Our trip to New Tribes in Durham

I wanted to tell you all about out trip to New Tribes, but since it isn't really public knowledge yet I'll post it on this blog.

We arrived there around 8:30pm on Thursday night. They had a guest apartment ready for us, which included two bedrooms, a bathroom, a little livingroom/eating area, and a small kitchenette. It was very cozy and welcoming.

The next morning we met up with a staff member who showed us all around the campus. We saw the main administration building, the first and second year classrooms, the first and second year apartments and staff housing. They also have a daycare/preschool and a school with grades K-12 and a gym that everyone uses. The whole place is located on two small spring fed lakes that provide opportunities for swimming, fishing and boating during warm weather. There are also nature trails all over their large property.

We got to sit in on one of the morning classes, and Dennis had the opportunity to see a language acquistion practicum in the afternoon. The language acquisition is for the 2nd years in the linguistics program. They meet with someone who speaks a different language two hours a day for 6 weeks. Their goal is to understand 700-800 words of that language in the six weeks, and to file the words they learn on the computer program that is designed for NTM. The program was written by Dave and Steve Burson, by the way! It is called CLAware (clay-ware).

A first year couple had us over to their apartment for lunch. It was pretty neat to be able to see an apartment and to ask them all our questions! It was interesting to find out that they know Rachel Brooks well. The guy had worked with her at Gospel Folio Press. Their names were Jason and Angie Bechtel, and they are expecting their first baby at the end of February.


One interesting thing about the first year apartments is that they don't have running water! They have to go down to the water taps to get their water. There is also a hot water tap for hot water at the communal site. Most apartments are set up with sinks and small pumps that will pump water from one bucket up through the tap and down into a dirty water bucket.

I'm having trouble posting the rest of the pictures. I'll try a different way.