I'm passing along an email that I received from our gracious host and Minister, Scott/Sheque:


Greetings from Spirithaven Farm!

We trust all of you, our friends and fellow Citizens of Darbukastan, are well and seriously into Spring. All is greening up nicely here in "The Capitol" and recovering after our recent wind storms. We were without power for a few days but did well with our woodstoves and spring water. I must apologize to you all for the less than satisfactory reporting about the festival on my part. Several issues including the power issue, a nasty virus I downloaded which kept us incommunicado for two weeks plus house-building, college shopping and Lady Cougars Soccer (Katie and Amber are on the Varsity team at Patrick County High) have put a serious crimp in my updating. I am sorry for this. I have heard from Chris Owens that some folks have been trying to register for the event and have not gotten a reply from us. Katie or I have sent replies to all folks who registered by e-mail (that we know of). I can only assume that the worm/virus may have affected us more than I realized. If you feel we need to communicate directly, please try to e-mail and if you do not receive a reply in two days, feel free to phone us at home at 276-694-5810.
Now, a bit of sad news, donovan and Daveed will not be able to be with us this year for reasons related to that four-letter word that most of us have to deal with five or more days per week. Daveed is taking Baltimore by storm and has a new job that will take him in a direction he has been pursuing for some time. Obviously we can not replace Daveed but we are working on three most excellent instructors (recommended by Daveed himself) to take over his classes. This may be a blessing in disguise as, if you old-timers will remember, we got Brother Billy Woods to DID several years ago to fill-in for Daveed and he has becaome a much-loved fixture at the event. I look at this as a way to expand on our faculty without losing anyone as we all know Daveed will be back. As this change is very recent (as in this morning!) I am not ready to announce who will be added to the faculty until "the ink is dry", so to speak. Suffice it to say that we will be well-staffed in the "musical area" of the festival. Carla and Ted Monnich will be coming to DID directly from Istanbul (we had to extend the runway of Darbukastani International airport by 12 feet to handle the aircraft) and Carla has graciously offered to lead the Guedra once again. I have a feeling that she will be bringing some special Turkce energy with her as the Monnichs will be in Istanbul and Ankara for one month prior to joining us.
If any of you have registered but not sent your tuition checks, please do that for us as soon as you can. We need to confirm your space. We do have several spaces remaining but historically get "busy" with last-minute registrations in May.
We have a new caterer for this year's event. Ambra Lionstone of Ambrosia's Delights and Pangea's Spice Cafe will be providing us will delicious fare for the weekend. She will serve brunch and supper Friday and Saturday and Brunch on Sunday. Ambra will also offer late-night snacks as have been availble in the Halic Taverna in the past. Ambra and her fare come highly recommended by Sister Onca (did you know she joined the convent? Can you picture that? What a Sister! There would be "nun" better!). Sorry, I just had to. Kay and Mama Jeanne will offer the Spirithaven "Continental" breakfast as in the past with excellent coffees and teas from The Honduras Coffee Company in Stuart with fresh-baked muffins and pastries, yoghurt, fruit, juices and Bagels on an ala carte basis each morning. I have provided you with a sample menu for Pangea's Spice Cafe below.

Pangea's Spice Cafe
Asian-style

Magic miso stew
Crisp green salad with raw ginger dressing
Vermicelli rice noodles with scallions, shitake mushrooms, peas and
ginger-miso sauce
Chinese barbeque baked tofu

Indian-style

Spiced rice with raisins and cashews
Spiced dal (lentils)
Vegetarian coconut curry
Raita

South American Burrito Bar

Green cabbage salad with black sesame seeds
Rice pilaf
Black beans
Fried plantains
Fresh salsa
Tortillas
Shredded cheddar and sour cream
BRUNCH (served at around noon)
Middle-Eastern Brunch

Hummous
Quinoi tabouleh
Middle-eastern chopped salad
Minted yogurt
bagels
Fresh pita
Toasted pita chips
Fresh fruit

Bagel bar

Assorted bagels
Egg scramble
Sage soysage patties
Scliced cheese
Vegetable tray
Garlic-herb cream cheese
Fresh fruit

Prices for the meals will be $8.00 for brunch and $12.00 for supper. If you want both, Ambra will discount that by 10% for a total of $36.00. She really needs to know as soon as possible who will be on the meal plan so she can adequately prepare her kitchen supplies. Pre-pament would be appreciated by Pangea's Spice Cafe.

Thanks so much for your kind attention. I will send an updated schedule as soon as it is available and the yearly last-minute reminders and directions as we approach the event. Anyone wanting to arrive early may feel free to do so, and any folks interested in assisting with set-up would be welcomed and well-fed. Let us know if you'd like to do either.

All of us at Spirithaven look forward to you being with us in June!

All the Best!

Sheque/Scott