So every time I sit down to write another journal entry, not only is it my time to reflect on what I´ve been up to, but it also brings to light how quickly this trip is passing by. As I write this, I´m having to forcefully grasp that it´s been nearly a month since my last entry, as well as come to terms with the fact that this is the first of only three remaining weekends here. But, then it´s vacation time! (what I try to remind myself of if I begin feeling sad about my departure.) I feel really in touch with what Juan and Sandra are trying to accomplish with their farm, and I´ve gotten quite close to them. And Lucy and I have become fast friends! She´s like the little sister I never had. So New Zealand might be my next big adventure! Haha, a bit soon tho to be thinking about my next trip…
Anyway, I´d have to say one of the big events after my last journal entry was the lunar eclipse! It was beauuuutiful here. I had a perfect spot on the farm to watch it, and there was a cool couple from Buenos Aires camping there who I got to watch it with. They made empanadas on the grill that night and invited me to dine with them. It was a lot of fun. I was amazed by the night sky´s transition from being super brightly lit by the big full moon to getting darker and darker, which brought out a ton of stars that you couldnt see while the moon was shining. I saw some incredibly brilliant and long shooting stars during the eclipse, and I stayed up too late for having to work the next morning. Don´t think I went to bed until 2ish am, after the eclipse had completely ended. Another note from that night, the boyfriend in the couple was wearing a Red Sox jersey that night, and I was like ´whaaaaat?!? you like baseball???´. So it was also awesome to have the opportunity to talk baseball with an Argentinian. Very rare to meet someone here who knows anything about baseball. I didnt understand how exactly he got exposed to the sport, but he said he´s been following it since he was a kid, and he plays with a bunch of Cubans and Dominicans in Buenos Aires. And speaking of baseball, I actually got to watch the NLDS here! As sad as the ending was, it was still such a pleasure to see my boys play after being visually baseball-deprived for months. (i´ve had a few chances to listen to games on my phone via internet). Juan and Sandra let me watch every game on their TV, and they took a genuine interest in watching a couple with me, but as much as I tried to explain what was going on, they still said they couldn´t understand the sport. I suppose so though, because even people from the U.S. who arent baseball fans have a hard time following the game.
Another sweet activity I accomplished was climbing Uriturco! I picked a perfect day to do it too. It was sort of cool and mostly cloudy all morning, so I didnt overheat and didnt have the sun in my face as i was climbing the mountain, but then the sun came out after I started my descent, so it was nice having it at my back. There were all kinds of branches sticking out in the path, so I wouldnt have wanted to wear a hat to protect my face from the sun, and I hate wearing sunscreen, so timing my climb with the sun was pretty darn perfect. I started climbing at 8:30am, got lost a couple times because the path isnt super well-indicated, but still made it to the peak by about 10:45, then took a little longer to work my way back down the mountain because, 1. there was a scenic spot off the path that I checked out on my way down, 2. the descent was waaaayy harder on my knees, which were killing me by the time I made it to the base of the mountain around 1:15pm. But that was perfect timing to take a long rest and eat my lunch before walking the 2km back to the farm. I took a ton of pictures, but they don´t give the views I was attempting to capture any real justice.
That weekend the environmental educators from the ministry of education arrived, and that monday commenced the 20 day camp, which ended yesterday! Every 3 days a new group of roughly 100 kids plus various teachers arrived and camped for 2 nights. The farm transitioned from once a peaceful calm quiet oasis to being crazy busy always people running around with music or noise of some sort. I had to move my stuff out of the kitchen and transition to using the other smaller kitchen in the Casablanca (i think ive explained, Juan and Sandra have their home upstairs, and downstairs there is a kitchen, big open conference/multipurpose room and then an office and bathrooms. But at one point, I didnt have that kitchen to cook in either because a separate physical education camp stayed at Casablanca for 4 nights and used that kitchen for their meals. But that week I was getting invited pretty consistently to eat with Juan and Sandra or with the ministry educators. There have also been other groups of students coming here for day long excursions. Juan and Sandra have a number of workshops and guided educational tours directed at various age groups and with themes such as recycling/residuals/energy conservation, and general introductions to their animal and vegetable operations/organic farming/alternative non-consumerism lifestyles. They´ve had me assist them with various groups, and it´s been a great way to see what they are trying to demonstrate here. I think it is so awesome they want to share this beautiful place with as many people as they can. The ministry educators are all super cool people too, around my age. I´ve enjoyed getting to know them, and it´ll make me sad to see them leave, although it will be nice to have a bit more personal space again. Last Wednesday was their last night off before they all move on from here, so Juan and Sandra hosted a dinner for them. It was a fun night and I stayed up too late hanging out with all of them after Juan and Sandra and Lucy went to bed. But, it was worth it because i´ve definitely developed relationships with them, sharing space and encountering them as they lead their workshops while i´m working in the garden. They would include me in their introductory tours explaining to the kids who I was and why I was working there. It was pretty funny because with every group, by the third morning they were there (the day they left) they were no longer so timid and so groups would come up and talk to me as I was chopping up garden residuals to feed to the baby peacocks and baby geese, or while I was working in the garden.
Some other fun things happening around here have been the new additions to the animal farm: baby peacocks and baby geese and baby rabbits all being born within the past few weeks! Jeez they grow soooo fast! Also, a baby lamb was born last weekend, but its momma is a young sheep, and this is its first lamb and it wants nothing to do with it. So that´s been a bit heartbreaking to witness. They´ve been bottle-feeding the lamb, but it doesnt like the bottle, and it is so skinny from not getting the proper nourishment it needs. Lucy got back last week from her amazing trip (she went with her parents to the Galapagos, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia for three weeks). She actually grew up on a sheep farm and one of her roles there was raising the ´orphan´ lambs. So she´s been helping with this one. Also, to baby turkeys just hatched in the incubator, so I´m going to have more baby birds to feed. They have me pick a bunch of weeds, as well as old lettuce or leaves from already-harvested broccoli or cauliflower and chop it all up really fine to feed to the babies. I give the stems to the goats, and they love me for it, haha.
Well, pictures will be soon to come, as I have to go to the internet cafe tomorrow to upload them. And I´ll be sure get one last post in before I leave for vacation in Chile with Dad! Hasta entonces!!
