WESLEY: DAY 13

Today we had our last day in Plum Village. I went for a walk in Plum Village with John and I told him if I ever get married I am having my honeymoon in Plum Village. But because we had no meat this week, on the way down to the train station I saw cows and said, "fresh meat!" For dinner tonight I had some delicious salmon. That made me think of me and my dog together. I can't wait to see my dog. We are at a Best Western right now and it is nothing like the one in Dover.

ARCH ACADEMY GLOBAL TRIP 2016 - DAY 13

May 13

COOPER:

Back to Bordeaux!!

Today was our last day at Plum Village! We enjoyed a "lazy morning" as they call it, although most of us were up by 7 purely out of habit at this point. After cleaning up our rooms and packing up, we enjoyed a standard Plum Village vegan lunch and enjoyed a few more mindful games of ping pong. As the students and staff said their goodbyes to the monks and other Plum Village visitors, I couldn't help but marvel at how much all the students had grown over the course of the trip.

I saw CJ go from missing his video games to gaining an appreciation for nature. This coupled with a quiet and respectful approach for problem solving revealed a side of him some of the new staff had never seen before. He even read his first book for American Literature while on the trip! Although he is a little worried about applying this to his life outside of the village, we're confident that with a little help this is more than possible. We can't wait to see the go pro footage from the San Sebastián swim!

Chip has overcome his shyness around the students and staff and continues to crack up the entire staff and student body. He has also been pursuing his passion of photography on the trip, and it's been nice to see his friendship with Matt develop as they went off on adventures in Plum Village. Chip is a great traveler and an excellent addition to our group.

As I've stated before, Noah is arguably the most mindful of the whole bunch. His enthusiasm for Plum Village kept our spirits up when some of us were pretty done with the whole farming thing. I've also seen him talk to his peers a lot more on the trip than I have at school, something we expect to continue well after the trip. I also got a glimpse of his dry wit on this trip, and I expect he has many more one liners up his sleeve.

Wesley learned a myriad of life lessons on the trip, and successfully handled a week of quiet mindfulness. At times he handled it better than even the staff could! He was always the one willing to try the craziest thing on the menu throughout the trip and had great questions for the monks. He was truly a positive driving force throughout our time in Europe.

Diana was an excellent traveler throughout the Spain portion of the trip, but the real treat was seeing her branch out and talk to people outside our group in Plum Village. She joined pickup soccer games, ate with new people, and always kept her head up even though she was the only girl student on the trip. This was great to see because it means one thing to us: Diana is ready for college this Fall. We couldn't be more proud of Diana for getting into Mills College, not to mention her scholarships!! Besides that, Diana was a great morale booster during the times when Cheryl was sick on the trip. Well done, Seabiscuit!

Matt maintains his status as the wild card of the group, but a growing sense of maturity has shown itself as well. He really took charge as a leader, and it was nice to see him making decisions that positively affected both himself and his peers. We really couldn't have done this trip without his planning and constantly emailing the monks. We can't wait to see the video he puts together! Mundaka surf club!

As I sit here in my Bordeaux hotel room, I am sad to see the trip ending but happy to have been a part of this amazing experience. I'd like to thank John for introducing us to the wonder that is Plum Village and accompanying us on this journey. I'd also like to thank Cheryl for sticking it out while being sick, and most importantly for her 25 years of dedication to make this school a reality. I wouldn't be writing these sentences without her.

Most importantly, I want to thank the kids and their wonderful parents for facilitating this life-changing trip. We wouldn't have a school without students, and Arch just wouldn't be the same without the support group that you parents provide for your children.

Also, shout out to my life coach Beth for handling logistics for this trip and making sure we all arrived at each destination in one piece. Another shout out to Eric for his French skills, without which we would still be on the wrong platform at the Bordeaux train station asking, "Qua?"

And of course thank you to all of our chaperones and Plum Village monks for hosting us. I apologize for not writing more but I need to head to bed for our flights home tomorrow!

While we would love to answer any and all questions you may have about the trip when we arrive at the San Diego airport, please save them for Monday as we have just one day off to adjust to the time difference before hitting the cove for Zombie swimming.

