This is the End . . .

I really meant to have some more pictures up, but they just weren't working for me. I did, obviously, get this one to work - my bike basket in action (thank you again, Mum and Dad).

What I really wanted to do was tie up some loose ends regarding my adventure in Vermont before the next one begins. I figured I'd best since several of you (especially the curly-haired boy who never stops mocking all around him) have been bothering me to finish my "novel", as Brad would have it. So . . . 

Wednesday night I returned to my room with much on my mind - finally I'd seen living proof that my hopes, that many people, upon hearing, question the viability of, are no tin vain. Despite my brains buzzing, I fell asleep quickly after another exhausting and long day.

After walking to class during a crisp but sun-drenched mor

ning, I arrived at class, greeted by numerous new faces. We were also learning about a new topic - hygiene and safety - with a new instructor. Although this very same topic had bored me to sleep in one of my Food Science classes last semester, it seemed as fresh as a breath of Vermont air (or a bite of Vermont Ayr) in this new setting. It was also interesting to talk to the new group of pupils/peers. One man, from Massachusetts, told me of his adventures in France where he learned from some French cheese-makers themselves how to make cheese (with a delightful New England accent). Another young woman was already making cheese at a local plant, but wanted to learn more and improve the consistency and quality of her products.

The day ended with an old activity that I never tire of: cheese shopping. The New York men dropped Sam and I off at the local Co-op so we could peruse the 

shelves of soft, white lumps to find just the right one(s) to bring home with us.

I guess this is a good enough time as any to tell you a bit more about Sam as I did not do him justice previously. I don't think that at first I would have described him as anything close to kind - abrasive perhaps comes closer. If you are lucky(?) enough to spend some more time with him, as I did, he does grow on you, a little. I must admit that it was sometimes difficult to find amusement in his animated tales, harder yet to see delight and life in his sparkling brown eyes, but I tried my best. I had to, for we ended up walking around Burlington for hours until night had fallen. (For those of you that can't detect my sarcasm, I merely jest and mean only the best bits about Sam) I returned to my hotel, tired a

gain - I think I walked more during that week than during a normal month.

To use an old cliché, the next day was bittersweet; it was my last day in Burlington, but another wonderful day. Marc and Montse returned to teach us about milk chemistry. I learned more about the magic of "COAGULATION" and that I have a magic finger (the milk I tested with it always coagulated first). We all lingered at the end of class, some of us longer than others. Since Sam and I were the last to leave, only shortly after Stephen, it looked as if I was stuck wandering around a beautiful city in the company of an entertaining, cheese-loving soul once more.

I kept hoping the night would never end.

But, as with all good things, it did eventually end - after a bowl of split pea soup, ice cream, and a taxi ride back to South Burlington (it was freezing by that time). I packed up my things in anticipation for my early morning and long day o

f travel that I knew was ahead of me. I paid for my room and drifted into sleep, feeling that if only I could stay awake forever, this dream would never end.

Morning came and at 5AM I made my way to the airport, taking in one more time the smells of the city (as it was too dark yet for the sites). My plane took off somewhere around 7AM, leaving the mountains and pines of Vermont behind. As I watched these mountains, and those of New York, fade away behind me, I finally realized 

that this trip was over. I promptly began planning the next.

Stay tuned in June (June 1 -5) for more adventures in Vermont.

-Katie-