If my mom were to ask me what I did in school today, this is what I’d tell her…
Today, I went on a field trip to the Blue Mountains to take a walkabout the rainforest with an Aboriginal man.
We learned how to use natural ochre to decorate our faces with symbols and colors that would scare the people on the train ride home.
We gnawed on leaves that tasted like black licorice.
We stuck eucalyptus leaves up our nostrils (the menthol in the leaves clears the respiratory system).
We tasted nectar from a flower and spied healing sap from original gum trees.
We held wood grubs and funnel web spiders in our hands (don’t worry, it was just the skins. If it were the actual spider, I’d probably be in a hospital somewhere…).
We listened to stories and learned how to walk lightly through the land.
Today, we took a break from the modern world in order to take a step back into the old way of life – the traditions, rituals, and heightened sensitivity of the ancestors. We took a break from our minds and learned how to fully experience the land through touch, smell, sound, and sight.
Today, we experienced a culture very different from our own.
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