As Winter quarter of the program began, my leaping into The Query was in full force. I had procured funding through scholarships and loans to embark on a 15-week trip through the Mediterranean – even now as I write this after having lived it I am still in awe of myself that I did this! Winter quarter we were tasked with finding our “grouse”. One of our texts was NoseDive by Harlod McGee where he ate a grouse at a restaurant and that one bite left him speechless. He then proceeded to search for meaning through chemistry of taste and so much more to explain why that one bite had that intense of an effect on him. It is an astounding work in many ways. This was McGee’s version of The Query, his account of deep diving, nosediving into something that interested him that he researched, explored, experienced and shared with others. Here I was learning how to accomplish The Query by looking and learning through someone who has done it! I dove into the meat and bones of tasks to accomplish this. What does it mean to be a writer, how do I develop a writing practice? How do I research for these types of questions and queries? We developed our own “grouse” question and as I thought of the million things I wanted to run with here, I kept going back to those fields of olive trees I drove through in Spain. Why, what, how were they there? I dove in and instantly discovered these big huge ancient trees, monumental to the history, culture, people and land. I would go, I would go find out about them, study them and share what I have found.
I developed a research question for a Literature review looking at the relationship between oleotourism and the preservation of millennial olive trees in the Mediterranean. This is the question I based my research, itinerary and exploration on as I planned my 15-week trip. I researched and learned to research. I contacted producers and industry professionals – a lot of cold calls and emails. They were very fruitful. I kept letting go of what it is supposed to look like, I did not have every single second planned as I left. I went out on a limb and relied on preparation of what I could control. I played with how to do things and learned as I went, being ok that I did not know exactly what I was doing. By the time I boarded the plane on February 26th, 2024 I knew more about monumental olive trees and olive oil than I could have imagined, and surely more than I felt I knew.
Landbased Learning Winter 23/24: Research
I began in Greece, knowing one of the oldest olive trees in the world is on the Island of Crete. There are older trees in Palestine, I could not start there and am heartbroken that that history is being destroyed. At this point The Query was in the driver seat, and I had completely let go of the constraints of what I was told an educational experience looks like. I was on my own, making my own way and I was learning more through this process than any other modality that has been thrown at me. I set out on my own, diving in shedding fear as I soaked it all up. The pure excitement of allowing a dream to happen is otherworldly, even as I write this, almost a year after the fact, I don’t know how to process the joy, pride, excitement and emotions of this experience. I wondered how Claudia Rodan went out and met people, connected through history and food – with strangers and here I was, doing it. This education has me inspired. McGee states, “. . . at this very moment there’s a world swirling all around you, and into you, that teems with the makings of delight, disgust, understanding, and wonderment.” What better than the realization that you are in that moment, in that swirl and you feel every molecule of it.
Landbased Learning Winter 23/24: Culinary Travel
I spent the remainder of the year through spring quarter traveling across the Mediterranean. From Crete I landed in Puglia, Italy – the heel of the boot. Here I discovered the largest concentration of monumental olive trees in the world – a sea of giant olive trees thousands of years old. I met with people who are working to save these trees from a dangerous bacterium and the advancement of agricultural practices that have no place for preserving them. I traveled to Sicily and met trees in ancient ruins and tasted the oil form them and at last I found myself back in Spain, where it all began, touching the tree that lit up The Query all those months before and had me standing next to it. What I thought I would experience and what I actually experienced were so vastly different, my experience being a universe richer than expected. I again returned home with so much more to share than I could have accomplished within the parameters of a quarter. McGee worked on his query of the grouse for over 10 years, at first, I thought this extreme and yet here I am in understanding as I could make this one question of mine into a lifetime of work. Here are some of the multitudes of experiences I had on this trip, though they don’t even skim the surface.
The Mediterranean Olive Oil Road
I plan to go on, continue to share about my travels and complete the story of my olive trees. I will deepen my studies through graduate school. The Query will continue to drive me to discover and explore and share, I see it now, and it is tangible, I have found what makes me come alive and I am doing it.