Listen to the people yelling dinner is ready. Scurry over to the glowing, leafy haven of the quincho. Pick out a good seat next to a friend and some colorful grub. Chat away about the going-on’s of the day. Look out, as Lorena places more scrumptious food on the table. Inhale all the aromas wafting around you. Smell the roasting pork and beef on the crackling fire. Hear the ooh’s and aah’s of the marvelous feast. Hold up the ginormous sphere of bread that is bigger than your face. Munch on the tomato-y mixture of the pico de gallo. Glance around at your big, crazy, smiling family. Comment on something you find absolutely absurd. Let yourself laugh joyfully with everyone else who got the most recent joke. Join the chorus of “thank-you’s” to Dave and Lorena. Watch the embers of the once-large fire sparkle in the coming darkness. Grab your dirty dish to clean off in the sink. Wait in line behind the other five people who decided to do the same. Help out with the rest of the dirty dishes. Walk back to the cabins; chill out and watch the newest downloaded movie. Sigh happily; another amazing day at the best school around.
About: Taylor
- Website
- http://newriveracademy.org
- Profile
- Hi Everyone, I'm Taylor Cote. I live in Suwanee, Georgia which is really close to a Southeastern creeking favorite, Tallulah Gorge. I have been kayaking for about 5 years now and just started playboating earlier this spring. I really got into paddling after my first kayaking camp with Nantahala Outdoor Center that while ago. I also got started thanks to Anna Levesque and her Girls at Play program. This summer I went to Ottawa Kayak School and got to finally be a Keener on the Ottawa River. I'm sponsored by Wavesport, Werner Paddles, and Kokatat. When I'm not paddling I enjoy mountain biking, road biking, and mountaineering with my dad. I'm excited to be attending New River Academy this year and I hope you stay posted for more to come.
Posts by Taylor Cote:
Author Archive
A Special Night in the Quincho
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010
A Journey Through Words-Part 1
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009In Pichilemu, Melina read some of Pablo Neruda’s work. It made us both feel as though we were swimming in the deep blue of words. So as always, we became inspired. This creative writing assignment consists of writing ”quotes” to correspond to a picture. The “quotes” were trying to bring out as much feeling and emotion as Neruda did. I hope you enjoy this set.
“The blissfulness in the virgin child’s eyes are the gateways to the heavens themselves, they alone we need to cherish in the darkness” – Taylor Cote
“As we flee from the notorious and accelerate our mind into the concealed, our embodiment ceases to imprison us down to the bondages of man” – Taylor Cote
“Then the steam proceeded to rise up and envelop all that was holy and ethical leaving merely the valiant paladin to uncover the way to the revelation” -Taylor Cote
Snapshots!
Friday, November 27th, 2009While we have been in the magical place of the Achiebueno, the creative writing class was inspired. The beauty captivated us to do an activity called “snapshots”. This is where for 5 minutes straight you write about a certain topic. All our topics have to do with the things around this location. The focus was more on figurative language and less on complete sentences. Enjoy!
