This day is one that I don’t seem to have finished processing. Although today wasn’t the most eventful, it was filled with reflection. I see it as the end of an experience that I will hold very close to my heart. I woke up with the mindset that I would take in as much as I could of the morning that would come, because slow-paced mornings that I have wanted my whole life is something you only find at Rancho Quemado. We enjoyed our usual breakfast for the last time, prepared as always by the wonderful Alice, and then headed out to say goodbye to Sandro and his family. I was sad to have to leave a place that we had made our home in such little time, where I learned so much about sustainability and met the strangers that I now call my brothers and sisters, as well as a free spirited, morally courageous leader like Sandro. However, my sadness was tempered by the fact that I will return in future years and that we will meet again. These are people that I wish to keep close because you never seem to stop learning from them, something they proved to me from the moment I stepped onto Rancho Quemado. They taught me how to appreciate food in a new way, how humans need to be open to coexist with nature, and how a strong sense of community can lead to real change. Looking back, I now realize the privilege it was to escape my usual, stressful setting into one as beautiful, open, and freeing as Rancho Quemado.
Sincerely,
Kiran Ishikawa
