Spanish, Food Systems, Earthquakes, and Malia Obama!

Learning from the Women of Teotitlan

This past week in Food Systems we put to the test our knowledge and understanding of cooking, as well as Spanish. We started the week off with a series of trips to Teotitlan to learn from the women of Vida Nueva. Each day began with trips to the local market to buy supplies that we were going to need, as well as plenty of pan dulces for breakfast. ¡Orale! We then watched Pastora, Isabel, Rufina, and Patrona as they prepared dishes that were rich in history. All of what they cooked had been passed down from generation to generation. There were no written recipes to be followed. Our job was to watch and record every ingredient that was used and every step that was taken to create such delicious tasting Oxacan foods, so that they can be replicated and enjoyed by all. This certainly got tricky, as we needed to fully understand the language of the kitchen in Spanish. That is hard enough in English!

The process that these women went through for hours was amazing. They used hand-kindled, open fires and comals for nearly everything, from dry-roasting chilies to heating cacao beans until they de-shelled themselves. Comals will certainly be missed when we go back to the States. You really can’t cook without them!

On Thursday we compiled all of our freshly learnt knowledge and created a masterpiece of a comida for our friends and family. We used this as an opportunity to perfect the clarity of the recipes that we had written, as well as get feedback on the results. All of the food turned out to be absolutely delicious, ¡claro! Now it is time to put them all together and make the first cookbook containing some of these recipes. We are all anxious to bring the knowledge that we have gained back to the States to cook for all of you. Start making room, there are only a few more weeks left.

Hasta siempre-

Ariel

p.d.: On Tuesday we got to experience something other than delicious food and time in the kitchen- un temblorcito! ¡Híjole!

Earthquakes and the President's Daughter, Oh my! and Spanish too!

This past week saw the end of our class with Alejandro, some earthy quaking, and the sighting of a rather note-worthy politician’s daughter. All very exciting and tear-jerking, indeed.

The beginning of our week began like any other–Alejandro’s inquisitive questions throwing us for a loop and getting our brains working again after the weekend. We learned about the Zapatista movement and the teacher’s strike in Oaxaca in 2006 and discussed the social and political conditions here in Oaxaca and its place in the world context. Tuesday, however, marked two big events: our farewells to Alejandro, easily one of my favorite Spanish teachers so far, and the earthquake. During that day, we were discussing life as usual, sipping on our coffees purchased at Café Brujúla during the break and then everything stopped.

I remember Alejandro saying something intelligent and deep (I don’t actually remember the exact words but it was likely something of the sort) and he stopped mid-sentence, looking out the window. Then a piercing sound hit our ears and I heard Alejandro mention the word “sísmico” and then it clicked: we were in the middle of earthquake. At first, it didn’t feel like anything but then I started getting this dizzy feeling (later on, others mentioned the same) and watched the tree outside shake as if there was someone taking a giant jackhammer to it’s trunk. It was after this first shake (which seemed to be very quick, contrary to other experiences) that I started freaking out. Of course, everyone else was calm as can be as I motioned a little desperately for us to move outdoors into the Zocalo, just in case there were any aftershocks. Walking down the stairs my knees were a little shaky and when we reached the square, I started looking for good places to hide in case one of the trees decided to change it’s upward ascent (i.e onto my head). But, of course everything was fine and after 10 minutes we all went back inside.

It was a few more minutes after this that the aftershock hit. I almost didn’t believe it because my limbs were still shaking and I thought I was imagining things but, nevertheless, that seismic shock alarm started it’s annoying drone. Being sufficiently shaken by the last one, I was full on freaking out at this point. As soon as I heard the alarm, I jumped from my seat, ran to the door and started hanging on for dear life and pleading with everyone else in the annoying-girl-who’s-irrationally-freaking-out whine that, in retrospect was probably hilarious to everyone else.

This action was in vain, however, since the aftershock quit after a few more seconds. It was then, I decided, that I hated earthquakes. In fact, my Facebook status later that day stated exactly that. After this incident, I spent the rest of class on the ground, my mind leading me to believe that there were more little earthquakes happening every two minutes or so. Everybody else, of course, happily resumed class, discussing the course and giving an informal review: likes, dislikes, things to change etc, etc. After goodbyes with Alejandro and Judith (our director), we all left with our first big earthquake and another great class under our belts.

