photos from Day 26- lunch with the crew!!

Photos from Day 26- war wound on the last day!

Kat's Log: Day 26

09:00- last work day!! Spent the morning measuring, cutting and attaching cement board backsplashes to the wall in the kitchen at the Villacitos. Another work group had been finishing a GIANT ditch for the blackwater botanical cell. When that was done, half of my work group went outside to assist them in getting the EPDM liner in to it (see pictures). As we were doing that, it was announced that our work group had won lunch with the crew for having submitted the best homework assignment!! 12:15- donated my curry to some members of the other work group who has no lunch, and my group headed in to town to Orlando's! It was delicious, convivial, and long-duration! 14:30- we headed back to work, finally. I got to cut some metal lathe down to size and attach it to the wall in the bathroom around a pipe so that it could be packed out and plastered later. With the occasional pause to assist a teammate in folding the EPDM liner in the shower, with my expert present-wrapping skills. And another break to find the first aid kit after resting my hand on a piece of glass (it was tiny, don't worry). 16:45- back at my pod for another test pack and clean-up of myself and my room. 18:00- went to the Architect's Office for some food, company, and possibly some homework.

Kat's Log: Day 25

So, punk rock's not really my jam, it seems. It was fun to see Lou play (the drums), however; I think he was having more fun than anyone there. The company was good, though. Eventually, after Lou's band was finished playing, we headed outside and climbed up onto the domed roof of the Earthship-style amphitheatre to watch the stars. I saw two shooting stars, and gave a brief, impromptu astronomy lesson. At the end of the evening, I forsook my original carpool to drive a very-far-gone classmate home. 09:30- slept in!! So nice! Had a very lazy morning. Cleaned up myself and my earthship a bit, did a test pack, chilled out. 11:30- everyone met up in the Architect's Office to coordinate regarding tubing. There was an impressive turnout of 11 people!! So, we took three cars and headed way out of town to the Rio Grande. 13:00- eventually, with a few side tracks, we made it to the river. One group went to take a car down to our exit point downriver while the rest of us applied sunscreen, got used to the water, blew up the $2 Walmart inner tubes and rafts (and wondered whether they'd survive the journey...) The water was pretty damn cold, and the weather was about as cool as it's been, but after a while we got used to it. Once everyone was back and ready, we set off! Other than a few points where it got very shallow and some of us got a bit of love from the rocks on our rear ends, it was a wonderful and super relaxing drift. Everyone agreed that it was over too soon. At first, some wanted to go back and do it again, but instead we just sunned ourselves on the bank for a while. 15:15- one group was heading in to town, so I hitched a ride over to a classmate's house where they were making vegan tamales for the entire work group. Not only did I learn how to make a tamale, but they were delicious!! As were the strawberry margarita slushies (also vegan!) We played games and talked until half the group was falling asleep and our hosts needed to go meet their parents who had just got in to town. 19:45- a few of us headed out for dessert to the local Baskin Robbins! Om nom nom namaste. 21:00- got dropped back home after some car-karaoke to some intense stormy weather. Apparently I missed a hail storm! Time for some chilling in the Architect's Office, stealing tastes of people's dinner, listening to good tunes, and cuddling the dog.

Photos from Day 24- I guess it's not a proper punk rock concert until a GIANT piñata of the current president has been ripped to shreds by an enthusiastic crowd!

Kat's Log: Day 24

Didn't make it to KTAO for dancing. Everyone met up at the brewery for grub and an impromptu corn hole tournament (I got totally owned). Then, we went back to base to join our Irish classmate Brenda in a semi-untraditional Irish wake for her service dog, Seamus, who sadly passed away earlier in the day. He was very old, and she was honestly surprised he made it that far; I met him and he was a super sweet, gigantic great Dane. The wake was unorthodox due to the fact that the alcoholic offerings were PBR and margaritas! Two guitars were brought out, plus a traditional Irish drum, and there was singing around the campfire that got more enthusiastic and off key as the night progressed. One student who has a culinary degree transformed the beef Brenda used to feed her dog into a tasty curry which we all shared, as well. It was a lovely evening, and by the time I staggered back to my room, I slept like a baby!!... 08:00- ...right through the first class of the morning. 10:15- Ok, well, I caught the tail end of it. It was lovely to have a slow morning though. 10:45- Permaponics, taught by former academy student James Fry. Apparently, he used to teach a class on Aquaponics (a combination of hydroponics and raising fish). Fish turned out to be a colossal headache not at all worth the effort, so he turned to "permaponics", or a combination of permaculture and hydroponics. The results being huge yield, very fast growth, and very nutrient-dense vegetables. Also a great option for conventional homes or people without a garden! 12:45- lunch break! Made some ramen in the Architect's Office. 13:25- Rohan talked to us about the sustainable-building orphanage project he worked on in Cameroon. Basically story time with lots of pictures and videos; a good, early end to the afternoon. 15:45- headed in to town to do some laundry!! Plans for later: make some food, maybe go see Lou the plumber and his band play at the brewery? Stay tuned! You've seen how these evening 'plans' go..

Photos from Day 23- singing around the camp fire

Photos from Day 23- playing “corn hole”

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