Day 8 by Anjali

Last night it snowed 2 inches here. Finally, some winter! We drove to Portland Orchard and met up with Judy and a family that ran an orchard in an empty lot. We talked about the neighborhood being poorer and how the people around there buy their food at gas stations or fast food restaurants. The orchard will provide fresh fruits for them to eat.

Then we went to a community distribution center for local farmers so they can pool their resources and run a giant CSA. They showed us their HUGE freezers and fridges and coolers that they store their foods in. We also chatted about the farmers and other things. Before we left we were given a little bottle of honey that they were selling!

After that we drove down to Portland elementary and toured their gardens and outdoor classrooms.

They are a public school getting grant money to have an environmental focus. We were invited to dine in their fancy cafeteria and eat like an elementary student. The meal was very educational and made some of us (including me) long for good ole lentils and quinoa.

The best part was there was a really cute bunny running around!!! We drove by a store that sold healthy foods! We stood at the edge of a lock and dam to witness a large boat go into the lock but then we got to cold and left. We headed to the Youth Build- Louisville to study their gardens, chickens, compost and green house and learn about what they do. Which is they get students who have dropped out of high-school and teach them academics, gardening and woodworking/shop skills and then have them go build houses and garden beds!

Later we drove all the way to California (or at least the town) to look at a preschool that is solar, energy efficient. We learned that they don’t use solar panels but instead it’s passive-solar. They use the heat from the sun to warm the building. The heat warms up the building and then gets transferred through pipes (big blue and red ones to be exact!) and then goes through the heating vents on the floor to heat the room again!

We finally got back to the house and hung out, playing pool and using the wii. We ate and then played more pool and listened to a few accordion songs. Then chose a movie which happened to be Cirque Sol Le! J Happy Trails,

Peace, Love, Pool Playing!