A Whole New World

I knew Loth was a hippie house (more precisely, student coop) before I laid eyes on it. It was clear from the emails about whether pizza boxes are compostable, complete with attached email responses from a professor in ecology. I knew it from an email pleading for the return of a plant that “was not up for grabs” or an angrier one with the subject line “Dear gelato thief…”.

The mushroom mailbox

I also knew from the countless emails I received the week before I arrived warning about an upcoming habitability inspection done by Central Office to make sure the house was, well, habitable. The sheer amount of emails pleading for people to do certain tasks so the house would pass the inspection was telling of the house’s current state even though I was over 5000 miles away. Especially telling was the email sent after, chastising the residents for not pulling up their breeches and cleaning the house in time for the inspection.

And if there was any doubt in my head, I arrived to a very prominent LGBTQ flag waving in the front lawn and a group of people, one girl and guy who were both topless, sitting on the front steps.

My image of Berkeley was a group of over achieving students who were fiercely liberal, open minded and very academically focused. It turns out that there is another side to that stereotype which is the hippie side. Another classmate of mine who also came to Berkeley for summer classes got the former experience, I got the latter.

There is, however, a sweeter side to Loth that has managed to peek through my initial wariness to the hippie ways and levels of cleanliness of the house. I couldn’t help smiling when I waited in line for dinner the first time. Dinner is cooked by house members on a weekly rotation. So every Tuesday, the same three cooks make dinner for the entire house (which can be as many as 80 people). These shifts were assigned early in the semester but the people who cook seem to be very passionate about their task and the food never disappoints.

Murals behind the recycling center

That day, as with most days, the line for dinner snaked up a flight of stairs, down a hall and up another flight of stair. It was very loud with house members eagerly and earnestly talking to their neighbors, catching up with each other or learning new house members’ names. One thing that Loth takes very seriously is food and people’s food preferences so the cooks are careful to tell everyone what they are about to eat. Plus, it’s just nice to know the day’s menu.

Being a student coop, streamlined efficiency is not their top priority so their method of telling the menu is to yell it from the bottom of the stairs, which no one at the top can hear. To accommodate this, someone from the first flight will yell up so those on the second floor also know the menu and which dishes may have allergens. Thus ensues a Loth version of telephone. The cooks may say “kale salad with raisins, apple and tahini sauce” which will become “kale salad with tahini” which will then become “Kale.” Each person takes the message, choses the most important bits or yells whatever is the easiest to yell. One day, when the cooks had made a vegan and non-vegan version of the same dish, any real description was diluted to “Veganism is right” to let people know which side of the table was vegan.

When I first moved in, a lot of people living in the house (members are called elves since the house is named after Tolkien’s Lothlorien from Lord of the Rings) asked me a question that still seems like a trick question. “How do you like Loth?” they would say. My honest answer at the time would have been that I hated it. With a passion. It was a mess, with dishes piled higher than my head in four tubs and the floor so dirty I didn’t feel like taking my shoes off even though my feet felt trapped. And I couldn’t stand the smell of weed permeating the common areas in the evenings. But I didn’t want to alienate anyone on my first days so I smiled through my teeth and said, “Well, I like the walls.,” which doesn’t answer the question at all. I wasn’t lying though, the walls are colorful and an endless source of amusement. Not even the bathrooms have been left unpainted and the community agreements even address the rules for painting over existing murals.

Now I also know that the people at Loth are very warm and friendly who are always willing to answer my questions, be they about Medicaid, Healthcare in general or about their experiences taking weed. Their willingness to help those in the Loth community has filled me with gratitude on numerous occasions. The first was when a member lent me her sleeping pad for a camping trip I was woefully unprepared for. When I mentioned that I would have to find a way to fit it in my back pack, she immediately offered me her backpacking bag as well. Two other members lent me sleeping bags, other house members have supported my desire to cut back on sugar by offering helpful tips and recipes.

The front door to my room

The people in the house are broadly speaking, social justice oriented with activist ambitions. Not everyone is both of these and some are more so than others, but, generally, they hold open views and wish for equality and equity. The house is full of signs of these desires, from the health signs about the benefits of vegetarianism and veganism to the adorable tiles next to the sinks that say ‘”I’m so wasted.” –Water.” People can be heard talking about the need for expanding the discourse on trans people of color at Pride Parades.

I wish the passion people show with regards to causes would show through in their actions. It’s great to sort your trash into hard plastics, soft plastics, compost, glass and metal, and cardboard (though the city only sorts into recyclable, compost and landfill) but are you taking care of the environment if you can’t keep your own living space clean? Is leaving half used vegetables and plates full of food good conservation? One of my roommates perceptively pointed out that even engaging in discourse amongst each other about the experiences of minorities, such as trans people of color isn’t helpful and rather presumptuous because they invariably speak from an air of authority though they are white and non-trans themselves. Like sorting your waste into unnecessary categories, engaging in discourse with like-minded people doesn’t help the cause of minorities an iota.

I am glad that I was able to find some good at Loth. It certainly has been a process for me to recognize these positives but once I did, it made the initial dread of living here for two months more bearable. I will not wish Loth to never change but I do certainly wish it to grow and retain the openness that I have come to appreciate. People have tremendous power, if only they can learn to utilize it.