A colleague showed me the Korean game "Gonggi," which requires only stones. The game seemed very familiar to me, then I remembered: it was played in the second season of "Squid Game." You only need five small, equally sized stones and a flat playing surface. The goal of the game is to pick up all five stones in a specific order and under certain conditions, without making any mistakes. The game consists of five consecutive levels that become increasingly difficult.

Level 1: Single Pickup

The five stones are thrown onto the playing surface.

One stone is selected and thrown into the air.

While the stone is in the air, another stone is picked up from the ground.

The thrown stone is caught again.

This process is repeated until all the stones have been picked up individually.

Level 2: Pair Pickup

The stones are thrown onto the playing surface again.

One stone is thrown into the air.

While the stone is in the air, two stones are picked up from the ground simultaneously.

The stone thrown into the air is caught again.

This process is repeated until all stones have been picked up in pairs.

Level 3: Three plus One

The stones are thrown back onto the playing surface.

One stone is thrown into the air.

While the stone is in the air, three stones are picked up from the ground simultaneously.

The stone thrown into the air is caught again.

The process is then repeated to pick up the remaining stone.

Level 4: All at Once

One stone is thrown into the air.

While the stone is in the air, the other four stones are picked up from the ground simultaneously.

The stone thrown into the air is caught again.

Level 5: Back-of-Hand Catch

All five stones are thrown into the air simultaneously.

While the stones are in the air, the hand is turned over so that the stones land on the back of the hand.

The stones are thrown into the air again and caught with the palm of the hand.

We celebrated Easter in April.

Easter

in the Light of Mystery

Reviving Beauty, Hope, and Joy, from the Chrysalis to the Butterfly

April 12, Holy Week Eve: Community Bible Study, 7:00 p.m.

Lenten talk by House of Ishi, Introduction to Holy Week by Coleman

April 13, Palm Sunday

Feast of Sacrifice, 9:45 a.m.

(with Palm Sunday Procession)

April 14, Holy Monday

Holy Week Morning Circle

Talk by Chrysalis

Spring Cleaning Morning

Community Lunch at Chrysalis

April 15, Holy Tuesday

Holy Week Morning Circle

Talk by Aulinta

Spring Cleaning Morning

Community Lunch at Marimi, Easter Crafts by Maria, 3:00 p.m.

April 16, Holy Wednesday

Holy Week Morning Circle

Talk by House of Ishi & Linden

Spring Cleaning Morning

Community Lunch at House of Ishi

Colored Light by Szilvia, 3:00 PM

April 17, Maundy Thursday

Holy Week Morning Circle

Talk by Marimi

Spring Cleaning Morning (in the houses)

Lunch in the houses

Maundy Thursday Play 4:30 PM

Silent Meal in the houses

April 18, Good Friday

Holy Week Morning Circle

Talk by Sunrose

Gardening at Blossom's Farm

Picnic Lunch

Biodynamic Stirring 3:00 PM

Biodynamic Spraying 4:00 PM

Good Friday Play 7:00 PM

April 19, Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday Play 10:00 AM

Bible Meal in the houses

April 20, Easter Sunday

Feast of Sacrifice 9:45 AM

Easter Brunch at Marimi 11:00 a.m.

We made a biodynamic mixture together, which we took turns stirring as a community and then spread around the garden by dipping branches with leaves into it and shaking them. I talked extensively about this biodynamic method in Year 1, if you'd like to learn more about it. The Easter grass we planted in the past few weeks has grown impressively quickly!

The highlight of the Easter season was definitely the Easter dinner, where everyone cooked and contributed to a large buffet. Delicious! There was, among other things, a meat platter (cooked, cold cuts, sausages, ham), paschka (Easter cheese), boiled eggs, a cheese platter, bread (baguette, challah, rolls), fresh fruit salad, egg salad, asparagus, a vegetarian platter (some protein alternatives), a salmon platter with lemon, a fresh seasonal vegetable platter, juice, sourdough bread, smoked salmon, gluten-free bread, fried potatoes, chocolate eggs, and muffins. Delicious!

We had to adjust our granola production because, due to a change in the use of the house where we make granola, we can now only make granola every two weeks. At the same time, I was able to persuade my house, which previously bought granola, to also eat SAGE granola. Now I can finally eat the granola that I have been helping to produce since arriving at Camphill.

I received a lovely package from my mother for Easter. Among them were sweet Haribo pretzels, which I've never seen before! Thank you for this sweet surprise!

At the May Day dance, we danced around the maypole with ribbons in our hands, which was a lot of fun. There was live music, we had a picnic on the lawn, and I chatted with a colleague from Mexico, who made me really want to go on vacation there.

Every Saturday we have Bible supper, where we dress formally, eat soup and bread, and talk about the Bible. We were invited to eat at the "Siwiini" house. Of all the houses here, it's definitely the prettiest; it's like something out of Hollywood, perched on a hillside, with several balconies overlooking a wooded ravine, and is in a very quiet neighborhood. The two householder are currently living without residents (one resident comes by occasionally for a trial visit). We really enjoyed the new surroundings and were very pleased with their hospitality.

I've started going to the gym regularly again. With the long days at Camphill (6:30 - 8:15), it's often difficult to find time for other projects.