Au revoir!!

DIANA: DAY 13

YA!!!!!!! We are going home!! Today I woke up to Cheryl yelling at me saying that it is noon and I have to pack my stuff up in basically 10 minutes. I was running around packing up and after rushing I was finally packed. Cheryl told me that the van to get our stuff was going to arrive in three minutes, and to sit outside on a bench and wait. Before leaving the room, Cheryl told me to look at the top of her phone. When I did I saw the time.... It was actually 8:40 am. Not noon. After that we cleaned the farmhouse we stayed in and ate lunch. Then I played some ping pong. We got to the train station and then went to Bordeaux. We ate dinner and almost everyone got meat. We then went to a Best Western and now I am blogging. The end 

NOAH: DAY 13

I can't wait to go home tomorrow morning. I packed up all my items before we left Plum Village. We got to the train station and ate at a restaurant. I was happy, because I felt like I was never going to eat American food or meat again because I only ate vegan food in Plum Village. We took a bus to go to the hotel near the airport and the hotel is best western. We'll be going to the airport tomorrow morning. For me I thought we were going to the airport today because I thought we were leaving France already but we're leaving tomorrow instead. I'll see you soon in New York and remember to give the passport or the paper to the security in the airport by myself.

MATT: DAY 13

What's up everyone. Today we said goodbye to plum village and are starting what is going to be a pretty long journey across the Atlantic and back to the U.S. Of A. I had a really cool experience because Karim, one of the people in plum village working on the Wake Up Schools Project, interviewed me. It was pretty cool feeling like I made a positive impact on the place before I left. It was a bitter sweet thing leaving that place. After a week there it feels like you won't be able to function in the quick society that's outside plum village. I really do feel like I can apply some of the principles I learned there in my daily life. I also feel a sense of peace in the community there that is pretty unique. I am excited to go back to San Diego considering how much freedom I'm going to have compared to here. I have been reading up on my Physics and some Boat design ratios, so when I go back doing Physics will not be difficult even though I have to put my butt in gear to finish early. Good night.

CHIP: DAY 13

Today was a pretty good day. It was our final day in Plum Village so we didn't have to do anything until we left at 3:00. I slept in until 7:30 and the whole day I just read and played ping pong. At three we went to a train station to take a train to Bordeaux. when we went to Bordeaux, I finally got a hamburger and fries! I know my stomach is going to hate me for it but it was totally worth it. After that we took a really long bus to the hotel which is a Best Western that’s basically right next to the airport. On the whole trip a cool thing that happened is that everybody would ask me what time it was cause I’m the only guy with a watch. It was pretty cool cause it was like I was the guy with the watch, like we were in The Great Escape or the A Team, and having the watch was my thing. But it would be pretty cool if I were to be Steve McQueen. Well, I guess that’s it. This is my last blog post and tomorrow I will be in San Diego. It was a really fun trip and I have a lot to take out of it. Im so grateful for all the chaparones and especially Cheryl, John, Beth, and Matt for making all this possible. Bye!

BETH: DAY 12

Hi everyone!  Greetings from Plum Village.  This is a wonderful peaceful place and Arch Academy is enjoying all it has to offer.  The students seem to enjoy the freedom of the silence, reflection and work.  It is inspiring to watch them as they navigate Plum Village.  

Matt is making friends with everyone and is very popular with the monks.  He has done a great job planning this trip and we are grateful to him.

CJ is maturing and is very reflective.  He is engaged and relaxed.  He is also our business manager keeping track of our expenses.

Wesley is in heaven. He loves the nature and is so joyful.  The monks like his spirit!

Chip is having a great time.  He is helping the other students and is very relaxed.  His smile and sense of humor brings happiness to all of us.

Noah is patient and likes the walking meditation.  He has shown some emerging leadership qualities.

Diana was excited to meet a couple from Romania.  They gave her a political and economic overview of Romania. They told her that the Romanian gypsy culture is beautiful full of artists and poets.

That's it for know!  Thank you to Lin and Jamie for holding down the fort.  

Peace,

Beth