Any of you who’ve read my blog will know I have some slightly hippy tendencies with my interest in things like permaculture and natural building. I claim it’s less of a hippy thing and more of a desire to be creative and live somewhere beautiful… but that’s up for debate!
Regardless, I’m finally going to spend some time this summer with mud. Not shoveling this time, but stomping! I’ve gotten pretty interested in building structures with cob (a mixture of clay, sand, water and straw) and will be taking a workshop this July in Oregon to see if this is something I’d like to eventually find a way to do.
Ya ya ya… I hear the skepticism! ‘Building a house out of mud? Really??’ But I’m convinced! There’s a whole movement and it’s growing. There are plenty of books on the subject, all with cute little drawings which, of course, lure me in even more. I really love physical work, I love creating, I love working hard as part of a team and I think I’m really going to enjoy my workshop out in Oregon. I’ve discovered that a good friend of mine here in Kigali is into all of this stuff too and he’ll be doing a year-long apprenticeship nearby which will be super cool. It’ll be nice to have a friend lurking nearby.
I have no idea what the future holds for me and cob houses but it’s been something (like taking a permaculture course) that’s been on my agenda for a long time and I’m excited to check it out to see if this sort of lifestyle is something I’d like to pursue further someday. Of course… to build a house you have to figure out where the hell you want to put it! Slight problem.
I’ll be in Oregon and perhaps Northern California for most of July. Well, after a stint in NYC for the 4th of July. Then I have a bit of a gap to fill with visiting friends in Canada and maybe Colombia before heading back to NYC in mid-August for three weeks-ish. If anyone will be around and wants to meet up, let me know!
I’m pretty excited for my little USA travel stint with some learning thrown in for good measure. It’ll be nice to get out of the city and back to nature for awhile and to meet some completely different types of people. I’ll enjoy my three more months in Kigali (and will likely head back here after the summer) but… bring on the mud!
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