Dawn's digressions I got restless. So I went to Ecuador to learn how to make compost and speak better Spanish.

I’m on the farm. And it’s soooooo much better than Quito! The bus trip from Quito was a long one, but bearable. It took around nine and a half hours in all, with stunning views almost all the way. We drove up out of the Andean valley in which Quito lies, through incredibly lush cloud forest on very windy but well-kept roads. I started to feel a little queasy when we were high up in the Andes but that soon passed when we headed back down again. The lowlands followed and were just as green but with different types of houses and towns. Then as we neared the coast it became hillier again, with lots of banana plantations and small villages consisting of a handful of bamboo huts on stilts with thatched roofs. Nicola, the owner of the farm, met Jen and I off the bus and pointed us in the direction of our hotel, where another course member was also staying. He’s an older British guy from Bristol and I can’t say I particularly like him. Anyway. The next day we had a tour of Bahia and some of the eco projects which are underway there, including reforestation of housing areas destroyed by El Niño, paper recycling, etc. Then it was off to the harbour to catch a boat over the estuary to San Vicente, from where we drove to the farm. It was a bumpy ride once we got off the road! The place is 7 km down a dirt track off the main coastal road and it’s lots of fun getting there in the back of a van! We started straight away with farm chores on Sunday morning, mine being the horses at the moment. It’s a long hard job (about an hour and a quarter) but I’ll be swapping to some other animals on Tuesday. Chores start at 6, then breakfast is at 7.30 so everyone’s worked up an appetite by then! Lessons start at 8.30 and I’m loving it. This week covered an introduction to organic farming and the principles on which it’s based, the problems with conventional farming, and composting methods, plus a little bit about moon cycles and how they influence agriculture. Everything we’ve learned makes so much sense and I’m sucking it all up like a sponge. I can definitely imagine doing something in this direction career-wise, if not hands on then perhaps teaching. There are certainly a lot of avenues to be explored when I get back. There’s been lots of practical work, to. We’ve put four different composting methods into practice, sewn carrot seeds, transplanted pepper and lettuce seedlings, harvested peanuts, lots of stuff. Of course all of this involves getting very, very dirty. I love it! It makes that shower all the more enjoyable at the end of the day There are six of us on the course altogether, four full-timers and two part-timers. The part-timers are a French-Canadian couple from Montreal and they’re great fun. Then there’s Jenn from Florida who has just graduated from high school, Nicol – a bar manager from California who’s lots of fun, and Kalandar from Bristol. I’m tolerating him at the moment. There are a couple of other volunteers here, too. Jane (from Utah) is leaving soon unfortunately, and Lisa from Canada, who’s here for 4 months and is very nice. We’re all getting on well so far, they’re a nice bunch. As for the jet lag, it’s all gone and I’m well settled into my daily routine now. I haven’t been at all homesick yet either, which is very good. We’re in Canoa, the nearest beach town, at the moment and are off to make the most of various happy hours before having a biiiiiiiig pizza for dinner :) Thanks ever so much to everyone who’s been sending me mails and comments, I really enjoy hearing from you all. I’ll report back either tomorrow or next week, so take care and hasta luego!