Time has been moving so fast this summer! I have been working at Bethabara for 2 more weeks at this point, and I have already learned so much. I have assisted in trades like blacksmithing, woodworking, and gardening. In the garden, I helped pull weeds by hand as the Moravians would have, and also learned about the heritage crops that are grown there. The gardens, until recently, were community gardens where plots could be rented out, but as of this year, they have stopped renting spaces because people were not taking care of their plots during the heat of the summer, causing weeds and invasive crops to spread, and it was not making the part a lot of money. The gardens, until recently is my favorite spot as of right now because I adopted a new family member found in the gardens. On the 22nd, the gardener found a small kitten in the gardens with its eyes glued shut and yelling at the top of her lungs! They kept her for a week, and I adopted her on Saturday! She is only around 6 weeks old, and she only weighs 1.04 lbs. I named her Maomao, and she is my newest family member! I really enjoyed learning to blacksmith as well. Conan and Keith are very good teachers! I started a fire for the forge with flint and steel, and I learned how to make an S-hook, something that would have been important for cooking over a fire for Moravian peoples. Woodworking was one of the more difficult trades I practiced, mostly because it is done in the cattle barn, and it was a stifling 104 degrees out that day. Nonetheless, I learned some hand carving and made a star ornament out of a square block. Other things I have been doing include following along on other tours while reading the manual as well, to help form my own tour!
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