Please excuse the skipping of a couple of episodes in this travel series but I thought I’d come up to speed first and then fill in the gaps (which would be the Adelaide and Hawaii sections) rather than keep running on delayed action.
With Hawaii ending up mostly an exploration-filled three weeks of very much alternative tourism, I’m currently living on a community close to Ashland, Oregon in the US. Being here is a world of difference from what I’ve experienced over the last few months, partly because I have never lived in community, partly because this feels a little more like work (yet not quite the usual) and partly because I’m in the US with all the culture shock associated to it.
My accent is apparently exotic, most people have no idea where Malta is (pronouncing that in American might possibly help, still trying to master that) and getting around within town needs a car let alone getting there in the first place. Culture differences aside, being here is an absolutely enriching, eye-opening experience.
So far the first two weeks (that was fast!) been about settling into this beautiful space overlooked by the snowy Dutchman’s Peak (I’ve not yet explored this mountain but this guy has), immersing ourselves into community life and the shared responsibilities that brings with it, getting used to our new living space and also getting our heads around the more formal voluntary work we’re doing here, which is is helping this community put together their vision, values and objectives and eventually translating those into a brand identity and marketing collateral but more on that later.
For the moment though, here’s a roundup of what we’ve been up to around here:
