The Joy of Living & Learning in community

July 2021- Rancho Mastatal, Costa Rica

As I sit in my new bedroom, an open-air bamboo structure in the rainforest of Costa Rica, I am surrounded by a world of interconnections: a Critalia vine storing nitrogen in its leaves through a relationship with fungi in its roots, a Poro plant providing structure for a vanilla orchid to spiral to the sun, a Peach Palm shading a young Cinnamon to help it survive the dry season. Scientific research is making it increasingly clear that forests operate almost like a single organism: cycling resources, encouraging diversity, and forming symbiotic relationships. As we look for new models by which to live, educate and learn in community, we can turn to our elder ecological relatives for inspiration. 

I was raised not in a true forest, but in a monoculture of identical, straight-trunked trees bred for production. Prior to the transformative immersion experiences of the past two years, my educational career preached the myth of individual achievement. Year after year, I was encouraged to take high level classes, run organizations, and compete with classmates to get into a “good college” and eventually get a “good job”. I presumed that making it to the “top” of this system meant happiness and fulfillment, but by senior year of college, I felt deeply anxious, lonely and uncertain for the future. 

Serendipitously, one visionary professor brought my class to the nearby Eco-Institute in Chapel Hill, NC for a potluck dinner. We sang a gratitude song before the meal, thanking the Earth and each of the meal’s contributors for their acts of generosity. It felt like a homecoming. I started attending bi-weekly community garden volunteer days, buoyed by the joy that comes from the simplest of cooperative tasks: spreading mulch, pulling out tomato vines, or laughing while struggling to build a greenhouse. I showed up to the story nights, fire circles, and subsequent potlucks, reveling in this way of being together, this fascinatingly functional social ecosystem, which was so dramatically different and infinitely more fulfilling from what I had previously known. 

As graduation loomed on the horizon, I felt increasingly torn between the distinct ecosystems of self-promoting, individual achievement and collaborative, place-based, and Earth-honoring community. Luckily, I received an email from the Eco-Institute at the perfect moment describing The Rising Earth Immersion, a 10-week holistic permaculture intensive and carefully designed immersive semester in community living. A few months before, I never would have considered this alternative to a job offer in New York that aligned with my parents’ and friends’ expectations. But after countless phone conversations, filled with hesitation and uncertainty, I finally made the commitment that felt right in my heart. I packed a backpack with gardening gloves and a few changes of clothes and moved into a yurt. 

On the first day, 11 other young adults aged 18-30 and I nervously unpacked our bags and got to know one another over a Cob-oven pizza party. Though we came from across the country and extremely different backgrounds, it seemed we all had something in common: a yearning for the PURPOSE of living in deep connection to the Earth, together in community with a shared dedication to social, cultural, and ecological healing. 

Over the ten weeks, we found ourselves enjoying the dances of cooking, feeding the chickens, tending the garden, and getting kicked by the equally quarrelsome and cute goats we attempted to milk each morning. We were guided by brilliant instructors on topics such as nonviolent communication, spiritual ecology, permaculture, embodied movement and somatic awareness. We held women’s circles, attended protests, taught community skill-shares, and built relationships with the flora and fauna living around us. We dove deeply into what it means to be a “community”, meeting with our elder mentors (a group of people ages 60+) from the local area, holding weekly community potluck meals and practicing truly showing up for one another when anyone in our cohort experienced injury, sickness or loss. We grew into the niches that fed our souls,honoring our unique gifts and diverse skills. 

Of course, community is not without its many challenges. I learned the overwhelm of learning to cook for a group of 20 and the frustration of collective decision making. Due to a life of conditioning on the importance of individualism, deeper social connection felt agitating at first. But with time I saw myself change. My way of being shifted into one that balanced my own grounded wellbeing with an acute awareness of the wellbeing of my community members. I was adapting to our life together, as if I was a honeybee in a hive. 