The next day, considering the amount of work we were assigned (4 essays in 5 days, what!!??) we all spent the day snuggled up in a corner of Café Brujula, the unofficial (as of now) Spanish class workplace. Mickey and Natalie were rushing through their essays in order to finish before Thursday night when they would return to the beach and hang with the botany crew, many of whom decided to spend a little extra time studying plants over the weekend (I mean, what else would you do?). This left Ashley and I representing the Spanish track in Oaxaca city. Luckily, too, since the next day we came back from another morning session in Brujula to find a bunch of white men with floral shirts and black sunglasses crowding our doorway and street. Walking in

to our room (which is right next to the kitchen) we noticed a bunch of young girls chattering away with Magdalena and a translator as she explained the art of cooking. After lunch and a brief nap, Ashley and I headed back to Brujula for Round Two and asked me if I noticed that Malia Obama was sitting at our kitchen table. Of course, I didn’t believe her but she persisted. Didn’t it seem weird that there were a bunch of middle-aged white men on our block and in our house just hanging out? Or that there was a girl resembling the president’s daughter in our kitchen? Or that she was in Oaxaca with a school group? Well, sure enough, it was her. On our way back in, I sought her out (as inconspicuously as possible) and confirmed it. I waited until the group left, as a courtesy to Obama, before spouting it on Facebook.

First, we had an earthquake, then we had Malia Obama sitting in the same chairs we have breakfast in every morning. It was an exciting week, to be sure. Can’t wait to see what next week brings!

Hasta Pronto,

Sarah and the rest of the Spanish track crew!

Botany Adventures & Exploring Yagul

SPANISH

Hello everyone back home!

The last few days of this Spanish class have flown by, but not without excitement and a lot of fun. On Friday we met at the Xochimilco market where we had our morning discussion of the day before as well as shopped and learned about the types of products they have there; such as their tasty coffee, chocolates, and prepared foods. After the markets, having eaten plenty of food, we visited the Botanical gardens in Santo Domingo. The gardens were incredible, consisting of various plants, trees, shrubs, and corn plants. Our guide was very knowledgeable of the plant species and their histories, and was able to answer all of our eager questions. After the Botanical garden, we made our way to the Llano Park for free drinks and ice cream in observation of a local holiday.

On Sunday, we had a very busy and exciting day. Our first stop, at 9 in the morning, was Yagul, one of the many ancient ruins here in Oaxaca, about 40 minutes outside of the city. There, our two welcoming guides led us through the entire ruin. We experienced first-hand how the ancient architecture and stone work was applied as we walked through the ancient home of those pre-Hispanic habitants. After the tour, we were off to Tlacolula. Here we experienced the biggest street market in Oaxaca. In a maze of shops and stands, we were amazed at the enormous size the market. One could spend the entire day just looking at the hand-made crafts and food. At about 6 in the afternoon, we were home, and just in time to be confronted with one of the heaviest rains many of us have seen before. Although only lasting for an hour, we were soaked. It was a good welcome to the rain seasons, which begins sometime in May.

We all really enjoyed our classes and appreciated our professor’s efforts and his immense knowledge of Oaxacan history. As many of you parents back home already know, Tuesday was also the day of a 7.8 earthquake which shook Oaxaca for just only a minute. It has been a truly incredible and fun two weeks in our first track of Spanish. Through amazing field trips, friendly teachers, and eager students, we participated in a fun class while experiencing the nature of Oaxaca. We are all excited to see what the next class has in store for us, and if Oaxaca will give any more surprises.

Hasta luego,

Mickey, Ashley Moore, Sarah, and Natalie

BOTANY

The ten of us had an amazing, botanical week to different pueblos in Oaxaca in order to explore their diverse plant life. We started off Monday in the classroom, with two separate lectures during the day, in order to get our gears grinding for the week. Tuesday morning was when the real adventure began; we boarded a van to return to Capulalpam for our second time this semester. Capulalpam is a majestic little mountain town about two hours north of Oaxaca City, which is involved with ecotourism. After arriving in Capulalpam, we were greeted by a local guide, who shadowed Michael, our botany professor, as he taught us about the plants of the area, while we scribbled in our lab notebooks. After our hike we were given a short break, before having our daily lecture, which was followed by a beautiful dinner at the town’s ecotourism center. We spent the night bundling under the covers in our cabanas, as the climate in the mountains tends to be cold, especially after the sun has set!

