memorial day weekend whuuut

This weekend we got Monday off for Memorial Day and so some of the Ecosa kids decided to take a day trip to Jerome, AZ last Saturday. Jessica Hunt highly recommended it and Dawnielle's aunt did too, so the Whipple girls and Drew once again set off on an adventure. 

A beast on the bike...going to bike up the windy mountains road

sweeeeeeeeeet rocks

at a random view point

being goofy

Jerome! It's about 45 minutes away from Prescott and is a historic mining town literally nestled in the mountains. Quite charming. However, it's been turned into a tourist stop and was reminiscent of Helen, GA. Minus the kitschy Bavarian architecture.

bikers everywhere

Outside a historic brothel? Quite the collection.

Costa Rica?!

After lunch at a panini shop where psychic readings were offered, we decided we had seen enough of Jerome and set off for one of Drew's favorite hiking/swimming spots, Sycamore Canyon.

sycamore! (i think)

completely enchanted

almost there!

land before time

why yes, i am in that pit

close up

I totally have a "oh shiiiiiiiiiiit" face

After the 2 mile hike back. 

Comraderie! Adventure! Ecosa. --> catchy eh?

the canyon

It was an immensely satisfying day. 

Sunday we had the Ecosa class over for another potluck and OH MY GOD the food was amazing. We had vegan tamales courtesy of Monica, a delicious baked apple/currant walnut mix, apple quinoa salad, bruschetta, and some micheladas made by Nancy. And I made my first vegan dish, a chocolate cake! It was delishhhhhhous:

We spent the night chilling, listening to some banjo-mandolin-djembe jam sessions and playing with poi

And this is how I spent my Memorial Day:

SOMEHOW I burnt a pizza. It was so retarded. (It being I) I heated up the pizza in the oven, took it out and it was pristine. But since I didn't want the pizza to get cold as Nancy was making fried squash I put the pizza back in the oven forgetting that it was still on. The result? 

Burnt as expletive pizza:

Though surprisingly, Nancy's failed squash + my failed pizza tasted pretty awesome. The pizza looks a lot more burnt than in reality since the inside was still edible.

Pahahaha

On that scrumptious note, I bid you guys goodnight! Next time you hear from me I will be a veteran aboriginal survivor. Yes, that's right, our Cody Lundin survival skills class is this Wednesday - Saturday. SHOULD BE INTERESTING. I'm super stoked. 

<3

x-posted rompalime.blogspot.com

WOW!

So we had a party ... two days ago - I had to show them how ecology got down!

Here are some pictores!

dare i say anything?I work for this guy more or less... haha

that is a camera trap that he is wearing. we use this to see what animals are taking seeds in the forests but imagine all the pictures he got on it during the party!!
monkey. iguana. bird?
Batma... Batgirl!
Iguana! i forgot what the neck thing was called.

This is Beck **sheena** haha anyways... moving on

I was supposed to be an agouti... she (Lieneke) was an Astracaryum fruit...
So clearly we know how to get down after we have done our days worth of work ^_^

Miss you guys! But at least I got some crazy ass friends here to tide me over hahaha

ok. i was going to upload more but the internet here is too finicky for me to chance losing this post :p

Epic

overwhelmed is the new norm

Hello hello friends. My temporary hiatus online is an indicator of the amount of work we've been doing and I hope this entry helps communicate the amount we've learned! 

On Monday we got the low down on the Liberia and Prescott projects. Basically an INFORMATION OVERLOAAAAD and when we got home, I was pretty much brain dead and exhausted so I went to bed early (yeah yeah lame I know)

The next day we spent the morning learning about riparian restoration, and checked out the Watson Woods Riparian Preserve, a recent project by the local organization Prescott Creeks, which is dedicated to restoring the watershed system in Prescott. Since Granite Creek runs through the majority of Prescott and could be a great guide for a greenway system, riparian restoration is a definite consideration for our Prescott plan. 

On the Ecosa "party" bus 

At the park entrance, there's an adoption trailer where you can play with puppies and kitties!

Sorry Todd, didn't see anything. I don't have experienced eyes like you.

Monica surveying the area

Paper produced with windpower! At the local art store.

Sweet mural on the side of the art store

Sweet bike racks right by the mural. SO MUCH CONCENTRATED SWEETNESS

After our lunch break, we did a THREE hour site exploration by foot of the '6th Street District' of Prescott. After exhausting our feet, we exhausted our brains trying to wrap our heads around what we need to research to get these giant projects done. 

ideas for research DOUBLE WHAMMY

Wednesday was full of more information overload, just another typical day at Ecosa, haha. An ecological economist came to talk to us about systems thinking as a tool to think about our projects. In the morning we did five different site assessments to survey the systems present. 

At the Alberton's shopping center on the corner of our district. Why yes, this kid is jerking! So ridiculous.

Outside one of the quaint houses in an area of the district the city commissioners thought of as rundown and wanted to tear down. We're going to try to convince them otherwise. 

An invasive Chinese plant. Apparently a lot of Chinese slaves lived in this area and planted their native plants that ended up taking over

In one of the industrial sections on the outskirts near the Yavapai Reservation

At Granite Creek Park. Look at that guy go!

Since I'm only in Prescott for a month, I've tried to eat at a new place at every day to get a feel for the town. Wednesday we went to the Raven, which is a really sophisticated cafe/restaurant. We ate on the upstairs terrace, where they have really cool glass-inlaid ceramic walls: 

Thursday we spent the morning with (prepare your British accent) Barnabus Kane, landscape architect. He's not British but his name sounds so much better if you pretend you are. We basically watched a master at work, doing diagrammatics (overhead views of plans with symbols to designate different areas) and rendering made-up plans. 

For lunch, we randomly saw Drew's dad, who owns the Palace, a historical saloon that he renovated to become a restaurant (but still retains the saloon doors!) He invited us in for lunch on him! Suh-weeeeeeeet.

Apparently they shot a Steve McQueen movie at the Palace

Drew, Nancy, Christine, and I with the man himself

There was a skylight with the Arizona flag draped across

The Palace Burger. Now, I try not to eat red meat, but this beauty has A FULL HALF POUND OF MEATS and other delish ingredients

Finally it was Friday, and this morning we had a sketching lesson from Gary Melvin, our resident art teacher. Today's exercise was to draw Tony collaboratively. We each had 3 minutes to try to draw him before handing the pencil to the next person, except for the last one when we had 4 minutes each. First we drew him from memory, then from a photograph, and lastly from real life. 

Left to right chronologically and our model 

And now, some visuals of the work I've been doing:

The practice diagrammatic of a section of 6th street district

Trace overlays of the 6th street district. Black = built structures

Quick sketch, some of you should recognize what I used as a model

Jet plane! Big jet plane!  

So, all in all it's been a tiring but eventful, interesting, and informative week. Tomorrow the Whip girls (Dawnielle, Nancy, Monica, and I -- we live on Whipple Street) and Drew are taking a day trip to Jerome, AZ which is supposed to be a crazy town run by hippies and bikers and stopping by a canyon to hike and (possibly) go swimming at a waterhole there, guided by Drew. Should be exciting! 

Tonight we're spending the night in, drinking red wine and watching Dexter. Muahahaha

x-posted rompalime.blogspot.com

p.s. Todd and i are the only ones updating. Whut up foooools?