Over the past few years of living and apprenticing at three permaculture education centers: The Eco-Institute in North Carolina, the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center in California, and now Rancho Mastatal in Costa Rica, I have felt the transformative effect of being raised within true community. Much like the interconnected symphonies of trees, fungi, plants, animals, fauna, bacteria, and insects in a forest, immersive, Earth-based educational experiences support collective learning and personal growth within a radically different system from the dominant Western culture of industrial education. By transforming the current educational and social culture of domination, segregation, and isolation into one of interconnection, we have the potential to become a generative Keystone species. We can re-weave ourselves, as Thomas Berry writes, in “mutually enhancing relationship with the rest of the Earth Community of Life”. 

If possible for yourself or a young person in your life, investigate alternative education opportunities such as The Rising Earth Immersion at the Eco Institute and other similarly-minded organizations. We must make opportunities to live and learn in Earth-honoring ways available once again to all-people, not just the privileged and wealthy few. We must learn from native ways of being, integrate our elders, defend the marginalized, and cycle abundance. We must give more than we take, offer our unique gifts, and value our brilliant diversity. 

We must live like the forest, seeing ourselves as an interconnected whole with collective awareness of our shared values and goals, while valuing our individual skills and passions. Our collective survival, and joy, depend on it. 

Abbey Joy Cmiel

How to Run A Permaculture Internship -

September 2021 Rancho Mastatal, Costa Rica

Every year, Rancho Mastatal offers a year long apprenticeship and 2 month long  internship for people interested in taking a deep dive into agroforestry, natural building, and farm to table food preparation while living in community. In the Rancho Mastatal model, all apprentices arrive in January and have 7 months of varied and ongoing learning in all the Ranch has to offer. Then, the apprentices fully organize and run the two month internship in August and September. As an apprentice, this means I had the opportunity to first study and absorb an immense amount of knowledge, and then share it with 4-5 other individuals interested in learning as interns. 

When I first learned about this aspect of the apprenticeship I felt quite intimidated. Who was I to run an internship at a center that was not my own on subjects I had not yet learned? But now having completed running the internship, I am extremely proud of our collective ability to offer an educational and entertaining program, as well as grateful for the chance to deepen my knowledge through the leadership role.

My intention in writing this blog is to support others who are interested in starting or developing an internship program at their farm or educational center. Though my experience is somewhat limited, I hope to offer some of the challenges we faced, the successes we found, and my own experience as both a participant and teacher in permaculture immersion programs. Also, I would love to learn about other similar programs and your experiences, so please feel free to reach out!

First, a bit about myself and my experiences of permaculture-based internships. My name is Abbey and I am a 24 year from North Carolina and California. Following college, I signed up for a 10 week permaculture immersion at the Eco Institute in Chapel Hill, NC and fell in love with the integrated lifestyle of a farm and justice based community. Following this path, I then moved to The Occidental Arts and Ecology Center in Northern California where as a year long intern, I helped run the nursery, host activist groups, work in the garden, and organize permaculture design course. These experiences each brought me to Rancho Mastatal, where I recently finished organizing and running the two month internship alongside my six fellow apprentices.

These combined experiences of living in community, participating in, and running permaculture-based internships have allowed me to see common challenges and successes between them. So, without further ado, here are some of the tips and tricks I’ve gathered over the years. 

1.  Create a schedule or structure 

Most people enjoy having routine or some basic structure to return to, especially when in an unfamiliar location and social setting. Even if what you doing changes every day, it’s helpful have a standing schedule so interns can create expectations. At the Ranch we have two “work parties” a day from 7:30-10 am and 11:30 am-2 pm. We eat our meals at 10 am and 6 pm, and also have set times for sports, meetings, and rest. This makes it easier for everyone to take care of other needs, such as self care, laundry, tool maintenance, phone communication etc. because they know when they’ll have time.

2. Have Established Meeting Times

At the Ranch, we have four types of meetings: square, circle, app/intern/core team meetings, and 1-on-1s. 

