about us
Lily:
I’m a lucky duck, a traveler who happens to meet the right people in the right state of mind. I’ve been around the wonderful country of Germany, farmed (thank you, WWOOF) in the beauty of Hawai’i, climbed rocks with the bears of Yosemite National Park in California, and driven across the U.S. ten times so far. Although I’m a woods and mountains girl at heart, I’ve been lured by the likes of Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Chicago and Portland.
I’m an immigrant. I moved from Kiev, Ukraine to Brooklyn sidewalks at age 7 in 1989. Yes, I do eat borscht, but only if my babushka made it. I’m in love with languages and so far my collection includes English, Russian, un poco Español, ein bissen Deutsch, and a tiny bit of French.
I’m an artist of sorts. I play guitar, am learning to pluck the ol’ banjo strings and am fond of banging on pots and pans. I sing my little songs. I write little tornadoes. Currently my focus is on Akula and the Fantastic Finn Family Circus, which is a work-in-progress concept album that will include songs, stories and artwork. I sew, crotchet, play with paint, I make puppets.
I’m a teacher, a nerd. After getting my Masters in Education from Rutgers University, I taught high school Language Arts in Mahwah, NJ. It was an amazing time, and of course, as any teacher will tell you, a learning experience. We put on plays, read Salinger and Angelou, played with SLAM poems, filled pages with ink and discussed life’s lunacies. I’ve worked a lot with tutoring and child care and it’s a profession that hits hard in the heart. I hope to continue it in one shape or another.
Most recently, I’m a sustainability addict soaking in the green life. My travels have taught me that happiness isn’t as heavy as I once believed. I don’t need this earth to strain much for my satisfaction. Now I read up on Ecovillages and co-housing practices in Denmark. I watch how-to-build straw bale videos and thumb through the Real Goods catalogue. I visit CSA farms and Earthships. I’m still learning, and there ain’t no stopping this train.
So, that’s a bit of me for ya. More goals and hopes fill the pages of this site.
Lily Gershon
Lea:
I just came back from a dance party where I danced in boots with lots of incredible people I knew and didn’t know. It was upstairs from this bar in town, and they had a window open to the street where all could see the snow coming down.
Tomorrow, I’ll go up to Cornell University and videotape lectures. In the evening, I’ll probably practice making lap top cases, for my next video for about.com, unless I’m too tired in which case I’ll probably eat some dinner and do something lazy.
I like good literature, music that makes my stomach want jump through my belly button and onto the street where it will merge with the world, art house and classic film, and drawing.
I believe that more than likely I’m made of stardust, and that I will eventually turn into a beam of light that will move at the speed appropriate to its form of energy through the cosmos and beyond.
At a later date, I will add more, specifically about why the Dacha Project is so important to my sanity and well being. Perhaps, after another dance party.
Marina:
I will tell you the most important thing there is know about me….if you ask.
Since I was born in Kiev and moved to Brooklyn at the age of five, I call myself an immigrant. I began learning English (with a Brooklyn accent) by watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles while my family assimilated and worked toward the American dream.
As my parents moved my sister and me to New Jersey, they got comfortable in the suburban lifestyle. Even though I was grateful for the security of the burbs, I always had an itch to see the world. So immediately after graduating Rutgers Business School, where I tried to lose the Brooklyn accent, I packed a bag and have been vagabonding and couchsurfing ever since.
In the last four years, I have traveled to Germany, Italy, Mexico, Hawaii and across the US mainland twelve times. I like to taste the extremes of various lifestyles and find a balance that keeps me honest. I try these lifestyles on for size and seesaw between being a radical homesteader, a worker and a cultural explorer. However, I realize that I must try the jobs and the ways of life that are not so easy and go against the grain of what I believe in order to remain open minded and have first hand experience.
So before I found a home at the Dacha, I did experiment with a formal job title, the “security” of a regular paycheck, health insurance and being a consumer in a fast paced world. However, I felt like I was diagonally parked in a parallel universe. In my current and more sustainable Dacha life, I feel inspired, grounded and proud of my frugal, unconventional wisdom. I find security in the garden, insurance through the community and I give myself an informal job title when it is due.
Now, I like to enjoy a crafter-noon making a puppet with old fabrics, beading with stones, sewing a costume for a Lady Gaga Party or playing with wire gadgets and old bike tires. Sometimes, I name our bull frogs “Freddy” and follow butterfly highways around the ponds till Bill Murray, our Dacha ground hog, nods a good morning in my direction.
Sharon:
I am attempting to live the bicoastal dream–navigating between the gorges of the east & the bay of the west coast–trying to find a harmonious balance between and for: family & friends, city & country, love & community, poetry & paychecks. I am a writer, editor, researcher, and freelance whatever-you-needer. My being is currently in flux & cracking open with change.
Danila:
Joe:
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