One resident went on vacation with her family. During the rest hour, I saw another resident approach her and offer her a hug goodbye. I was deeply touched!

We had the rare opportunity to welcome a special visitor: Zacherie, co-founder of the Ubumwe Community School and the new Camphill-inspired community in Mwogo, Rwanda. Zacherie visited Camphill California for four days to learn about our community centers and programs and to deepen our partnership. We also raised funds for Camphill Rwanda, a sister initiative dedicated to our mission of serving people with developmental disabilities. Their library is open to the public on Friday and Saturday afternoons from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM and to the school daily. Twenty visitors visit daily. Six young volunteers work in the library and the inclusive kindergarten. The kindergarten has 56 children, including ten with disabilities. One of them, a four-year-old girl, has a bow-legged deformity (genu vara), which could be corrected in a hospital like Gahini in the Eastern Province. Five children show signs of malnutrition. They attend church services from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The children are offered milk porridge and amandazi. The services are free. However, parents purchase fabric for school uniforms, which is made by the tailoring students themselves. A major challenge that must be resolved as soon as possible is the lack of pocket money for the volunteers who look after the children and the library. Another challenge is paving parts of the courtyard and creating gardens in front of the library. The soil is very clayey and becomes muddy when it rains. Finally, the quality and quantity of the children's nutrition must be improved. They increasingly need more books for children and young people, as well as general educational materials, including for skill development. Last year, Camphill also raised funds for the project. 1.5 hectares of land were cultivated, and 320 avocados, 80 mangoes, and potatoes were grown. A total of 61 students are being educated, 56 children are in preschool, and seven people with disabilities are working in agriculture. The Point Foundation's monthly RWF 750,000 food subsidies and the farm's profits benefit approximately 125 people for breakfast and lunch. Of these, 14 people live in two dormitories. Next year, the number of dormitory users will increase to 16. They will need more furniture and bedding. Seven families also benefit from the farm's profits twice a year. The impact of the Mwogo project has steadily increased over the past six years.

The fundraising campaign is still ongoing. I appreciate everyone who donates money!

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-build-a-brighter-future-for-mwogos-camphill-community

– $10 funds urgently needed books for the library

– $25 funds a week of meal programs for families in need with children with disabilities

– $100 funds a teacher's salary and classroom materials

– $600 supports a student with disabilities in receiving a full year of high school education, including room and board

I was so impressed by their work that I donated $45.

I caught a cold, and it hit me hard. I rarely get sick, but when I do, I get really sick. My house was very supportive. The mustard seed foot bath, along with cold tea and Plantain Beeswax Congestion Relief cream, helped me a lot.

This time, I was running behind the Cabrillo College with my running partner. Cabrillo College is very close to our Camphill and is a public community college. Many high school graduates first attend community colleges, which have lower admission requirements and lower costs than large universities. Some graduates transfer to large universities like Santa Cruz, San Jose, or Monterey after completing their bachelor's degree. It's a beautiful campus with a nice running track behind it.

Unfortunately, I received some sad news from my alma mater, Humboldt University. The historic Emil Fischer Lecture Hall, with 268 seats, was vandalized by pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel activists. This hurts me greatly, as it is a truly historic lecture hall, and I always enjoyed the education lectures with Professor Olbertz here. In 1892, Emil Fischer, one of Germany's leading chemists of the time and later a Nobel Prize winner, attached a condition to his acceptance of the university's offer: a new Chemical Institute to meet the increased demands of research and teaching. The institute, designed according to Fischer's proposals, opened in July 1900. Prominent scientists such as Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn worked there, and the buildings are listed as historical monuments. The university estimates the damage to be between 60,000 and 100,000 euros. The occupiers not only defaced walls with slogans and Hamas symbols, but also tore out entire rows of seats and stacked them in the anteroom. Following the occupation of the lecture hall, the police initiated 100 criminal investigations and arrested 95 people. There were 89 people in the lecture hall and around 120 on the street. The police are investigating on suspicion of aggravated trespassing, particularly aggravated breach of the peace, incitement to hatred, the use of symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations, and resistance against police officers. The occupiers apparently threw urine and pyrotechnics at the police officers.

When I told other people about this, the actions were partly justified by the suffering of civilians in the affected areas. I am not an expert on the Middle East conflict and cannot offer a qualified opinion here. But I doubt that the destruction of historic lecture halls helps these people in any way or convinces people to stand up for their goals. The university has always been a political place, and I have always advocated for people to stand up for their ideals at the university. But tearing out benches, graffitiing walls, and attacking police officers will never help you, no matter what political goals and ideals you pursue.

In preparation for the final presentations at the end of May, we have some free time to prepare our reflective essays, portfolios, and presentations. We were invited by a staff member who has also attended some of our courses to study in her apartment. She has a privately rented studio in the mountains of Santa Cruz, in the middle of a forest with a fantastic view. Thanks for the invitation; it was great to meet in a different place and discuss our progress together.