We awoke, somewhat refreshed, on Wednesday morning and had a quick lecture before heading to a small town called La Esperanza Comaltepec, in Ixtlan, Oaxaca. On our way to La Esperanza, we stopped for a brief hike that was in the misty mountains, at 2,993 meters, just below Cerro Pélon (“Bald Mountain”). We had an opportunity to learn and view species of plants that are restricted to high elevations, or mountain environments.

We ate lunch at “ El Mirador” restaurant, where our guide was gracious enough to collect the flowers and plants that were transformed into dishes for us to eat. It was a unique, yet fun lunch, a precursor to our dessert. Our guide brought us whole honeycombs, pollinated from his own bees, and we had had the task of sucking out the honey ourselves. We made one more stop before we called it a day, which was very worthwhile. We were able to see Las Cascadas (waterfalls) in the middle of a forest, which were truly beautiful. We learned about the plant life that surrounds this type of environment. We spent the night in the municipalities’ headquarters, sleeping in the two separate rooms where the town holds all of their important meetings. It was beautiful how gracious the townspeople were to set up beds for all of us, which were covered with their own blankets.
Our third day and night were spent in the warm, humid, tropical ecotourism town of San Mateo Yetla. Conveniently, our cabañas were situated on a peaceful river, which we all took advantage of during our free time. We maximized the usage of the beautiful landscape in front of our cabañas and, as Michael would say, we “botanized” it; picking apart banana and mango trees in the afternoon heat. As always, we ended our night with a lecture and some of us followed up with a scary movie. The next morning we woke up to take a hike, just across the river. We split up into two groups
and boarded a little wooden boat, which was steered with a long wooden stick. Just across the river we encountered multiple types of plants, as we hiked along a man-made trail. But, as is customary with the guides of San Mateo Yetla, we sat quietly as our trail leader led us in a prayer in order to ensure our safety in the forest. Following the hike in the forest, we had some free time to swim in the river. We had managed to find a picturesque swimming spot. With a little encouragement from the group, nearly all of us took a jump or two into the water. We ended our trip with one last lunch in San Mateo Yetla, and then proceeded to board the van for our four and a half hour journey back to the city. All in all it was an exhausting, yet overwhelmingly enjoyable week. Looking into the horizon, we have all become excited for our next excursion that is rapidly approaching on Tuesday. ¡Vamos a la playa!

Much love to all of our family and friends,
Whitney

Plants in Oaxaca and more Spanish!

Botany

So what seemed like a nice break from classes finally came to end and the food systems and botany students started taking classes with botanical enthusiast and genus, Michael Sundue. We (the food systems students) and the botany students that will be continuing with Michael for the next two weeks were excited to be able to take this Botany of Oaxaca class together for the week.

Each day we had lecture in the morning and a lab in the afternoon where we were able to learn and experience Oaxaca’s diverse plant life in the city. We started Monday with a general lecture on plant biology and throughout the week we learned about fruits, seeds, seed dispersal, secondary growth and much more while getting more acquainted with the plants of Oaxaca, particularly those of the city. Monday’s botany lab was held in the Llano park where we learned many names of city trees and plants. On Tuesday, we went for a little adventure to the Botanical Garden which is situated in the center of the Santo Domingo church in downtown Oaxaca. All of the plants in the garden are native to Oaxaca but came from all over Mexico. We walked through the garden with our insightful guide, Diego who informed us that the famous Agave plant’s flower has merely, “a month to live and a month to die”. This was brought up while looking at an Agave that made us feel as if we had been transported into a Honey I Shrunk the Kids Movie.

We saw many other plants that wowed us like the Agave such as the Pseudobombax in the Bombacaceae family that has unreal looking flowers.

The week seemed like it kept getting better because on Wednesday we went to the large indoor market called Abastos in order to get oriented with edible plants. We ventured through the market in groups and went on a miniature scavenger hunt where many students were wowed by the Mango-Piña and Guayabana fruits that tasted even better than they looked. In the afternoon, we reconvened to dissect our findings and, of course, munched on our delicious dissections. Thursday’s lab led us to the textile museum in the city to find different things composed of certain plants of which Michael had written down for us. The museum was filled with ancient textiles from all over the world. Students that didn’t gather all of the information needed from the textile museum were led to another indoor market, 20 de Noviembre where they could finish their fibers and dyes scavenger hunt. Finally, on Friday we were excited to climb part of the large mountain in Oaxaca called San Felipe de Agua. However, to our dismay, the men who appeared to be rangers barred us from entering because we weren’t members of the community and they had decided to close the mountain to outsiders a few years back. So, we decided to “botanize” (thank you, Michael) the road leading to the gate.