Square meetings happen every morning after brunch around 10:30 am. During this time, one person volunteers to facilitate “reading the board” and we review what we did in the morning, briefly discuss the upcoming day, delegate projects, and go over any simple announcements. This meeting takes no longer than 15 minutes. Any longer form questions or decisions are reserved for “circle” meetings. 

Circle meetings happen every Friday afternoon and last 1-2 hours. We begin by going around the circle and sharing a 3 minute-ish update on how we’re doing mentally, physically, emotionally, etc. After completing the circle, the space is opened for agenda items that require more in-depth discussion. We use consent-based decision making in which, after discussion, a person will make a proposal. That proposal is then voted on by everyone who chooses to participate with a thumbs up or thumbs down. The majority wins unless someone has a “paramount objective”, something they absolutely cannot agree to otherwise they will leave. Finally, we end by going around the circle and stating an intention or hope for the upcoming week.

Every week on Thursdays, we meet amongst our intern, apprentice, and core team cohorts to discuss any agenda items that pertain directly to that group. This meeting typically lasts an hour.

Lastly, about once a month, we have 1-on-1s in which a “core team” (long term staff or residents) member pairs off with an apprentice to discuss their experiences and how each party can be better supported. While running the internship, each apprentice would pair off with an intern.This is a good time to talk over any challenges, feedback or affirmations each party has. It’s important that time is set aside for a longer conversation so both people feel they are being heard and the person with less authority is comfortable expressing discomforts. 

3. Make sure people have enough food

Ah, the near-impossible task of feeding many people with different food needs! Especially if you are hosting a permaculture or sustainability related internship, expect people who are very intentional about their eating habits. Always ask for food restrictions. Be sure to outline what a typical meal schedule looks like so people who are vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, dairy free, and those with other allergies can decide if the program aligns with their needs. 

As someone with an allergy to gluten, I am quite used to preparing additional food or being flexible with what I eat. You will find most people with alternative diets are quite good at meeting their needs with little additional input. It is important, however, that they have access to kitchen time or a grocery store. If neither of these are accessible, be sure to outline these limitations.

At the Ranch, we two meals a day at 10 am and 6:30 pm.  Additionally, hard boiled eggs, leftovers, and bananas always available. We find this two meal a day schedule means much less cooking and cleaning and more time to do what we love! 

Create clear guidelines about what food can be eaten for snacks and what is reserved for communal meals. Check in to see people are feeling fed and energized. 

4. Distribute cooking and dishes equitably

I’ve heard it said before that communities are made or broken by their dish washing systems. At the Eco Institute we had 3 “cook teams” and “dish teams”. The group on cooking would cook all meals for a week. The team on washing washed all serving and eating dishes (dishes other than those used to prepare food) that week. The third group has a rest week. At OAEC, the person on dinner cooking duty also washes the dishes after dinner. Otherwise people wash their own dishes throughout the day. Finally, at the Ranch we rotate cooking and cleaning duties so people have an equal number of cooking and cleaning shifts throughout the week. The photo below shows a sample cooking and cleaning schedule for a week at the Ranch.

If hosting an internship, decide how much of their experience you want to be dedicated to cooking and cleaning. These are formative times for group bonding, but can also be quite time consuming and draining. At both OAEC and the Ranch, we were lucky to have cooking support from local chefs to take on some of the cooking shifts. Especially if interns are paying to be there, it may be worth hiring a cook to help with at least a few meals a week. 

5. Don’t underestimate the time and energy needed to have interns

A common fallacy is that internships will be an easy way to make money and have extra labor. Be sure to make a thorough budget to make sure this is actually the case. If interns pay to attend your program, they will likely expect an educational experience as much as a work experience. This requires significant time and energy from staff or a program manager. If they do not pay, they are likely unskilled labor who will require significant training to do the work you might be able to pay someone to do or do yourself much faster. If you decide to take on interns, be sure there are enough tasks that are educational, fitting for their skill level, and meaningful.