Another time, we drank coffee, had breakfast, and worked on our laptops at the Santa Cruz Roastery. A resident walked past the café; he works at a nearby pizzeria and wouldn't have expected to see us there at this time of night. The pizzeria where he works is currently offering Cinna S'more pizza, which I would love to try. The buses that run in Santa Cruz are beautifully designed to highlight the environmental benefits of buses. Some of the trees on the buses look so realistic that the buses blend into the background and appear camouflaged.

I have my off-day on Sunday, but today I still drove the house. They went to "Brusters," an ice cream shop. I always miss out on trips like these because my off-day coincides with the day of the excursion. That's a shame, because here you could spend some time with the residents away from work and cleaning.

While running, I saw a funny tree. A cut branch stump had been decorated in a very creative "Mexican" way, as you can see in the photo. While driving, I saw an impressive cloud formation, which I also photographed.

For the "Speech" class, my colleague Vencel from Hungary and I gave a presentation in the community's Morning Circle. We wanted to give some insights into our course, but also include some things from our homeland – with a focus on our public speaking skills.

Cold Open Tong Twisters (Vencel and Damon)

Vencel:Fekete bika pata kopog a pepita patika köveken.

Damon: Schnecken erschrecken, wenn sie an Schnecken schlecken, 

weil zum Schrecken vieler Schnecken Schnecken nicht schmecken

Introduction (Damon)

Damon: Who did understand us? There are people, who master their speech so much, that you can even understand them through hearing even if you don’t speak their language. 

Amy, Var, Vencel and I attended the Speech course. When we practice art we have always the opportunity to meet ourselves. It can change our perspective on the world, on our work and the people around us. When you think about art, you might think about painting, drawing, singing or playing instruments. But did you know, that Speech is also an art? Your tool is not the brush or the instrument, but your words.

 You can use language and rhetorical techniques to persuade, inform and inspire. You choose your tone, pace, body language and voice depending on what you want to achieve. When you speak, you have to connect to your audience with empathy and creativity. Today Vencel and I want to give you some impressions, what we learned in the course. 

Six Revelations of Speech (Vencel and Damon) 

Damon: We learned about the six revelations of Speech. It doesent only matter what we say, but also how we say something. We can speak with Anthipathy or Sympathy. We can use different gestures to reach out or push away. Our tone can be gentle or hard. We have so many different ways, to express ourselves. Vencel will demonstrate some ways. 

Vencel:

* Effective: The river’s rising. Hurry for your lives.

* Thoughtful: It must have been the dam we heard roar as it broke. Too late. The Water has cut us off.

* Cautiously: Is there no help? If only someone would send a boat.

* Antipathy: Ghastly to be trapped and drowned like rats.

* Sympathy: Come Children. Do not be afraid.

* Drawing back: Impossible to scale the cliff. We must. 

Nursery Rhymes (Vencel and Damon) 

Damon: Now tell me - Who of you remembers a nursery rhyme?

(People raise hands, Damon asks people which nursery rhyme they remember)

Damon: Nursery Rhymes are short traditional songs and verses, often read or sung to young children. They often have catchy melodies and memorable lyrics. We know that at least since the mid 16. Century parents used nursery rhymes to educate their children. We want to present you two different Nursery Rhymes from Germany and Hungary. 

Damon: Backe, backe Kuchen,

der Bäcker hat gerufen.

Wer will guten Kuchen backen,

der muss haben sieben Sachen:

Eier und Schmalz,

Zucker und Salz,

Milch und Mehl,

Safran macht den Kuchen gehl!

Schieb, schieb in’n Ofen ’nein.

Damon: Bake a cake, bake a cake,

the baker has called.

Whoever wants to bake a good cake,

must have seven things:

eggs and lard,

sugar and salt,

milk and flour,

Saffron makes the cake yellow.

Push it into the oven.

Damon: Backe, backe Kuchen,

der Bäcker hat gerufen.

Wer will guten Kuchen backen,

der muss haben sieben Sachen:

Eier und Schmalz,

Zucker und Salz,

Milch und Mehl,

Safran macht den Kuchen gehl!

Schieb, schieb in’n Ofen ’nein.

Vencel: 

Gyerekek, gyerekek,

szeretik a perecet,

sósat, sósat,

jó ropogósat.

Aki vesz, annak lesz,

aki nem vesz, éhes lesz.

Vencel: 

Children, children,

they love pretzels,

salty, salty,

good crunchy.

Who buys them, will have them,

who doesn't buy them, will go hungry.

Vencel: 

Gyerekek, gyerekek,

szeretik a perecet,

sósat, sósat,

jó ropogósat.

Aki vesz, annak lesz,

aki nem vesz, éhes lesz.

Dialoge (Damon and Vencel)

Damon: We also learned how important the emphasis of consonants and vowels in the language is when we want to send a message to someone. 

Vencel: The garden looks so beautiful

Damon: It's to hot to work outside today

Vencel: I can’t wait to eat lunch, it’s always  healthy and delicious 

Damon: Tofu, Quinoa and overcooked Veggies- I hate to eat every week the same boring food. 

Vencel: But we can all sing these wonderful songs together in harmony

Damon: It makes me sick to sing the same songs over and over again

Vencel:  Look at the people, they are enjoying our amazing presentation

Damon: This already takes long enough, can't we just end this now?