Essence of Achiebueno
Perpetual blueness from the icey waters…alive icecubes…the cozy, earthy abode…smell of wood all around…a forest that once was…the long journey from the tahoe to our downy sleeping bags…trying on the mind…surrounded by jungle we become one of the colorful animals within…around the fire we crowd…cavemen once again…
The River
The atmosphere on earth…all the blue so teasing with it innocent lightness…nipping at my boat and blade…around the stone giants…hide and seek between them, careful not to get stepped on or flip while dodging…the excitement fleeing from my face replaced with amazement and adoration…the giant bumblebees flapping and cawing wildly above us as we bop down another mine field…
Fire and Light
The uncaged beast smoldering, hiding for his next strike on another lifeless log…greed and sloth encompass his existence…the beam of the glow eats away at the darkness only though where a glance may be placed, those few seconds the demons scurry to another ominous corner only to return when the gaze is gone…
The Sky
Racing each other to see the next beautiful vista…as if they haven’t seen it a hundred times before but they have the same excitement and love they have had for centuries for their mother…playfully tiptoeing over the mountain peaks then the dash to be the first to the next set…irritating the sun when they cover his proud gleam when people cannot enjoy and adore him any longer…galloping horses without masters, untamed yet know the way and have the keenest sense of direction…to be in Pegasus’ likeness, their aspiring dream…fleeting to our eyes never the same powdery blob…swirling and twirling a snowy ballroom dance…how it can turn angry in seconds and weep its sorrows on its mother, a poor child…
Achiebueno Update
Friday, November 27th, 2009“And then they were off again, marching into the distance with the sense of adventure burning in their eyes”
This holiday week we spent going back to our roots, to the simple things in life. To get to this place we had to travel on the bumpiest road imaginable. I don’t even know how we made it that far by car. The rawr of the motor pushing the van over another large rock, romping down the road until we finally reached the point we couldn’t go any further. We all groggily hopped out of the car and proceeded to hike a mile to reach our new temporary home. Many animals (cows, goats, and sheep) greeting us with their bleating cries as we walked past.
When we finally got inside it was as if we had stepped back years in time. A fire, and now our spirits keep the place warm. The whole place was constructed by the hands of a determined man. It feels as if you have walked into a wooden palace, with all the round logs for us to marvel at. A few sparse lights come on when the sun goes back into hiding. The murmur of the generator outside will be heard when this happens. Time to charge up those computers!
Our dinner is almost already for us around this time too, the wonderful aromas spreading throughout the whole lodge. One of the things we all love most about our meals is the fresh bread. It is all prepared by hand and then cooked under a fire, instead of our traditional oven. After dinner we all flop onto the beds around the large fire and play cards, tell stories, and work on our homework. I definitely think being here has brought us closer together. Now we’re even having Thanksgiving together; we’re like a giant family. I think we’re all very thankful for all the gifts and everything we’ve been given, especially the gift of attending a school as cool as this.
The river here is quite mind blowing, it seems as if everywhere we travel I see a different color blue and each is equally as beautiful. The water color here is a nice minty blue most likely because it was snowmelt only a few hours ago. Which means the water is definitely very cold, but the river is so worth having that nip on your nose for a couple of hours. The Achiebueno has large granite rocks throughout complementing the water color. It’s so fun twisting and turning through the boulder fields, finding new lines each time we run it.
As you can see, we’re in another spectacular place and this one suites the Thanksgiving holiday. I wish you all a Happy Turkey Day!
Back from the Waterfall Paradise
Saturday, November 21st, 2009What an amazing week we’ve had at the Rio Claro! This place was a paddlers’ wonderland. It had the most perfect basalt bowls that these mouthwash blue waterfalls would pour into. Everyone had the greatest time launching off them-throwing free wheels, doing crazy boofs, super deep plugs, or even jumping off them. I definitely preferred staying in my boat and going for a ginormous boof. Both us photo and the video students were in heaven. It was a gorgeous place to shoot photos. It was another place where we were staying right next to the river. So after school we would put all our stinky kayaking gear on and go paddling.
At the hostel we were staying at we would have classes by the fire some mornings. It was a really cool experience having class there, all snuggled in our down jackets next to the fire. The food there was also so amazing. Its so fun to try all the new Chilean dishes. As always it was sad to leave but now we’re all ready for our next location which will hold even more new adventures.
Kickin’ Back in Pichilemu
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009The magical little surf town of Pichilemu has enchanted us all. Everyone enjoys walking around to all the little shops, buying cakes or bargaining for their first pair of Alpaca socks. I think what has marveled us all the most is the amazing waves. Everyone is going so huge on all their tricks and getting a little sun on there face to prove it. This is my first time ocean surfing and I absolutely love it! Its all pretty exciting to be able to have classes in these exquisite little cafes, the green park, or sometimes even on the beach. The sand on these beaches is way different than any beach on the east coast I have been to. Its really dark, almost black sand, from the volcanoes I guess? Some people have even been lucky enough to see some of the rarer wildlife such as a baby sea lion poking around through the surf.
