Spring!

Spring has sprung at ARI! I've been enjoying the small joys of the changing seasons: eating a sweet, sweet carrot pulled fresh from the field; feeling the sun on my arms for the first time in months; smelling that subtle spring scent in the air. As farm works starts to begin again in earnest, I realize how much I've learned from ARI. Not only am I more knowledgeable about farming and international development, I'm also much more physically confident than I was five months ago. I can milk a cow. I can drive stick (I've come a long way since this past summer, when my intrepid teacher had to grab the wheel to prevent me from backing into a fence... Now I get to tool around town in a beat-up Toyota pick-up, running farm errands among the 7-11's and karaoke bars). I can plow a field. I can deal with hungry pigs, flighty chickens, and feisty calves. I feel comfortable here, sometimes to a degree that surprises me.

I'll be away from ARI and this blog for about a week - my father is coming to Japan! He'll make an appearance at ARI as a working visitor, so maybe I'll have some good stories for my next post...