Being thrown together with 15 strangers isn’t usually at the top of anyones list of comforting things. Fortunately, over 35 days, those 15 people became more of a family than I would have ever expected. This was a trip of firsts; first time flyers, first time backpackers, first time kkayakers and first time farmers, each day offering a new experience. We all came on this trip looking for something, most of us hoping to gain some knowledge on sustainabiltiy or adventure or maybe just taking that one last trip before graduation. What we didn’t know is that we would find out more about ourselves then we’d ever known. Some of us found out we could push through hells canyon and summit mountains, some of us found out that would couldn’t sing in key at all and some of us found out you can actually live for 35 days without facebook or meat.

One thing One thing we did all find was confidence. The confidence to push ourselves to take that next step or lay that next stone, the confidence to act if a situation got bad and the confidence to trust the group to be caring and understanding. We all grew in confidence together, flowing like the waves of Anglesey (the first day of course) and in the end, understood eachother more than any other group. Our weaknesses turned into strengths and by the end of the trip we no longer saw the black and whiteness of strength versus weakeness, but applauded eachother for each growing decision.

Spending 35 dSpending 35 days with those strangers has changed everything, we’re no longer strangers, we’re friends and family, especially dads. The things we’ve learned will stay with us for the rest of our lives. To anyone who’s reading this, it really is hard to put into words what has happened this summer, I don’t think I ever could. I’m proud to be part of this group and I’m stoked for the things ahead of us.

Namaste Y’allJohn Ribes

BackpackingWith adventure being 1/3 of the pillars, back-packing was definitely a big part of this trip. Misread maps, magical fairy lands, iodined water and our first look at some wild sheep just scrape the surface of the things we did. We had to learn to train our bodies to carry packs taller than some of us. We saw some of the most beautiful places fplaces from the top of summits to the toilet in the parking lot and the hot chocolate stand. Most of us have never had to set up tents or cook over the camp stove before. We all had to push ourselves to take the next step, either on the trail or just getting up at 4 in the morning be-cause the sun rose. The backpacking trip taught us all something new about the outdoors and ourselves. The most important thing, of course being how good we all looked tanned from the 5 day trip.

The Senedd and The Coal LifestyleThe Senedd, located in Cardiff the capital of Wales, was one of the first places we got to experience the importance of sustainability in the government. Firstly the building was mostly sustainable in itself. It was heated geothermally, lit mostly by natural light and it haharnessed the power of rain water. The design of the Senedd was beautiful, using wood to create the flowing ceiling to contrast the hard slate floors. Everything seemed to be very thought through, a pretty good representation of their government. Our group learned about the 4 major parties of the government and how many of the representatives were young compared to the American average. The group had the opportunity to sit in on a sustainability council meeting and got to see how important the future is to the Welsh people. Seeing this type of commitment to sustaining resources was inspiring and I know made people wish the United StUnited States would catch up to this practice.

Coal has always been a huge part of the Welsh lifestyle. The countcountry prospered in the 19th century due to the coal business. During the 20th century the need for coal declined, leaving Wales with bankrupt coal pits. The group had a chance to visit a coal pit called “Big Pit”. We got to see the conditions the mineto see the conditions the miners worked in and some of the things they had to do in order to produce the coal. It’s safe to say that after the tour all of us could agree that we would never want that job. It was interesting to introduce the coal lifestyle into our sustainable ideas because we had to incorportate the human aspect as well. It’s easy to say get rid of the coal pits but less easy to say get rid of money for food.

C.A.T.The Center For Alternative Technology

Wow, I don’t even know where to start with this center. I think we were all awe struck as we walked through the exhibits on the day of arrival. This was one of the reasons most of us wanted to come on this trip, to learn about sustainable development and how to put it into action. We spent our nights there in an eco-cabin; a cabin with solar panels, a compost toilet and a shower heated by a wood stove. I guess you could call it a shower, more like a drippy faucet, but yeah anyway a pretty cool shower. For those few days we were there I don’t think we wasted anything, the overwhelming guilt from throwing someting away was too much. JoJokes aside it was a great place. Some of the group had the chance to meet a teacher and work with straw bail buildings and then the whole group participated in building a censory adventure course. I have to say putting a bag over my face to block my sight has never been so much fun. We came out of CAT with the idea that we could create anything. We had to opportunity to see real progress and that inspired us to apply those ideas to our lifestyle and to our future goals.

VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIESFrom experience I can tell you that being able to eat vegan sweets, especially cookies, is a god send. While staying on the farm Chris and I came to appreciate just how much we love cook-ies. I think the total amount eaten was around 30+. We stayed with two of the nicest people, Ann and Dave, who live on a biodynamic farm. Essentially they are the crustiest (the good kind) people that we met, from eating expired food to making their own jams and wines, they seemed to just be amazing at everything. The coolest part was that they were proud to be crusty. They are both officially crust punks. Well one rainy day Chris and I were in our room whenwhen Ann walks in and says, “I got bored.....so I’m making vegan cookies”. First of all I don’t think I know anyone who would say this, immediately amazing, after watching everyone eat ice cream the whole trip this was the best news I think I have ever heard. Turns out the cookies were delicious and the recipe needed to be shared. So here it is, if you take one thing from this zine PLEASE MAKE THESE COOKIES.