Yesterday, we had a scavenger hunt all through Pichilemu. It was so fun running around trying to complete all the funny tasks. Then afterwards we all went to surf at Punta de los Lobos, aka Point of the Wolves, (cue scary music). I saw some of the biggest ocean waves there, and I think one 2-3 star day there was enough to satisfy my curiosity. I know of course some of the daredevils in the group will want to go out to the point on those 5 star days though. As you can see we’re all not worrying and being happy in this lovely little surf town.
Cascada de las Animas
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009We all had a lovely voyage across the ocean and are comfortably settled into our first location in Chile. Cascada de las Animas translating into English as the Fall of the Spirits is located right next to the Maipo River. Its the perfect first destination because we are located right next to the river and spring is in the air. Every night we eat dinner at Cascada de las Animas either after paddling on the Maipo or going on a fun adventure in the area. We’ve also been working on making some Chilean dishes ourselves when we cook breakfast and lunch. We even had a birthday while we’ve been down here. Zoe turned 15 on October 31, I think it’s so cool to have your birthday on of all holidays, Halloween. We’re all super stoked to be here and are excited for all the amazing experiences we will have. I have put some pictures up of our first location, hope you enjoy!
Chile, Here We Come!
Thursday, October 29th, 2009What a wonderful fall break it has been! For mine, I traveled up to Maine, the state that has more lobsters than people. While I was there I hung out with all the relatives and they all helped me get into the fall season. I was also practicing my new photography skills. It was a little intimidating the first time I went out on my own to take photos. It was a test of everything I had been taught so far and I think my lovely photography teacher, Melina, would have been so proud. I hope everyone else enjoyed their fall break as much as I did. See you all Chile!
Funkadelic Mad Libs
Thursday, October 8th, 2009This afternoon in creative writing we did something wayyyyy out of the box: mad libs! Melina and I took about 30 minutes to type up a little paragraph about a topic. Then we proceeded to slash out words we thought unnecessary so they would become filled with any word our clever little minds could think of. We both chortled at the silly things that these paragraphs turned into. So, I hope you enjoy my mad lib, with all the randomness compliments of Melina.
As you know, next quarter we will be traveling to an elfin destination. Chile, a country full of baby toys and air fresheners, is the grandest thing our eyeball will ever behold. The waterfalls we will be paddling off of will give your triple-shot latte such a rush. The volcanoes that will be all around us make me snooze. What if they diagnose?! I know I’m very pancake stack to be amist the Chilean culture. I can’t wait to have taste of the best camel-shape Christmas ornament they have to offer. I hear during register dietitian’s class we will have to excite through the streets, trying to find different tree houses. I hope I won’t speed walk over my words when I’m trying to speak dentures with the people. Being there with the punch-drunk group is what going to make it exceptional pain. All of us in and airport traveling to this turquoise place is going to be an experience in its own. I bet the people in the airport will give us such weird unicorns when they see our toasty marshmallows. Surely we understand a kayak isn’t something you see every shopping cart. But, a school like this isn’t something you see every brand new red dress either.
A Supernatural Sunday Night
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009It was a spooky Sunday night at New River Academy. Matt and I as photo students could feel the eeriness of this dooming evening and decided to take advantage of it, by taking photos! We walked up to “The Store” where we get all sugary goodies and it had the perfect setting for our ghost story photo shoot. We also dragged along Haakon as our model, our humble Igor. Who wouldn’t want to be a model for this shoot, you got to hold a pick axe and a crow bar!? So, with the perfect gloomy lighting and feel, we assumed our picture snapping. So, I hope you enjoy our spine-chilling photos.
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