The Women's Dorm ^
<My Room>
The entryway ^ (part of Japanese Custom is to change your shoes when you enter a building. Usually slippers inside.) The picture, above right, is the traditional raised living area. It is raised approx. 1ft above the hallway floor and has sliding doors and a heated center table. (the t.v. is all Japanese so I have yet to watch it.)
The dining area (above). The far left 1/4 has a library, ping pong table, Piano, and lounge area. (below)
(above) This area is under construction. Previous offices were here but were damaged in the earthquake. Various groups have donated entire buildings. Including the Methodists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, United Church of Christ, and a Buddhist group. The interfaith mission here is excelling so many stepped up to help rebuild after last year's disaster.
(above) This is the Farm Shop, it is massive and magnificent! My office is on the top floor, and the bottom is a normal Barn style storage for the usual tools (only... there are about 40 of each tool)
These are the Chicken Houses. From what I can guess there are roughly 65-100 chickens in each of these massive barns.
These (below) are the Sow pigs. There are 5 of them but one is not in the picture because she delivered 21 piglets last weekend. (4 have since died.) Gil, our veterinarian and pig expert, runs a breeding system using artificial insemination (to prevent defective genetics and disease). We have 5 Sow, 17 piglets, and about 30 young pigs. Gil and Gussan ship the pigs at different intervals, once they reach a good weight.
This building is Koinonia, where we eat our meals everyday.
The upstairs is the only space available to use since the earthquake. The basement has been deemed unsafe.
This is the Shrine on campus. The most popular belief in Japan is Shinto. Shrines, or alters, are built at the peak on a hill to honor God in Nature. The bottom of the path has an arch like this one. Sometimes I will see them in the parks around town. Part of the agreement of ARI is that the Shrine at the top of the hill must be maintained and displayed with dignity. Even if you don't believe in or understand Shinto, it makes for a great reflection walk.
This is the Green house in front of the Farm Shop.
These are the Green houses behind the farm shop. (there are also many more in various fields where participants are conducting experiments.)
This is the Rice Mill. The machine in here processes the rice and there are several barrels to store it until we need more in the Koinonia Kitchen.
Everything at ARI is pure and organic. There are no pesticides, hormones, or artificial flavors!
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteWe have been busy here with harvest. Some crops are not too good and others have had good bushels. Grandpa's wheat was cut out pretty fast. The harvesters had 4 combines. Wander if they even know what a combine looks like. They now have one out that can cut out all by itself - using gps controls. Sounds like you should have brought your roto tiller over and really showed them how it is done here. Hahahaha. Matt & Marrissa and Kale went to Cedar Bluffs after work on Saturday and they got back on Sunday. Exhausted. Well I hope I can send this with out problems.
Virginia
That is pretty cool! I will have to tell everyone about the GPS combine! We are mostly weeding our crops by hand except for the rice. For the rice we use Fish in one paddy, ducks in one paddy, and machine for the rest. Individual participant rice paddies are weeded by hand (and it's very messy.) I found out today that we are prepping for a typhoon that will be here for three days so I will see how farm work changes this week. Love you!
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