Thank you so much for raising just shy of a $1,000 in a handful of days in order to buy a pair of oxen. I cannot wait to report the next step. Iʼm humbled by your spirit of generosity and resolve to get involved.

Weʼve taken a lot of steps as a family in these days. Sure, some of them have been outwardly exotic like visiting an active volcano, horseback riding in it's shadow or swimming in a crater lake.

Others have been dream-come-true category like entering a monkey cage to feed them and hold them or being taught how to use a machete. But the steps that stand out the most are the ones being taken on changing our internal landscape (weʼve had no stomach problems so I donʼt mean that kind!).


I am so proud of our children. The steps they have willingly taken to understand poverty, hunger, dignity and another language have been giant.



Theyʼve done it with more grace than I could have hoped for as a parent.

Fact is, theyʼve gone hungry. Understand, we are fed super well at La Mariposa.

Yet gone is the ʻeat at willʼ reality to which weʼve all grown accustomed. Try eating only breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next 3 days and see what it feels like. You. . . will. . . feel. . . hungry. Really hungry. J ate the salt scraps in the bottom of a pretzel bag that had been finished off yesterday. Last night Gigi discovered some leftover snacks sheʼd packed for the flight. J jumped out of bed (heʼd nearly been asleep) and they parceled out what would surely have been discarded back home.

They have not complained. They know they are being fed like kings compared to everyone around them and we are; itʼs actually felt good to savor food in a way that is only possible when your last meal was just that- a meal and not a snack.

I am grateful for their big hearts, open minds, and spirit of adventure.





As for Baby-O, bless her happy heart- for when youʼre two youʼre going to experience whatever bathroom facilities are the norm because itʼs simply how it is.



She has experienced latrines of every sort, happily and with no judgement, all of us learn from her every day.

Mayet from New York has Baby-O pose with a flower.

I wonder how the changes will affect them long-term? Will they be fleeting or will it affect their future? A young Williams graduate, just arrived, who is studying at Cambridge for a dual-master’s program before she starts medical school is just one example of the dynamic young people we’ve met who truly wants to ‘change the world’. Brady, another dynamo, will begin his work as a fellow as he embarks on a master's at the Bard Center for Environmental Policy. It’s been an honor to be in each one of their presences, and presence they have in spades. I don’t think it’s been lost on the kids either.

All in a day. . .

While Baby-O, Gigi and I toured a small herb farmer who makes soaps and shampoos for the hotel, toured an artisan town and saw how furniture was made, J stayed back at the ranch. I felt a tug at my heart to leave him but knew he’d be in great hands. I needn’t have worried. He learned how to ‘paralyze a chicken’, washed chickens (“got pecked a lot!” he reported with a mischievous glee) played Othello with several of the teachers and ate the salt scraps at the bottom of a pretzel bag when he got hungry. He was aglow when we returned.

As for Gigi, Baby-O and I, this was our afternoon.

At the start of the tour of the herb farm, Baby-O ran over to a bush and said, 'menta!' 

We learn that the flower of the cacao tree emerges from the bark itself.

We are delighted to meet a 'garden pot pineapple'.

Construction, Central American style, has been fascinating and mind-blowing to see. 

We see woven furniture be born.

Back at La Mariposa, each night a ritual occurs. A gathering around the tables for conversation, wifi (It turns off at 7pm every night, quite a funny moment to observe!) and games. Try turning your wifi off each night at 7 and see what happens and games. The bonding that occurs between travelers is part of the magic. It's as close to co-housing as you might get. It's loads of fun.

James from Philly leading the group in a raucous round of  'Liar's Dice'.

Thanks for reading and thank you so much for all your encouragement and support on the oxen, you are appreciated.