Searching lost Goats in the Mighty Swiss Alps

It has been three weeks exactly since we have been on our tour – surfing for skills and sharing experiences. Looking back it feels like we have been with our ideas on the move for so much longer already as so many places are visited, so many people on our way met and so much experienced…

This particular morning we were ready for new adventures – gaining new knowledge while getting involved in a pretty unique and extreme for us activity – searching for lost goats in mighty Swiss Alps… Though none of us had ever done it, all of us were full of passion, and we started to climb up the mountains as brave as we could, though Hans Peter / Hausi was far in front of us, laughing at us coz we were to slow :)

We got better and better as we spent 3 days searching for goats – listening carefully in sounds of Alps with a hope to hear a goat’s bell sounds. We also froze a lot and got wet till our underpants, slide a lot on muddy, steep paths, crossed rivers and waterfalls and while spending night in 300 years old hut (with no insolation, no nothing, just a simple fire place in the middle with pot hanging over it) surrounded by mountains from all sides we greeted first snow of this year and coming winter.



After 3 days we succeeded just with a 3 out of about 25 goats :/ Wishing it could have been better we still needed to move on as our friends were waiting for us already in Schule mit Herz. And even though we didn’t succeed too greatly with the goats, the experience was amazing and our adventure spirit was awakened in these mighty Alps. Leaving and saying good bye to Hausi we wished all the best for finding the goats,,, With the big smile and calm mind (while all dripping from rain water being out in a cold rain for many hours) he answered: “But of course I will find them, that’s not even a question, question is only when”. And he went on! And we went on.



Taking and Giving
Personally I found it really great that we are not only visiting different cool places and projects and learning about their way of being, gaining experience and theoretical base but also taking active part in one place’s everyday life and giving some input from our side – no matter how can we help in each particular case and each individual place – whether we are painting wagons, making mosaics, searching for lost goats in Alps, building stove, cooking for seminary, making beds for cows or doing something else, and who knows what is waiting for us in the future :) it definitely helps us to integrate better, it feels good to be useful and be in a role of givers, not only takers, plus we can honestly admit that we truly are a traveling school of live by this - each day gaining some new and practical knowledge which at the end builds up whole wonderful spectrum of skills learned from this tour.
-Sani