Each day at Soltane is different, for the students and the co-workers. I'll give you a run down of how an average day would go:
7:10am - WAKE UP! A co-worker should be up and ready for the day at 7:10. It is now their duty to wake up the students who need a little assistance getting out of bed (example: someone keeps hitting the snooze button). Our house does showers in the evening, so no one takes a shower in the morning. Each house is different though. Then the students are responsible for putting on their clothes for the day, washing their face, and brushing teeth. 7:30am - Gather up everything for breakfast. The students are responsible for setting the table and pouring water into each glass. A normal breakfast in Emerson house is granola and yogurt with fruit. The granola and yogurt is made in-house at Emerson! It's so awesome to have something so healthy right at our fingertips! Since there are 10 of us here, the most in any house on campus, we try to save money when possible. That's why we make our own granola and yogurt, we go through it like water! 7:45am - Morning circle time. Morning circle is when the entire house gathers around the couches and we read a verse/devotion/inspiring poem and have a moment of quiet before our busy days begin. There is a candle lit before morning circle and is extinguished after our moment of quiet. Once the smoke rises to the ceiling.. the student who put out the candle invites us to breakfast by saying 'Shall we go and eat?' 8:00am - Breakfast time! At Emerson, we eat every meal at the table together. After breakfast, each student is responsible for collecting one thing to clean and put away. Someone takes cups, someone takes place mats, someone takes bowls, etc. This means the clean up time is pretty quick and is also gets everyone involved and feeling accomplished! 8:45am - Off for a walk/bike ride. We try to get out the door by 8:45 or earlier to get some fresh air before classes/workshops. This doesn't always happen, but it's a goal we strive for! 9:00am - Classes and workshops begin! The undergrads go to their courses (handwriting, gardening, history, movement, etc) while the post-grads spend their mornings in workshops (land crew, kitchen, or community service. Some of our students could also be at work off campus or at therapy. The therapy that takes place off campus is usually at the horse farm, either riding or grooming the horses. During workshop.. I'm just another student! I work side by side with the students all morning! We talk and get to know each other while we're working. 12:15pm - Home for lunch! Lunch is usually soup and salad or leftovers from dinner! This is also the only independent meal that we have at Emerson. Independent meal means each student is responsible for dishing up their own food and cleaning their own dishes after they are finished. Even though it's independent, we still all eat together at the table. 1:00pm - After lunch has been cleaned up, it is time for each student to quietly go to their rooms and spend the next couple hours. Some students (most in our house) take a nap! Other students listen to music or read, we also have one student in our house who Skypes with him mom everyday! Since the students are in their rooms, it gives the co-workers a chance to rest too, I usually nap for a bit and then do yoga. 3:00pm - Off to afternoon classes! The classes in the afternoon are usually more upbeat courses like movement or hiking. One day a week, I stay home from 3-5 and prepare dinner for the house. If I'm not doing that, I'm in classes with everyone else! Some days I'm in hiking and others I'm busy in ecology! 5:00pm - The students return from their classes and get a little relaxation time before dinner. 5:30pm - The table is set by students and evening circle takes place. At evening circle we enjoy a couple minutes of quite and then blow the candle out again. 6:00pm - Dinner is served! Before dinner we say a short blessing. It goes a little something like this: 'Earth who gives to us this food, Sun who makes it ripe and good, dear Earth dear Sun by you we live, our love and thanks to you we give. May the meal be blessed!' Then, the person who cooked dinner dishes everyone up and we dig in! 7:00pm - After dinner is cleaned up, we usually all go for a walk or bike ride! Most students in our house enjoy walking or riding alone. But some of our students need a little assistance to make sure they don't ride out to the public road. 8:30pm - Time for bed, sleepyheads! It's time for students to prepare themselves for their night of sleep! Showers are taken and teeth are brushed! I do not help with any personal care, but some of our students need help in the showers. During this time I make sure the kitchen is clean and everything is in it's place for tomorrow. 'Putting the house to bed' is an important step in our house. One of our students is responsible for shutting each curtain and turning out all the lights. 9:00pm - Lights out! Goodnight until tomorrow! I usually stay up until 10 reading or hanging out. I'm on night duty 1 time a week, that just means I am the last co-worker to go to bed. It's not that bad.. we all normally go to bed pretty early.. it's a tiring day! Even though our day is full of breaks and relaxation times, I still struggle waking up in the morning! The work I do here is not physically tiring, but it does take a toll on the brain. I think it'll just take a little more time before I get used to the rhythm at Soltane!
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Camphill Soltane
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November 2012
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