One of our residents has been going to summer camp every summer for a long time. Camp via West hosted a fundraising gala, to which she invited a colleague and me. It was a fantastic event! The Heart of Camp Fundraiser took place in Cupertino, the home city of Apple. We were first welcomed with a selection of wine and appetizers. We met the resident's grandparents, and she showed us her house. The mayor of Cupertino and the former mayor of Palo Alto were among the guests. We saw communication boards where children can point out their needs and emotions. Afterwards, we went up to the sports field, where a fantastic dinner with steak and dessert was served. There was an auction and a raffle with prizes such as stays in luxury homes on Lake Travis, date nights at restaurants, and tickets to BayFC and SF Giants sporting events. The camp director lives with a disability herself; she is deaf. A very inspiring woman! Afterwards, there was live music, and we both took turns dancing exuberantly with the resident. I've captured my highlights of the evening in a video for you:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJzq4dqh_eh/

As a farewell, we were treated to granola produced there, which we tasted and brought back to our SAGE group for analysis. It tasted very good because it was sweet, as they apparently mix maple syrup into the granola. A fantastic evening!

One day, while out and about, I saw a dog lying on the motorcycle in front of its owner. It was a funny sight.

A class from the Waldorf School of Santa Cruz was visiting to perform a eurythmy performance for our residents. The students did a fantastic job; their movements, along with the music, were very beautiful to watch. One student came out of the hall after the performance and got into his red sports car. I was very surprised and joked that one should really become a eurythmy dancer. But, as in Germany, Waldorf schools here aren't as diverse as public schools, as private schools often have more educated and affluent parents than public schools, which also explains the sports car. That same day, I was standing in front of a fruit mix in the supermarket and was really shocked by the price of $16.99. For that price, you could get two meals at McDonald's; healthy living is expensive in America.

In the garden, we collected horsetail and made tea from it. The tea isn't for us, but for the plants. It's supposed to help against fungal infections. With a resident, I took apart boxes and removed the stickers so we could put them on the beds. I was also finally able to do hard physical work again.  We split logs with axes, that was fun.

At the Academy, we continued preparing our projects. Once we drove to Fall Creek and enjoyed the peace and quiet in nature along the Bennett Creek Trail.

Since a session of the music seminar was canceled, the teacher made up for it. We were given an introduction to music theory, which I found very interesting. I said that I find it very difficult to put into words why "Paint it Black" by the Rolling Stones is my favorite song. It's like a foreign language, as I know very little about notes, instruments, and rhythms.

Core Concepts

• Rhythm – The pattern of long and short notes and rests over a steady beat.

• Meter – A single unit of time in music that is perceived as a steady pulse.

• Bar (or Measure) – A section of music with a fixed number of beats (4/4 or 3/4).

• Tempo – The speed of the beat (fast, slow, moderate).

• Time Signature – The grouping of beats into repeating patterns, e.g., duple time (march), triple time (waltz), or quadruple time (pop).

Notation (Reading/Writing)

• Time signature – Two numbers that indicate the number of beats in a measure.

• Note values ​​– Symbols that indicate the duration of a note (whole, half, quarter note).

• Rest – A symbol that indicates a specific rest.

• Dotted notes – A dot increases half the value of the note.

• Tie – A curved line that connects two notes of the same pitch and combines their durations.

• Accent – ​​A note played louder or with more emphasis.

Expressive Elements

• Offbeat – The intermediate beats (e.g., the "and" in "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and").

• Backbeat – Emphasis on beats 2 and 4 in 4/4 time, common in pop and rock.

• Syncopation – Emphasis on offbeats or unexpected parts of a measure.

• Ostinato – A repeated rhythmic or melodic pattern.

• Polyrhythm – Two or more different rhythms played simultaneously.

Rhythm - Time

Harmony - Space

Melody - Individuality

When I visited Abbot Square, my favorite place in Santa Cruz, I first noticed the sign on the Hall of Records. It says that the Octagon is the oldest building in downtown Santa Cruz. It was built of locally produced bricks in 1851, inspired by a $50 gold piece in the shape of an octagon. It survived a major fire in 1894 and an earthquake in 1989. On Mother's Day, I sat on the plaza and called my mother. There was live music and a craft market with numerous stalls.

On a hike, I passed more interesting information panels. I learned about the Amah Mutsun, the first inhabitants of Soquel. They were here 10,000 years before the Europeans. There are still descendants who pass on their traditions, language, knowledge, farming, and education to their children. They also pass on their knowledge of natural healing to other people. On a map I also saw the other tribes that lived in the area and their languages: Awaswas (Santa Cruz), Mutsun (Hollister) and Rumsen (Carmel, Monterey).

We hosted a big pool party at Camphill. We had a barbecue, went swimming in the pool, and laughed a lot. I spoke with a colleague from South Africa who is now back at Camphill after a long absence. My colleague prepared tandoori chicken in the smoky restaurant style for the barbecue, which was absolutely delicious!

In the "Goethean Nature Observation" course, we spend a lot of time outside, learning about plants and drawing them in different stages. We also learned about plant anatomy – like with music, I often find it difficult to describe plants because I lack the theory behind them.