All in all it was a fabulous week with Michael. He filled our heads with so much plant knowledge and exciting facts about the wonders of nature. Food systems students are looking forward to starting our two week cooking craze with Cynthia Belliveau and Botany students are looking forward to their field trip into the mountains.

Sam

SPANISH

Hola Friends and Family!
After we got back from our indigenous village stays the four of us started our final stretch of the program: the spanish track. Because of teacher strikes at the main campus of the Universidad Autónoma Benito Juárez de Oaxaca (UABJO), we have been taking our Oaxaca Culture, Civilization and Development class in an affiliate building in the main square called the Zócalo. It’s a beautiful space with tons of natural light and exposed stone; it was once a monastery.

Last Thursday we went to the Regional Museum of Santo Domingo where we saw everything from tomb artifacts of indigenous royalty to present day paper maché sculptures that are brought out for the holidays. This week we will be going to the market in Tlacolula (Natalie’s favorite market in Oaxaca!), the Botanical Gardens, and the Yagul Archaeological Ruins.

The class would be nothing without Alejandro, our quirky and passionate professor who is constantly challenging our opinions. We have gotten into a great routine, and truly feel like students now that we’re on a first name basis with the doorman. We continue to deepen our relationships with one another, and those in our community whether with our homestay parents or our adoptive street dogs.

The last four weeks of the program will fly by, but with bucket lists and curious friends, we will be sure to continue exploring what Oaxaca has to offer in our home away from home.
Sending our love and happy thoughts to all of you and the UVM community. Avi, you’re always in our thoughts and hearts.

Con Cariño,
Natalie, Ashley Moore, Mickey, y Sarah

Village Stay at Vida Nueva

Zac xtili! ('buenos dias' en Zapoteco) We are feeling a little strange adjusting to life in Oaxaca city since spending our past week in the small weaving community of Teotitlan. We still find ourselves wanting to shake hands and say hello as we pass people on the streets. When we first arrived to Teotitlan we were graciously welcomed into the Vida Nueva Women's Weaving Cooperative by our moms: Pastora, Petrona, Senaida, Rufina, Teresa, Isabel, Maria, and Sofia. They all made us feel like part of the family and community the minute we got there. We had a brief talk about how Sofia started the cooperative to provide new opportunities through weaving for the women of Teotitlan, and how these progressive ladies were able to learn

and be open about the traditionally taboo subjects like domestic violence, sexuality, and alcoholism. We also got to hear about their annual service projects like planting trees, painting buckets with positive messages to encourage trash separation, and delivering baskets of food to mothers on Mother's Day.

Each mother took in one (or two!) of us eager children for the week and allowed us to participate in daily activities with them. Some of our activities included dehusking and degraining corn, doing dishes, cooking meals, planting seeds, making tortillas and shopping for food at the market. Because each of us had a different family and we didn't have many pre-planned activities, our schedules varied. Every morning at the market we would see other UVM gueros shuffling along behind their tiny mothers, and exchange a brief 'zac xtili!', handshake, and smile before buying the rest of our food for the day. You could be sure to spot Danielle with her mother and little sister (Milca) selling their fresh tortillas that they had made earlier that morning. You could also always spot Stefan and Joe towering above all the petite older Mexican women. If one of us was unfortunately separated from our mother in the market, it was nearly impossible to relocate her among the other Zapotec women wearing identical dresses, mandiles (aprons) and rebosos (scarves) that covered their baskets. Other activities included a talk about traditional healing and another about the weaving process using natural dyes.