Biodynamics is a form of farming that is classified as a “spiritual-ethical-ecological approach to agriculture, food production and nutrition.” Dr. Rudolf Steiner, a renaissance man of his time, invented this type of agro-philosophy in the early 1920s and even with the introduction of cchemicals and large GMO agribusiness, it still lives on today. Biodynamics basically deals with having a mutalistic relationship with the Earth, Moon and the cosmos and using their processes to your advantage while farming. Just like humans get sad when it rains, plants react in the same type of ways when the moon is closer or the sun is in a certain place. From packing cow horns with cow poop to stiring that composted cow poop in water for an hour, biodynamics incorportates some of the weirdest practices I’ve come across. Fortunately for it, it actually works.

Tests have shown that crops actually grow and produce at greater degrees when the formula for biodynamics is used. You may be asking yourself, “where is this formula”, “how can I get this knowledge for my own use?” Well there just so happens to be a book written that tells you when to plant what in order to get to most out of that harvest. There are four classifications, root, flower, fruit and leaf, and the included time that is appropriate to plant and sow those crops. I have to admit it does seem like a lot of mumbo jumbo, especially after having to stir poop water for an hour. But seeing (and tasting) is believe and the results turned me on to this idea that the grgrowing practices that we use today, chemically treated plants and fertilizer, arn’t necessarily progressive to the life of our agriculture. Biodynamics offers great opportunites for new thinking and new processes.

Much community supported agriculture (CSA) is supported, or at least originated, from biodynamics. Biodynamics isn’t just a way to plant crops, it’s a life philosophy that can be applied to anything. You must be able to work well with the environment. A give and take mentality and a formed trust with everything you’re working with must be created. As we learned sustainability isn’t all about windfarms or organic crops, it’s about community, humans working together with themselves and with their resources to create a happier life for everyone. That sound’s a lot like biodynamics to me.

BIODYNAMICSTHE WORLD OF

While in-country the group had to participate in service projects with local organizations. Building dry stone walls, scrub bashed and creating hotels for bugs were just some out of the ordinary things we had to opportunity to learn. Participating in the service projects gave us a good sense of the culture and community that we were staying in. While stacking rocks, cutting trees and tieing ropes, we we were all pushing ourselves to new limits, expanding our ideas on what was possible and thinking outside of the box. While at some times we were dying of the heat or almost cutting off eachothers arms with saws, we always found a way to enjoy ourselves knowing that each obstical jumped ment a new experience and just one step closer to hummis wraps and PB&Js for lunch.

SERVICEPROJECTS

MT. SNOWDONElevation: 3560 ft

Literally the peak of our trip, I think everyone was looking forward to this hike since day one. Maybe it was because it was the tallest mountain in Wales or maybe just because we couldn’t rremember any of the other two, whatever the reason, waking up that morning we all knew we were in for a great day. We spent the day enjoying the sun and the view. We chased sheep, we jumped in water and we had a real chance to do some exploring. We got to the top and thought “wait we’re really here already?” We had been trained the whole trip to always push ourselves until we met our goals, this time we were just having so much fun we didn’t realzing we were pushing it. Hiking to the top of Snowdon symbolized all of our achievements, all of our fears and all of the obstacles in our way. We conquered them with team work and effort while still having funfun. We got back to our senses of adventure and benefited like no other group. At the end of the day, sitting in a pub with the Everest team signatures above our heads, we realized everything we had achieved, the appreciation we have towards life and the power we gained to know that we can succeed in all of our efforts.

As we all know everything that has a beginning must have an end. Except, you know, this group won’t have an end. We might not keep in touch as much or talk about butts or share socks but we’ll always be this group. We won’t end, just continue on different adventures. We’ve all made great friends and even if we just give eachother the “sup” head nod walking around campus that would be awesome. Before this trip I don’t think I would have talked to anyone, either because I’m too shy or I just wouldn’t have thought we had anything in common. Thank you everyone for showing me the exact opposite. I learned so much from all of you, mostly that all I can cook is Gado-gado and thGado-gado and that we can parkour on any mountain, but especially that we can all work together to do all that cool stuff. It’s is ridiciously hard to sum up this trip, I have no idea what to tell my parents or my friends, but that’s the bond we all have, we all know how the trip was, how we felt and how it will be impossible to tell that to someone. I’m stoked to have spent the summer with my friends in Wales. Thanks to everyone, to Shari and Hutch, to all of you, and to anyone in Wales who’s reading this and thinking how lame this is, seriously I can’t speak of how much I appreciate it. Enjoy the rest of your summer, the rest of your school career and the rest of your life. I hope to see see everyone back in Wales someday.

<3<3<3<3John Ribes

P.S. We got photobombed so hard in this picture. Check out the lady on the top right corner.