For my project, I gave my resident a gift. I thought about what kind of game would satisfy her desire of sorting at a low level of concentration, which she can do relaxed on the couch, but still contributes to the further development of her skills. I bought a „Wooden Mosaic Puzzle“ and surprised her with this gift. It consists of a wooden grid board, colorful wooden blocks and many different reference pictures. Her task is to choose a motive and then to lay the blocks in the same way to copy the motive on her board. She has to count the levels to find the right spot and then choose the correct form and color. If she makes the right decisions, she can create wonderful pictures with the stones. The motives come in different difficulty levels, so that she can start without frustration and raise the challenge over time. The game was designed to help develop motor skills, logic, spatial awareness, imagination, color and shape recognition, problem-solving skills, and hand-eye coordination. Especially her motor skills and problem-solving are skills where I see potential for further development.

This week, we worked in the garden with the SAGE Crew. We planted a bed with winter savory, cilantro, dill, and tomatoes. We built a small wooden tent for the tomatoes. Strings hang from the tent for the tomatoes to hang on to. To build it, I cut down bamboo trees with a resident, sawed them up, and tied them together with rope. It was a great project and a lot of fun! In the garden, we saw a large, weird looking beetle, which my supervisor said was probably a "Chinese Spider Plant Bug."

One day, I was running with a resident to Blue Ball Park. We took a break on the hill and watched a high school baseball game. We played baseball every Friday in the summer at Triform. I was never good at hitting the ball, but I always enjoyed catching it.

On a field trip to the library, I admired a piece of art on the outside wall. Apparently, many children were asked what "home" means to them and were asked to creatively record their answers. I really enjoyed looking at the different pieces of art. It inspired me to think about what "home" means to me.

It was one of our directors' birthdays. To our surprise, the employee who does public relations in the office sang a song with a colleague: "No One" by Alicia Keys. Both the singer and the pianist who sang along had fantastic voices; it was an amazing concert.

I had a toothache again and went to the dentist. In the waiting room, I read the "New Yorker," my favorite magazine in the US. The article, "Trouble Shooting Guide to Your Moving Wall of Spikes," was very funny and had some nice references to movies that featured similar scenes. The dentist examined my teeth and determined that I must have been under a lot of stress recently. It looks like I was putting a lot of pressure on my teeth, causing them to rub against each other. A piece of my tooth broke off, so he warned me to change something because things couldn't go on like this. I brought this up in the in-house meeting and will reflect on how I could reduce my stress levels in the future. He recommended a tooth crown. Now I have to wait for my ADAC long-term travel insurance to see if this is part of their coverage. Otherwise, we'd be in the four-figure range again, which I couldn't afford with my fellowship. As a student, I'm also not allowed to work another job to save up, as I would lose my student visa.

While shopping at Costco, I saw a wall where the "Employees of the Month" were listed. I've never seen that in Germany and only know it from the children's series "Spongebob". Next to it was a wall where customer feedback notes were pasted next to photos of employees. That's a really nice idea, and the many Little stories from customers show how even small gestures from employees can make a difference. This is what successful employee appreciation looks like!

One evening we had a game night at the house. My householder has a book called "Ultimate Book of Card Games" by Scott McNeely. We tried out the game "Cuareta", the most popular card game in Ecuador. I'm not really a big fan of new card games that take ages to explain and then understand. But the game is easy to understand and really fun:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez3_6OT1R38&pp=ygUSY3VhcmVudGEgY2FyZCBnYW1l

We're nearing the finish line in our project. We've sorted the Fun Box and prepared our presentation.

My Korean colleague and a friend from Miami who was visiting her went to the movies together. We saw "Final Destination Bloodlines." And what can I say: finally, a good horror movie in the theater! I wouldn't give a general recommendation, but if you like horror movies, and especially the old Final Destination movies, you can go see this one without hesitation. After all, the last film in the series was released 14 years ago. With 178 million trailer views in the first 24 hours, the film ranks second behind "IT." I was worried that the new film might lose its identity and become more in tune with modern mainstream horror films and their worn-out conventions. But the film has everything you'd expect from a Final Destination film and is a very entertaining treat. In the 1960s, a woman predicts the collapse of a building and saves a group of people from death. Decades later, her granddaughter also begins to have visions of the death of her family members. She then travels back to her hometown to save her family...

When a horror film draws me in so much that I don't think about my everyday life and the future, that's always a good sign. On the way back at night, we were led through a brightly lit construction site. Excavators were driving around, jackhammers were making a lot of noise, and construction workers were trying to shout something to each other. A construction worker guided us through. This gave me flashbacks to older Final Destination movies, where a loose screw on a tool could trigger a chain of events that led to a major disaster. But nothing happened, and we arrived home safe and sound with the movie.

As previously reported, I cook with an elderly resident every Monday. This time I thought I'd try something new. A lot of people are talking about artificial intelligence right now, so I'm using Chat GPT. I asked the AI:

I'm cooking Chicken & Apple Smoked Chicken Sausage with quinoa. And cooked vegetables with onions, corn, peas, carrots, and cauliflower in hickory BBQ sauce. As a vegetarian alternative to sausage, there are radishes and sauerkraut. Write it as an item on the menu of a luxury restaurant.

