A fun party night...

Though I am not really a sick kid anymore, I still got the easy assignment, but I didn’t argue. I had a fried egg with toast, good protein for strength. Azucena got Myrna and I working on packaging products for the store. We packaged a lot! The house was freezing, so we moved our operation into the sun. The whole set-up is not that great, and Azucena couldn’t tell you what she has where. A supply shelf would be useful, but then it would probably just get used for something else. Today is Katie’s birthday, and we have been talking about walking into town for ice cream during the afternoon. In the evening the plan was to have a bonfire and some wine at Vida’s house. There wouldn’t be room for everyone to go into Mendoza for the grand opening, but we could all have fun. The production line was stressful because Azucena is never organized. She always manages, but she works with that cloud of stress around her that I am all too familiar with. We packaged at least half a dozen herbs, soups, salts, dried tomatoes, and more. She was still making things, too. Gratefully, we were working pretty efficiently, but I couldn’t help but think how much easier it would have been to be packaging the herbs she had days earlier. Alas! I could hardly wait for lunch because she handed me a zapallo, butternut squash, to take to our kitchen. When we found a stopping place, she sent us to our house for lunch, while she went to pick up a new volunteer from the bus station. Instead of roasting the squash, it was boiled with potatoes. I made a mash for myself, quite tasty. Azucena said she had room for one more in the car for the grand opening, but it meant leaving an hour after lunch. Katie and I had our plans for ice cream, and I was kind of the ringleader of getting the bonfire at Vida’s, but I wanted to go. I imagined Katie would want to go, too, if we weren’t keeping our plans. In the end we were both able to go, and it was a lot of fun. The shop is really quite small and cute. We filled drawers with our herbs and the shelves with the soups. I got to write labels for the herbs, which was a good job for me, and we still had time to walk down and get ice cream! For four pesos (a buck thirty), we got a waffle cone with three flavors and a drizzle of chocolate or caramel The scoops aren’t huge, but three flavors was a deal! I had bombon rocher, chocolate, y pistacho with a drizzle of caramel! Oooh – I’m making myself hungry for more! It was tastilicious. The grand opening attracted a small crowd, some of whom I knew already. We set out bread and sauces for tasting, dried fruit, wine, and apple juice. Everything was from the two farms, except for the wine and figs from another farm. All was organic and homemade – delicious! I enjoyed the wine a bunch, but not nearly as much as Katie, who got sauced for her birthday. It made for an entertaining evening and ride home. It took a couple hours with a couple stops for her health, a stop for a volunteer from the other farm to get a sandwich, and problems with the truck from the other farm. Instead of returning around 11 pm, it was about 2 am. The bonfire was still going on, but I was tuckered out. I had Katie sleeping on my shoulder and Nacho sleeping in my lap. He was so sweet, and with his fingers wrapped around my thumb, I felt so content. What a sweet child he is asleep! I was glad I went to the grand opening, for though I missed a lot of what was said, I really enjoyed watching Azucena talking to everyone about organic foods, cooperatives, and a higher consciousness about what we put into our bellies, on our backs, and into the earth. It was an “AMEN” moment for me. Listening to the questions people asked made me realize how different I am to know so much about food systems, farming, organics, and policy. What a gift Metro CareRing gave me – an avenue for learning more about some of this. Dunya (probably spelled wrong) is the volunteer who arrived today. She is from Germany and celebrates her birthday on Sunday. More fiestas to come! tori