We ended our week with a really great talk with Charlie (aka Carlos) about his migration story. We drove to his one room brick house that he is building by hand and sat on his concrete floor while listening to the twenty-eight year old man recount his life story to a bunch of us white kids. While he looked so young, he had so many experiences and hardships that he was willing to share with us. He first went to the United States at the ripe old age of three because his mother fled from his abusive father. He grew up in California amongst gangs and violence, and he found himself in a bit of trouble. He was in a getaway car during someone else's robbery, so while the trial was pending, he spent more than six months in jail. However, when released from jail, Charlie was deported and therefore, he was unable to report himself to the parole officer. He is now unable to return to the States for twenty years, where he had to leave behind his two daughters. Despite all that he has gone through, his face lit up when we started talking about basketball. Even though his is so young, he has had a lot of time to reflect on his life and change into an honest person that the community of Teotitlan can depend on and trust. He is currently working on building a home for his daughters on the land that he inherited from his uncle. It was quite an experience listening to his story and hearing about his impressions of our country. Although we didn't have many traditional classes throughout the week, we certainly learned a lot about Teotitlan, family life and Vida Nueva by living in home stays and being a part of the community.

Brought to you by Stefan, Joe, Sophie, Sam, Shana, Ashley Hill, Marisa, and Danielle!

Our village stay with the Bii Daüü weaving cooperative in Teotitlan!

Blog post by
Jack, Brittany, Sarah, Luna, Mickey, Michaela, and Jocelyn


A group of seven students traveled an hour outside of Oaxaca city to a village known throughout Mexico for its numerous artisans renowned for the weaving of tapetes. The majority of the population of Teotitlan del Valle are native Zapotec speakers, and we were surprised by their polite greetings and soft handshakes given to each passerby in the street. We arrived sunday afternoon and began our adventure by meeting with members of the weaving cooperative, Bii Daüü, and discussing with them their mission and vision. In the words of Mariano Sosa Martinez, one of the sixteen weavers in the cooperative,

"We are working together in solidarity in an atmosphere fostering equality and fairness, textile production with natural dies can achieve its best quality. Members also aim to take care
of their health as well as the community’s environment to promote social,
cultural, and economic development simultaneously."

After an amiable introduction and discussion we were paired with members of the cooperative to stay with for the week. We awoke with the sunrise on monday morning to go work in the huerto, a communal farm, where the cooperative cultivates and cares for the plants that are used for their all natural dies. The huerto is peppered with pomegranate tree's whose fruit skins are used for black and yellow dies. With the coming heat, we watered nopal, a type of cactus that hosts the white insect cochinilla, whose dark red blood has been used throughout Zapotec history for natural tints in their rugs. We also prepared a bio-fertilizer or a non chemical pesticide comprised of garlic and ground alfalfa, which we left to ferment for three days. After working hard, we went back into town to discuss the uses of pericon and marush, two locally occurring plants, that are used for yellow, orange and green tints. We also were able to help two members of the cooperative, Leticia and Rafaela, prepare the plants that are used to die the wool. In between our activities we would return to our home to eat four times a day, causing many to nap frequently!

We give many thanks to Gervasio and Javier for taking us on a jaunt through the village and showing us the cuevita, a place where people from Teotitlan and surrounding villages celebrate the new year. After building a little rock house, as many do on new years eve, we visited the bustling morning market, where bartering for quesillo, flowers, and sweet bread is commonplace. The very polite Fausto showed us around the beautiful museum which featured the history of Teotitlan, its tradition of weaving, the danza de la pluma (an annual celebration of heritage), as well as stories of courtship in the village. After an early morning application of the bio-fertilizer and the construction of beds for the plants in the huerto, our group of laborer's became weaver's and were able to practice on both large foot pedal looms and hand-loom's used as a training device for beginners. Laughing at ourselves we were to create mini tapete's that could function as coasters! We learned much about the process of weaving, the relationship between man and nature, and the rich tradition's of the Zapotec people.

Before departing, we awoke for a sunrise hike up the communally owned mountain, Picacho, guided by the hyper Procoro and Jesus. It was wonderful exercise, but to no avail, for we only gorged ourselves at a goodbyem lunch, with all of our new friends from the Bii Dauu cooperative, who so kindly gave us gifts of rugs, bags, and purses. We learned a lot this week and are very thankful for the tranquility of Teotitlan and its residents.

Week of Village Stays - San Vicente Lachixio

Last week the seven of us stayed in a small village called San Vicente Lachixio, working with an NGO called Centro de Desarollo Communitario Centéotl. This organization, among other things, works with various communities, helping them to be self sufficient and sustainable. They are currently working on an amaranth project in the pueblo teaching the people about the nutritional benefits of amaranth and how to plant and grow it successfully. Our job was to go to the homes of 30 different women in the community and interview them about their lives in San Vicente (such as water availability, food consumption, income...). With Zapotec as the primary language spoken in the community, we knew we were in for a challenge!