The answer:

*Smoked Chicken & Apple Sausage | Quinoa & Hickory BBQ Vegetables*

Applewood-smoked chicken sausage infused with sweet apple notes, served atop fluffy quinoa. Accompanied by a medley of tender vegetables—carrots, sweet corn, garden peas, cauliflower, and onions—gently glazed in a rich Hickory BBQ sauce.

*Vegetarian Alternative*

Fresh radishes and artisan sauerkraut served in harmony with the BBQ vegetable medley — a vibrant, tangy counterpart to the smoky depth of the dish.

A refined balance of earth, smoke, and brightness — crafted for the discerning palate.

I wrote this to our group and announced the meal this way before dinner. It's a beautiful appreciation of the food we might otherwise just throw into our mouths without much thought.

We've been looking forward to this day for a long time. The first-year students presented their social therapy projects to the entire community and demonstrated how they've been supporting a resident one-on-one since October in achieving their individual goals. The presentation was our final assignment of the first year. My colleague from Hungary taught a resident how to play the guitar. He had long been interested in learning to play a musical instrument. My colleague then designed his guitar lessons and practiced the basics with him every week. At the end, they performed a concert for the community, which received much applause. 

My colleague from Indiana visited many different state parks with a resident. He is interested in photography and art, so they searched for interesting subjects in the parks and took photos. At the end, they created a booklet featuring many different state parks. They also collected plants, which they used to create sunprint art (also known as cyanotypes). The technique was developed in the 19th century and allows for the creation of detailed images of plants, transferring motifs onto fabric, or creating greeting cards and murals. It involves using paper or fabric coated with a light-sensitive solution of iron compounds (potassium ferricyanide and ammonium ferric citrate). When the material is exposed to UV light, the chemicals react and create an image. Areas covered by objects such as leaves or feathers remain white, while the visible areas turn blue. After exposure, the material is rinsed with water to stop the chemical reaction and fix the image. They prepared a gallery where people could admire their beautiful art.

In October 2024, I asked my resident C. if she would like to do the Social Therapy Project with me. She was very enthusiastic about my idea, and from then on, we met almost every week on Tuesdays during resthour from 13:30 - 14:30 in ISHI to explore new activities and interests together. The purpose of the Social Therapy Project is not only to impart a new experience,but also to develop a relationship with the resident.

After every session, I wrote down a summary and reflection of our activity in my journal. At the start of the project, I had already been living with C. for three months. I realized, that we hardlybuilt up a relationship during this time. That made me a little sad, as we live together in the same house. There were several reasons for this. We didn't share workshops in the morning or afternoon and on Sunday, the outing day, I have my day off. Therefore, I wanted to use the project to build a relationship with her. I had often seen her sitting on the couch during my rest hour watch on Tuesday, sorting puzzle pieces from one box to the next and back again. My goal was to enable her to engage in a more creative and meaningful activity. To achieve this, I've made it my task to try outlots of different activities with her that she can do from the couch during rest hour. And so we met every week and tried out different activities. She didn't like everything and told me when  something was boring or too complicated. I read her stories, we played games, and solved puzzles. In the end, we created a box (C.'s Fun Box) together and filled it with her favorite activities. At first, I was worried that she would only use the box when I was sitting with her. But when my householder wrote to me and told me how often she used the box, even on my days off, I was very happy. From the handwritten portfolio, in which she also wrote answers, I created a beautiful booklet with lots of photos and reports from our sessions. In addition to the portfolio, I also wrote an essay in which I critically reflected on my social therapy project. What went well, what did we achieve that year, and what would I perhaps do differently?

The resident was supposed to be included in the presentation to the community. When we practiced our presentation in the assembly hall, the resident was very shy. She didn't want to talk so much, so she asked me to speak and let her hang the pictures. We had her favorite activities printed in poster size so we could hang them on a taut line behind us. We practiced it several times so she would be prepared for my questions and could explain her favorite activities to the others. On the day of the presentation, the whole hall was filled with residents and staff from the community, everyone came to find out what the first-year students had been working on. I was worried that she would get stage fright speaking in front of so many people. As soon as I asked the first question, I was very surprised: she was in a great mood and started talking a lot, loudly and with confidence. She showed the pictures, talked about her experience and explained to the community like a teacher how the activities worked. She gave me the first picture, I hung it up and she started to introduce the next picture. Now it was her who was giving the talk while I hung the pictures. I was so happy! I got feedback from some people that they had never seen this side of C. before. It couldn't have gone better! She also presented a story we read together ("The Lion and the Mouse") and showed pictures of her highlights. We invited people to take a look at our Fun Box after the presentation to gather ideas for activities in their homes.

After the presentations, we stood behind our booth, many residents and colleagues looked at the materials in the Fun Box, and C. answered questions about the project. We received great applause and a lot of positive feedback. Many months of intensive collaboration paid off; I was able to support her in achieving her individual goals while also opening up new activities for her. At the end of the presentation, I thanked the resident in front of the community. I learned a lot not only about her and social therapy, but also about myself. Thank you for this wonderful experience! If you would like to take a look at the portfolio or the recording of the presentation, please contact me directly (damonruhlaender (at) gmx.de). You can find the essay on the Academy subpage.