6. To charge or not to charge?

That is the question. It’s time for some deep soul searching. Why do you want to have interns? What are the added benefits to your community? 

Now that you’re clear on the why, what input do you need to make it happen? Is your program designed to be educational or does it require significant labor from the interns? How much will it cost to feed, house, and take care of the miscellaneous expenses for each intern? How much of your labor will go into planning for, instructing, feeding, and managing the group? What is your target market? 

Once you factor in the time necessary to teach interns, you may realize it is quite “expensive” to have them there. How might you be able to offset some of the costs? Can you apply for grants or host a fundraising dinner and silent auction for a scholarship fund, particularly to support marginalized groups in attending your program? Can you create a set up where longer term apprentices run the internship?

7. Get out there!

One of my favorite parts of our internship was planning field trips to connect with nearby farms and neighbors. During the two months, we organized a trip to the “trapiche” where our sugar cane is milled, to our neighbor who keeps cows and supplies us with milk and cheese, and went on day hikes to the waterfalls and mountains nearby. All of these trips, combined with playing sports in town and cooking with locals, help paint a larger picture of the community we’re a part of and mix up group dynamics. 

8. Give Interns a sense of autonomy

More and more, highly educated and motivated people are seeking out farming and permaculture immersions. As a result, you may attract very intelligent and independent individuals to your program. Make sure there are ways for people to take on individual responsibility and challenge. At the Ranch, we each have morning community contribution skills such as chopping wood, preparing salads, tending the garden, etc. Additionally, we have the opportunity to submit project proposals to take on larger independent projects on our own. This allows people to express themselves individually and find pride in their work. 

Personally, I have taught weekly yoga classes for the community, led vermicompost workshops, and led many gardening and permaculture sessions for our interns. These individual tasks allowed me to deepen my knowledge and share it with others.

9. Practice nonviolent communication or otherwise encourage open communication between participants

At the beginning of the apprenticeship and internship at Rancho Mastatal, we create a collective community agreement for how we will interact with one another and then sign it. Additionally, we taught nonviolent communication modules (based on Marshall B. Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication book) to encourage open communication around the conflicts that naturally arise when living in community. 

10. Create a comprehensive document with expectations and packing list before arrival 

The more you can set expectations coming in the better! Send pictures or thorough descriptions of the housing, food, work expectations, visitor policy, phone policy, the larger community, etc. Supply a thorough packing list with any items that will be helpful during the internship. If you are able, set up a text, email or WhatsApp group with the interns in advance so they meet one another and ask questions.

11. Make sure everyone has enough rest and alone time

At the Ranch, we have free time every day from 2 pm - 6:30 pm. This is a great time to work on independent projects in the orchards, woodshop, food smithery, and kitchen. Additionally, we have a large library with fiction, nonfiction, and educational books to deepen our learning experience. Most days, a group meets at 4 pm to play sports or do yoga. The key is that people have a choice whether to interact with others or take time for themselves. 

12. Organize special events & find time to celebrate!!

Woohoo! You have done the hard work of bringing together a group of amazing people and creating a super special intern program. Now find the time to celebrate! We have made a practice of gathering for new and full moons, the equinoxes and solstices, birthdays, and other special days. Something as simple as playing music, having a small party, making a fire, watching a movie with popcorn, or baking a cake with local ingredients can allow people to feel socially and emotionally fulfilled. Isn’t that why we all want to live in community anyways? Support any ideas your interns have for fun and creative gatherings. A field day, trivia night, or tea party are all great ways to bond and be silly together. 

I am infinitely grateful to the centers and people who have opened their doors and arms to me as an intern or apprentice. I hope this article empowers you to do the same so we can continue to build purposeful, skilled, and joyful communities together!

Blog Post Title Three

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.

Blog Post Title Four

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.