The conservative New York

For the whole month of August I lived in upstate New York at the Platte Clove Community, which is one of many communities that is part of the Bruderhof (www.bruderhof.com) This experience was one of the most remarkable I have had. 

Some of you are probably wondering 'Why and how did you get to stay there?'.  The answer is, basically, that the Bruderhof was where my mum grew up and so I felt it would be great to see and learn more about the place and my mum's background.  More so, I was keen to visit my grandmother, aunt/ uncle and cousins, who still lives there and whom I hadn't seen since I was 8 years old.  Though I had visited the Community a few times before as a kid, it is a very different experience when you are grown up or, dare I say, an adult.

As soon as I arrived at Platte Clove I had to come to a complete and immediate break.  Firstly, I needed to learn to put everybody's needs at the same level as mine again.  This was definitely difficult to do after my very goal-oriented job in Sarasota, FL.  Also, there was no easy access to the internet and no mobile phone reception, meaning I couldn't communicate whenever I wanted to but only at specific times given to me.  Furthermore,  I was given a full-time voluntary day job - cleaning with the Main House cleaning crew in the morning and working at the Rifton Equipment factory in the afternoon (www.rifton.com) making Bath Chairs for disabled children.

The work I was allocated was demanding and repetitive; one needs to be dedicated and positive to enjoy it.  However, one thing I found was that the people living there are generally very dedicated and diligent at their work.  They do what they do out of faith and not for monetary gain.  It was great to make friends with truly beautiful people who didn't really care at all about things superficial.  I had many good conversations with people who were members of the Community and I feel that, although there may be controversy about this type of community life, I have come to understand them and their views. 

Platte Clove Rd in Green County, NY

The Community is situated amongst the Catskill Mountains/ Hills

On my first weekend there we went for a little walk down the road and, in this meadow, I saw a deer grazing for the first time! - yes I was excited to see bambi :D  Unfortunately my phone camera couldn't zoom in.

Beautiful people. L-R: Rose (my cousin), Michelle and Brenda at the Beechwood House kitchen making 'Granny Snickers' (yum)

Kingston and the Ashokan Reservoir Dam 

As part of my Grandma's 80th Birthday celebrations we went out for lunch in a little city nearby called Kingston.  After lunch we took a scenic drive and stopped briefly at the Askokan Dam on the way. 

Grandma and Uncle Toby walk along the south shore of the Dam

The Ashokan Dam, situated in the Catskill Mountains, is one of the largest reservoirs which provides water to New York City

A little waterfall we stopped to see on the drive home

 My Birthday Weekend/ Last Weekend in NY

I had a garland made for me; it is tradition for a birthday girl to wear one!

The Kitchen Crew had a great bday snack: ice-cream!

Ice-cream and coffee :)

It was a Saturday and I was assigned kitchen duties that day. Here's the group shot  L-R: Judi (head cook), Dorothy, Louise, Annadora, myself and Nora (this girl's a great cook).

The lake is part of the Community property and is used extensively during the summer. *Funny story - I was not allowed to swim in the deep area on the day I wanted to swim because I had not done a swimming test with anyone, so, despite the fact that I swam competitively for 4 years in Fiji, I had to wade around in the shallow!

Look at the approaching storm!

I was respectful and dressed as the women there do: long skirts and button down shirts

Grandma ready to return home and hide from the approaching rain after a nice afternoon walk to the lake. 

With Judith and Tabeia (at Shalom/ youth night)

This is Felicity, she is super nice and  helped me write down tonnes of recipes :)

Sharon and I

Me and my garland after walking home in the rain. *Note: I'd never had a garland before so it was cool to get one

Myself, Aunt Johanna and cousin Rose on Sunday the 28th.

That Sunday Hurricane Irene was devastating the East Coast with high winds and heavy rains.  We were all told to stay indoors.  This resulted in some good family time/ puzzle doing/ card making/ recipe writing.

The dining table where we ate almost every breakfast and dinner together.

Rose made a delicious black forest cake to celebrate the double birthday weekend (for Uncle Toby and I)

There's a bear in my closet!!! I half-way screamed when I saw this!...

I had told some friends that I was hoping to see a black bear after hearing numerous stories about people seeing them in the area.  Unfortunately, after a month, no luck.  On my last night there, two of the girls tried to make it a reality and snuck this bear head into my room!  When I walked in I almost screamed!

At LaGuardia Airport, NYC... Good-bye NY, Hello Minnesota...