This week I explored San Francisco for the first time. While my friends drive to San Francisco almost every week on their days off, getting there by public transport is very difficult - California is made for drivers. It only takes about 90 minutes by car. I timed my journey. I started at Fishermans Wharf at 18:00 and arrived home at 22:30. 4 1/2 hours, which according to Google can also be done in 3 1/2 hours with perfect timing, is quite a long journey - with two trips there's not much left of the day.

So on my days off, I mainly visited the surrounding area and planned a shorter vacation to explore San Francisco. The bus journey already proved to be a challenge. Despite their close proximity to Silicon Valley, the buses don't accept credit cards - but they can't give you change either, so you have to have the 7 dollars for the Santa Cruz to San Jose bus with you. They refer you to the Santa Cruz Metro Splash Pass app, which, unlike the San Francisco public transport app, is not available in the German App Store. I can't switch to the American App Store because my Apple Watch insurance is linked to the German account; I can't create a new account because my cell phone number is linked to the German account. I can buy tickets on the website, but only print tickets and no online tickets. When did time stand still here? The bus from Soquel, where Camphill is based, to Santa Cruz is free because of my student ID. The ride to San Jose costs 7 dollars, the train ride from San Jose to San Francisco 20 dollars. Fortunately, the travel costs can be reimbursed by Camphill as transportation costs. In San Francisco, a day ticket costs 5.50 and is therefore even cheaper than in Berlin.

I started the day with a city tour to get a feel for the city. My city guide, who I booked via the Guru Walk platform, was Britt McEachern. He runs the blog “Quirky Travel Guy” and has been reporting on his travels in over 40 countries since 2011. Very inspiring! Not always a blogger and tour guide, he studied Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, earned an MBA in Product Marketing at the USC Marshall School of Business and worked as an aide to Congressmen Sheila Jackson Lee and Eliot Engel. In this capacity, he has written speeches, initiated legislation and given tours of the Capitol and the White House. A very exciting personality! He explained the thick fog in San Francisco as the cold ocean water meets the warm Californian air. There are many mountains on the coast, but through the narrow bay by the Golden Gate Bridge, the fog penetrates inland and surrounds the city.

He has covered everything from the earliest history of the 18th century, to the Wild West of the 19th century, to the growth and destruction of the city in the 20th century, to the gentrification of today. In 1848, James W. Marshall discovered gold near Coloma on the American River. The discovery of gold turned San Francisco from a small outpost (Yerba Buena, founded in 1834) into one of the fastest growing cities in the world. In one year, the population grew from 1,000 to over 25,000 people, many lured by the promise of getting rich from gold. The guide told us about Samuel Brannan. When people find gold in a river, they naturally keep it to themselves. They don't want to share the gold with too many other people, of course! He found gold and started spreading the word. He wasn't interested in the gold - he was interested in the prospectors' money! He played an important role in sparking the Gold Rush, selling shovels, pans, and other equipment to prospectors who came from all over the world. A pan that normally cost 20 cents, he sold for up to 15 dollars. This is how he became California's first millionaire! The small outpost quickly grew into a large city, financed by the gold discoveries. On April 18, 1906, San Francisco was destroyed by an earthquake and a great fire, killing an estimated 700 people, although some sources put the number four times higher. Large parts of the city were rebuilt, and the military stationed in the Presidio provided disaster relief. In 1945, the post-war conference that led to the United Nations Charter and the UN itself took place here. The hippie movement reached its peak in 1967 during the "Summer of Love." Musicians such as Janis Jopin and Jefferson Airplane influenced the music world from here. In Berkeley, students became politicized, and a center of American counterculture emerged, a rebellion against the establishment and the Vietnam War. Homosexuals moved to the city, which to this day is considered "the city" of homosexuals in the USA. In the 1990s, during the dot-com boom, more and more IT companies moved to San Francisco and Silicon Valley, changing the city forever. “Manhattanization” is a big issue among residents, as the construction of more and more skyscrapers is changing the original feel of San Francisco more and more to resemble New York, while blocking the view of the mountain landscape. According to many articles, the city is experiencing a decline, triggered by the influx of many wealthy IT employees earning over 300,000 dollars at Google, Facebook and Apple, causing rents to skyrocket. Long-time residents of San Francisco can no longer afford the rents and have to move out of the city. The city's gastronomy has suffered huge damage due to Covid, with many traditional stores and restaurants having to close for good. Now many IT experts are moving out of the city again; as digital nomads, they are not tied to one location. What remains are unaffordable rents, empty stores and deserted city centers that are increasingly populated by homeless people. 40,000 people in San Francisco and the Bay Area have no place to live. Emergency shelters consisting of camping tents can be found on the streets, while the lack of park benches in public spaces makes it difficult for homeless people to stay there permanently. The high level of homelessness and the shared border between California and Mexico mean that San Francisco is affected by the opioid crisis. The Tenderloin neighborhood and parts of the Mission District are increasingly shunned by residents and tourists due to the ubiquitous drug users. To ease the burden on police, thefts up to a value of $950 are no longer prosecuted. According to some articles, this contributes to a further increase in crime. San Francisco's best time is over, but if you walk through the city carefully, you can learn a lot about the exciting history of the old hippie city.

