The rest of Wednesday

So the rest of the day went pretty well. I didn’t need to leave the gas station so early because when I got to the grocery store to buy wine and some cinnamon and butter for bread in the mornings, it didn’t open for twenty minutes!! Siestas here are for everyone, and the store closes from 1 – 4:30 pm. Pretty nice, eh? I found some butter, cinnamon, and three boxes of wine (1L each), and my total was less than 12 pesos - $4 dollars. Unbelievable!! The ride back on the horrible bike wasn’t too bad, though slowing down was tricky and necessary a couple times. I made it back in time to get instructions from Jorge and tell the others. No rest for me! We planted spinach all afternoon. It was fun poking the little plugs of soil out of the tray. We got a lot done and even got some weeding done, too. Nobody knew who was supposed to take the mare down to the end of the huerta to eat, so Sean and I went. The chain was missing because Luis never took it off yesterday. We looked and looked, but the horse was not only in the corral; she had full access of the the bosque. I tried to talk to Jorge about it, but my Spanish failed me. I didn’t understand completely, and I am sure he was just as frustrated that I didn’t know what he was saying. I heard tree and cabin (volunteer house). Around the tree with the hammock, I found some plastic stripping. I guessed that maybe the horse doesn’t pull hard enough to break it when there is plenty of food around the stake. I invented some new knots and tied her up down at the end. Five minutes and four pieces of plastic later, Manteca, as she is called, was free. Sean and Myrna walked her back to the corral and looked harder and longer for the chain. There success was obvious when thy returned with Manteca. Silly me! Sean, Myrna, and Match walked into Ya Ce for some meat. Vida, Kaitlyn, and I started cooking. We had lentils, polenta, onions, and salsas to work with. I wanted to try to make patties to fry, but it didn’t work out that way. Nonetheless, our crispy polenta with mashed lentils and sautéed onions and spices was more delicious than imaginable. We had red wine with bread, vinegar, and rosemary infused oil. What a feast!! When the other three returned, we placed some cards and drank more wine. It felt a little like family dinner or something – cooking, wine, talking, and music. Key ingredients to life! Vida’s friends were in town (as opposed to out of town, but not on the farm), so I went over for a sleepover. It was a lot of fun. We layed in our sleeping bags and talked for a while before dreaming…ah, dreaming…tori

Hooray for Wednesdays!

I always liked Wednesdays at work. Today has been no exception. It was much warmer this morning, which was nice, but we didn't have much food in the house - never do. I woke to Jorge's voice because Patch wasn't here to get up first. We went to plant more spinach, and guess who got to finish the tomatoes!! Always more! The sun started beating down pretty badly pretty early. It wasn't even eleven before the sweat began dripping into my eyes. When the wind picked up it was better, but it was a hot morning. The afternoon is not much different, but Jorge gave us enough time for siesta, I thought I would come into town, upload photos, and blog. I am adding photos from the weekend. Take a look at them. A Saint Bernard just walked into the gas station...pretty funny sight down here. Iam also on a mission to buy wine for a little down time at Vida's house after work tonight. I rode the red bike in because my experience with the other bike wasn't winning. This is a straight handle mountain bike. None of the tires around here are ever full, but it seemed to be a better option anyway. Until...it doesn't have brakes, which I knew, but I also knew I wouldn't be going very fast. It also has a funky chain. You can't stop pedaling, even to try to get off the seat on a bump. This might be training for mountain biking with Nikki. The ride home will be lots of fun with the extra weight of wine on my back. Well, we're supposed to plant more spinach when it cools. I will have to tell you about the rest of my day later. loveyoumeanit...tori

Uh-oh!!

