On our second day in lovely Dalat, Vietnam, we climbed higher into the Cau Dat region to visit a tea plantation. Starting at the factory, we got to sample fresh oolong tea and meet the impressive young Taiwanese Vice President of Haiyih tea company. She explained tea production from field management and harvest, drying and… Continue reading The mile high Zen of Tea and Kings
From the plane all you can see is coffee trees, hectares under plastic and a few buildings. On the ground, cool breezes (compared to Hoi An's more tropical climate), beautiful flowers and farming everywhere! After we settled in to the hotel we headed to a vegetable farm in a one acre green house. The farmer grows… Continue reading Dalat – a Cool Breeze after Humid Hoi An
Happiness is infections...but happiness is not a word that we can understand by looking it up in the dictionary. Every day, Americans are bombarded with problems and aignst. Happiness seems elusive. Why? We've got shelter, heat, tv, weekends, and based on the average waist line plenty of food. Vietnam is offerring a good perspective of… Continue reading Toes in the mud perspective
This morning started at 3:30 AM. As I rolled over I found a few new bruises from yesterday's basket boating adventure... The one where our boat flipped at least eight times. We checked out of the beautiful Ancient House Resort in Hoi An and headed for the airport. By eight o'clock we were in Dalat,… Continue reading Dalat, Vietnam
Upon our arrival into Hanoi, it is very easy to get caught up in all of the hustle and bustle of such a large city. It seems as though everyone has their own agenda and their own priorities in mind. Through our personal journey with VALOR, we have learned more and more about servant leadership.… Continue reading Servant Leadership
Whenever I travel, my favorite memories are always the unplanned hicups and mixing with the locals. Rewind to VALOR session 1.0 to understand our personality types, and how deviation from the plan = BIG fun for me. The absolute best stories usually involve some sort of chaos - those are the ones I remember at… Continue reading Chicken or Frogger Lessons
Ah…….the joy of international travel. Right about now, the VALOR Class II Fellows are wrapping up work on the farm finishing blogs from their U.S. Regional trip to Florida packing and weighing their luggage spending time with loved ones gathering their earplugs and favorite sleep aids for a 15 hour flight and praying they don’t get… Continue reading The eve of International travel – VALOR Class II travels to Vietnam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4iNrHgLIAg Honky Tonk Freeway, the revolutionary film that started the '80s film renaissance, evokes the truly unique importance America imparts on wonderment and awe. Carefully depicting the beauty and class with which Florida has cultivated their own flair for exhibition, Honky Tonk Freeway sets the mood for any excursion into the Sunshine State. The agriculture… Continue reading Size Isn’t Everything, But It Sure Is Important
What do you think of when you think of when you think about Agriculture in Florida? Citrus groves and alligator hunting come to mind pretty fast if you watch too much Discovery channel, but as the Valor class on their last trip found out, there is a lot more to agriculture in Florida than you… Continue reading Florida Agriculture: What do you think of?
#ValortakesFL was the latest hashtag reference describing our most recent excursion. This session landed us in sunny central Florida. Here we were emersed in local agricultural, political, and ecological life. A few things are well known about Florida; it's hot, it's humid, it's a popular desitination of the grey nomads, The Villages (key annoying jingle… Continue reading ABC’s of Florida: Â Alligators, Beef, & Crackers (or citrus)
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