We started at Union Square near the corner of Geary and Powell Streets. From there, we walked through Maiden Lane, Chinatown, Portsmouth Square Park, and Little Italy. If you're interested in my highlights, you can read more on the San Francisco subpage. There, I report on the San Francisco Gold Rush, the Union Square Statue, the Hearts of San Francisco, Maiden Lane, the San Francisco Ducks, the SalesForce Tower, Chinatown, the parking garage with the most beautiful view of San Francisco, Cot Tower, the Church of St. Peter and Paul, Little Italy, and the Transamerica Pyramid.

After the tour, I took the bus to Presidio, where I took a City Guide Tours tour led by Jeff Schoppert. As a huge military history fan, it was truly a dream location for me. From 1776, the Presidio was a Spanish military post, transferred to Mexico in 1821, and was a US military base from 1846 to 1994. It is one of the oldest permanent military installations in the USA – in operation for over 200 years. During the Civil War, it served as a defensive post against potential attacks, as it is well-suited to protecting the bay south of the Golden Gate Bridge. However, there were never any battles against the secessionist states on the Pacific coast. During the Spanish-American War of 1898 and the Philippine-American War until 1902, the Presidio was the most important base for the US armed forces. From the Presidio, the US Army provided significant assistance to the residents of San Francisco during the 1906 earthquake, establishing communications lines. They also provided fire and police services, as well as medical care. In the 20th century, it served as a command center for the US Army Western Defense Command. In 1994, the barracks were demilitarized and converted into a public national park. The national park was initially unenthusiastic about the idea because maintaining the large grounds and numerous buildings would have consumed a large portion of its budget. The two-by-three-kilometer site contains 870 buildings, of which around 470 are considered historically significant. Therefore, a large portion was transferred to the Presidio Trust, with the stipulation that they must be self-supporting. The maintenance of the historic buildings and the beautiful natural surroundings is financed through the rental of the former officers' residences and other buildings, which today are home to 150 businesses and 2,500 wealthy individuals. The largest commercial tenants, with approximately 61,000 square meters, are LucasArts, Industrial Light and Magic, and Lucasfilm (Star Wars), which have had offices for 2,500 employees in the Presidio since 2005. The Walt Disney Museum is also located here. Alfred Hitchcock filmed the wonderful film "Vertigo: From the Realm of the Dead" (1958) here. The film "Presidio" (1988), starring Sean Connery and Mark Harmon, isn't the most memorable, but it does give a nice impression of Presidio when it was still a military base. In Star Trek, this is the headquarters of Starfleet, seen in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986). Whether with or without a guided tour, a stroll through Presidio is definitely worth it. From here, it's not far to the Golden Gate Bridge, which can be reached and crossed on foot. After the tour, I received an email from our guide. Apparently, we had a woman on the tour who had a personal connection to the history of Presidio:

Hi **** , ****, ****, ****, ****, ****, Damon and ****,

Thanks to each of you and your companions (und an ****, **** und Damon vielen Dank) for coming out yesterday to join me in our exploration of the Presidio of San Francisco and its complex and fascinating history. Your willingness to engage with me, and with each other, made my day. 

And I never expected I’d learn in response to my question about whether anyone had personal connection to the Presidio that one of my walkers was descended from a member of the de Anza party (that made the twelve-hundred mile journey north from Tubac in 1776), and a Spanish soldier who came north with Gaspar de Portolá in 1769.  Ysadora Tapia, who was married to the Spanish soldier, Marco Briones, gave birth to Juana Briones (later, Juana de la Trinidad Briones y Tapia de Miranda) at place near what is now Santa Cruz, California, on March 12, 1802.  The Briones family moved to the Presidio of San Francisco in 1812.  Our fellow walker, ****, is Juana Briones' great-granddaughter. 

The importance of Juana Briones to the history of the City of San Francisco cannot be overemphasized.  She was a remarkable woman. Although probably illiterate, she spoke five or six different languages, and was a curandera (healer) having learned to use herbs and natural medicines from the indigenous Ohlone people.  She was also a dairy farmer, maintaining her pastures in what is now called North Beach, and may be the earliest non-indigenous resident of Yerba Buena, the village that eventually became known as the City of San Francisco.  An astute businesswoman, she managed to hang on to her title to lands she acquired when others were unable to do so, and eventually purchased large acreage in Santa Clara County where she maintained a cattle ranching operation. 

Thank you, **** for providing us with such a special context for our tour of the Presidio.

I hope you enjoyed the walk and came away with a small sense of the importance of the place in the history of the city, the state and the nation.  In some ways the stories associated with the Presidio serve as a microcosm of the history of our nation as a whole, even up to the present time.  As one-time San Francisco newspaper reporter Mark Twain is credited as saying (without much evidence that he actually did so), “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”

All the best,

Jeff Schoppert

What a fantastic day! Because the journey was so long, I tried to see as much as possible in a short time. When I got home, I felt the aftereffects. I walked all day and didn't sit down for long stretches, as I didn't have time to stop for a meal. I also spent most of my time in the sun and, despite using sunscreen, got sunburned. But it was still worth it; the city is full of interesting insights into American history.