So there I waited at the bus station in Liverpool, England, to be picked up by a stranger. It was January 21, 2008 and my desperate attemt to secape my mudane existance in Minnesota had finally come to this.
I had found a network online where folks like myself could exchange skills and labor for accomodation and food worldwide. Each host had feedback by previos volunteers, so I had a good idea of what the work would be like and how I would be treated. My first hosts would be the ones with much positive feedback, to ease my way into the system.
I was picked up by Russel Keenan a few hours after arriving in windy Liverpool. Though a stranger at first, within days his family had practiaclly become my own. I met his wife Helen, possibly the most delightful person on earth, and four spirated children- Tommy and Grace (twins, aged 12), Sam (an 8 year old who seemed to exist in his own reality), and Paul (7.) My accomodation was a renovated barn, now very cozy cottage. The fridge was well stocked with beer and the cupboards with cookies and cerial. I met my fellow volunteers, Derek- a 22 year old Aussie carpender, and Mike- a 59 year old nomadic brit. Derek only spent the first week there before returning to Australia but I managed to learn quite a bit from him. He taught Helen and I how do cut beading for windows and how to properly glaze windows. He also taught me how to hang gutters and master the metric system. When he left it was just Mike and I in the cottage. The man loved to talk about himself and his misadventures. i heard stories about how his 22 year old wife cheated on him six years ago, about how he hit a man across the face with an iron frying pan at a campsite because he thought the man had made a pass at him. Many stories that illustrated his questionable charachter. Eventually he began telling me that he was torn between being attracted to me and looking at me like a daughter. I paid him little attention in passing days. He was hard to work with... very inefficiant and always insistnig on doing things his way first, though his way never seemed to be right. Helen and I were both so fed up with working with him by his last week... and he never caught on. The one thing he was good at was rounding up the donkey, sheep and goats, who seemed to secape about three times a day. I learned how to shepard the animals. Finally he left leaving me the lone volunteer for my last week there. During that last week, though Hellen and I put in floorboards in the fishing hut, we spent more time working around the house and with the kids. I got to help them with homework, do some babysitting, help bake cakes for Sam's birthday. One day Hellen took me with her to watch Tommy & Paul play soccer. We had time to kill before the game and she took me on a tour of the Wirral. We visited the fancy street lined with supersized houses owned by players of the Liverpool Soccer team. WE went to a mountain top that had a great view of the entire Wirral Penensula and across the bay to Wales. I helped Hellen a bit with learning the basics of Photography and we had a practice session atop the mountain. We arrived at the school to meet the kids and watch the soccer game. Hellen asked me to walk Grace and Sam to get some ice cream a few blocks away. Sam was full of energy as always.
*a side note on Sam. Sam was now nine years old but appeared to be only five. He was shy and a bit more emotional than the others. Upon my arrivng to the house he introduced me to his friend the worm that was form another time era. He was obsessed with Dr. Who and believed himself to be an alien. He also beleived himself invincable. He had a very soft spot for animals and required more attention and supervision than the other kids. He was also much more artistic and creative. Hellen eventually told me more about Sam's condition. He was a perfectly normal child, could walk and talk at an early age. When he was two he completely stopped talking and growing. He completely shut down. The doctors all diagnosed him with Autism but the parents would not believe it. The change occured so suddenly, it just din't make any sense. They sat day after day facing him, telling him he would talk again. They believed in him so strongly... and two years after he had shut down he stared to talk agian. He slowly grew out of it. They belive it was a case of chickenpox, where they spread to the base of the brain. I guess there have been recorded cases of that happening. Now he is not a normal child, he really does exist in his own unique reality, but he is open, happy, creative... and just really special. Besides their 22 year old blind cat named Barley, he was my favorite thing about the farm.
Anyway, walking to get ice cream, Sam kept running ahead of Grace and I. When we got to a street he darted across it trying to impress us. I shouted his name... as it is never safe for a kid to run into a street. he ignored me and the red car that came in his direction. Luckily the car saw him and drastically slowed down. he did not see the car and ran right into it. I had a mini heart attack. Every time I think about it, my heart nearly stops. He swore that proved he was invincible, he had been hit by the car and he was perfectly fine. I told him that he was fine but he could have really hurt the car, being invincible... that got to him and he held my hand all the way back to the soccer fields. I told Helen when we got back to her, and she just laughed it off... "Well, he's fine, isn't he?" She really is the most remarkable woman.
I accompained russel one night to a meeting he had organized at the local pub. It was a group of local men who were thinking about starting a veg-oil fuel collective. I learned lots about the subject and decided if i do strt driving again back in the states, it would be a good idea to do something similar. you really can't complain about free fuel, doing no harm to the environment... and smelling french fries all the time, right? Within the week Russel had come home with a new purchase, a Peugeot deisel car, 1993 I believe. A suprize to us all. He started it on 10% veg oil, 90% diesel. Over the course of the week he weened it down to 10% diesel, 90% veg oil. It ran just fine without having to do any adjustments to the engine. I even got to drive it (only around the corner- to make way for the JCB (which I also got to operate!)) It was inspiring to try the same thing in the states.
I got the chance on days off to visit the cities of Liverpool and Chester. I found Liverpool to be quite boring. I'm not sure how it earned its title of 2008 European Capital of Culture. I walked all around it, finding many areas boarded up. It really just seemed like a small working class city. My highlight there was the Slavery Museum. It is what I most wanted to see in the city... after wandering around looking for it for hours and not finding it, I happened to stumble upon it on the second floor of the Mariner Muesuem. It reviewed things that I already knew for the mostpart. But it was a good review. It reawakend my passion for human rights and racial equality. It reminded me of some events I had forgotten and got me thinking about my screenplay once more. I was also reading Maya Angelou's I know Why The Caged Bird Sings at the moment, at it just all fit together so well. Chester was a cute city. The buildings were all tudor style, tops were wooden and limewashed plaster. There was only pedestrian traffic in the main center. It felt quiant and safe. I toured the old Cathedral that was originally built in the first century as a temple to Diana. Shortly after that the Romans came and Christianized it. It is now a giant gothic builing with secret nooks and crannies. There was a free exhibit in the main hall of Quaker quilts. It was really quite nice.
So all in all, I learned so much at the Barnacre Self-build. I learned some general construction proncipals, beading and glazing windows, screeting with cement, laying floorboards, hanging gutters, working with copper and roofing principals, I mastered the jigsaw! I learned about laying water pipes and insulating piping. I learned about composting and keeping farm animals, shepparding the animals. I learned about self sufficiant septic systems, involving reed-beds to purify waste. I installed one of these myself and think the pricipal is genious. I think more than anything I learned about the domestic life. I did dishes daily and learned jsut how important it is to keep up with household work. With a family that big... it is just so important. I think I will from now on be much more responsible and tidy with laundry and dishes. I learned about children... just how much fun they can be, how much attention they need, and that I think I would one day like to have some. I really quite enjoyed my domestic duties here... something I thought I'd never hear myself say. Shh.... don't tell anyone!