We arrived in Zimatlán on Sunday afternoon, had a delicious dinner at La Ballena Azul, and saw a traditional dance in the center of town.

The following morning we got breakfast and fresh juice in the market and went to Centéotl's office for a brief presentation about the organization.

We went to an amaranth factory in town to learn about what products exist and to see how some of them are made (as well as sample them!). We then headed for San Vicente, stopping on the way to eat spicy and delicious quesadillas. We arrived at night and met our host families and their children. After introductions we all went to Juana's house, sat by the fire, drank café de olla and listened to Domingo and Ángel sing and play guitar.

We went for a hike to see Las Grutas, which are amazing caves near the town. We spent the day exploring the caves, where after defeating a horde of the world's most terrifying bees, we got to climb through the darkness and see

mass amounts of guano.

After a delicious lunch, we went to the home of one of the town members and planted amaranth and radish. We took turns shoveling, planting seeds, and watering the soil.

We took a short break, played pool and drank cantaloupe water. That night some of us played in an epic 2-hour marathon of a basketball game in the town center with some local ballers. Though we struggled to make layups, it was still a great time bonding over what we were repeatedly told is the pueblo's most popular sport. Also, Natalie played with the town's women and was officially a giant (and also the undisputed MVP).

In the morning we awoke at 6:00 am to help make tortillas.

It was a difficult, lengthy process but amazing to watch.

Over the next two days we spent a lot of time going to the homes of different women in town. We asked them questions from a questionairre, mostly about their local customs, about how they get food/water and what they eat, about the town's economy and job opportunities.

There were some very interesting experiences: many of the women spoke limited Spanish and required translation from María , the extremely helpful local who acted as guide, accompanying and assisting us throughout the week. We learned, among many other things, that women in the pueblo cannot attend town assemblies, and therefore cannot vote or hold positions in the local government; we had some interesting moments trying to understand how the women, many of whom were fairly timid, felt about this situation.

We also learned about the annual fiestas that involve plenty of dancing, singing, eating, and, yeah, you guessed it, basketball tournaments. The final night we went to a townswoman's house where many women had come to meet and speak with us; we were amply fed, we had many great conversations, and it felt like an appropriate way to spend our final night in town.

Another essential part of the trip was our varied experiences at the homes where we were staying. There were many little niños running about, asking for shoulder rides, playing marbles, bringing the energy, speaking in mandatos, keeping us on our toes. We definitely bonded with them, and it was a sad moment saying goodbye to Erica, Genesis, Job, Brisa, Emanuel, Ezekiel, Jesica, and Haciel. There were also some puppies to play with, which is always a good time. Our host parents were extremely welcoming, helpful, even loving. They asked for us to return, and we hope that some of us can make that happen while we're still in Oaxaca.

The next day we saw presentations by members of Centéotl in the neighboring pueblo, Santa Maria Lachixio, where we also watched an extremely entertaining and informative film about efficient agricultural practices (that was produced in Maoist China no less), ate a delicious comida of mole rojo con pollo and drank the nectar of los dioses (horchata con fresa), and then returned to Zimatlán and subsequently Oaxaca City-- just in time to crawl into our comfy beds and get some much needed sleep.

It was a difficult experience to summarize. The pueblo is nothing like the city. The way of life, the daily rituals (such as grinding corn and making tortillas), the economic situation that leads to many people emigrating to the city or the USA, the material conditions (kitchens with dirt floors, very limited water, bucket showers, tons of animals-- dogs, donkeys, turkeys, pigs-- roaming the streets (except that most of the pigs were actually tied to trees...))-- were so different and new for us. For most (all?) of us, it was like no other place we've ever seen.

We're now happy to be back in Oaxaca, ready to begin our new classes-- Spanish, Botany, etc. We've passed the midpoint of the trip and it's exciting to anticipate what comes next (or, even better, wade in the moment, experiencing what comes as it comes: something we've learned to do in the last couple months...)

We send our love and positive thoughts to everyone reading this!

Thanks for reading,

Ariel, Ash Mo, Schwitney, Natalie aka Scatalie, Pedrito, Sierra aka Mountain Dude or even better Mountain Range Female Deer Dude, and Jack Lit