I woke up this morning feeling like barfing again! Argh!!! I think maybe it was the chocolate milk. I might have indulged in too much, but it was so good! I took the morning a little slow. We were surrounding the tomatoes with dried garlic, so it was an easy slow job for me. Patch went into Mendoza to help Azucena with the shop. He was also going to buy Sancho Panza, a pet mouse. Katie didn't end up leaving yesterday because she didn't have a ride, but this morning she did - ciao! As the morning progressed, my stomach started feeling better, so I ate some crackers I bought last sick-o time, crackers I hoped I wouldn't really need again. A new volunteer also arrived. Caitlin is from Dundee, Oregon, so we had much to talk about. Yoga felt nice. With Azucena gone, Jorge is running the show, and I really love that afternoon yoga before lunch. Rest was also good, though I never nap well. In the afternoon we got to weave all the poplars we stripped yesterday into what will be a new dormitorio for volunteers. Myrna, Caitlin and I enjoyed talking about lots, even about some of you. The heat has been getting to be too much, so it was nice to not be out in the fields, but wouldn't you know, when we finished that project (not completed, just used up all our palos), we planted spinach in the fields. It was much cooler. I wanted to wrap up and clean up because Luis was picking me up at 8:30 pm. He has two horses that come to graze in the fields during the day, and he asked if I wanted a ride. I thought that would be fun. We had a bit of difficulty communicating, but these older Argentinean men are always so nice to us young women. Anyhow, he picked me up in his truck, and we drove to the city. We made small talk, but I was really confused. We stopped at a store, so I bought a couple pieces of fruit, a new toothbrush, and some soap. He was trying to practice his English, but I didn't understand it at all. He brought me back to the finca and asked for five pesos. What?? I was so confused that whole time, but he asked if I wanted a ride. He uses his truck as a taxi, so there will be no horseback riding. What a misunderstanding! I didn't need a ride into town, and if I knew that is what I was getting, I would have gotten ice cream, used the phone, etc. The others laughed when I returned. We played cards and ate soup. Azucena and Patch are stuck in Mendoza with a brokedown car, so it was a quiet night. Ciao! victoria

Monday, Monday...

I need to start working on my Monday luck with a new mantra. Today we planted more tomatoes…again. We almost finished, but the last tray will have to wait a couple days because someone left them in the huerta for a few days in the sun without water. They weren’t tostadas, but they need some time to recuperate. We all pitched in and got lunch on the table – mashed potatoes (from a bag) and the quinoa tortillas I missed last week (eggs and the quinoa leaves – not seed). Everything was tasty, but it took so long that I didn’t have enough time to walk into town like I wanted. I guess I will keep waiting to post these and get more ice cream. Alas…at least I had enough time to wash my undies, my pjs, and a couple tops. We have great afternoon sun for drying. In the end, the laundry didn’t dry, but I think it will finish in the house. This afternoon we mulched around the tomatoes and then, AND THEN, they let me use the machete!! We were stripping the little limbs off of poplars. It sounds like tomorrow will be a construction day. I forgot to write yesterday that when we finished work, we sat at the table waiting for supper, and Azucena made us fruit smoothies! They were so delicious!! Strawberries and quince and peaches and cherries and oranges...I had a couple helpings. Fruit is such a treat here. Tonight, however, because Peggy and Tatiana left in the morning (hitchhiking to Patagonia), we North Americans rented a movie. I biked into town with Katie to pick up the movies, sodas, cookies, and chocolate. I had been craving chocolate milk in the morning when we were working, so I bought a box of it, too. We don't get much dairy on the farm, though we did get to sample some of the goat's milk tonight. Anyhow, the bike I rode was a bit too small, and the seat wouldn't stay in one position. It is hard plastic, and when I hit a bump, it would bend back and jab me in the bum with the front of the seat. I would jam it back down with my hand, but it was tricky. The road is just dirt, so you can imagine there were a lot of bumps. Our headlamps did not sufficiently illuminate the road, so I didn't even get to them coming. Ouch! We watched Idiocracy, a movie to inspire reading, learning, and smart people having babies. It was pretty funny, but it was well after midnight before we went to bed. Tuesday morning may not be as great as Monday! Sweet dreams! tori W

A working Sabbath

So last night there was no fiesta. When Peggy and I got back to the house, it was mostly dark. The volunteers were just playing cards. Dunia, the volunteer from Germany, didn’t stay long and left while everyone was napping in the afternoon. We speculated about why she left, not in record time as the two girls a week ago, but for much the same reasons: uncomfortable bed and too chilly for her sleeping bag, the pit toilet, cold showers, volunteers not speaking Spanish, everyone being sick, not wanting to work Sunday on her birthday…and the list goes on. She had farmed somewhere else, and she did work a day and a half, though she didn’t get much done. Ah well…one person she invited to our bonfire showed up, but he left with understanding. Who knows if anyone else got close and turned around when they saw the darkness? Peggy ended up making popcorn, and we ate a bit of Patch’s dessert. I was tired, so I didn’t mind going to bed before midnight on a Saturday. The funniest was when we asked for more papel higenico for the bathroom. Azucena said she just bought a four pack for us Saturday morning, but we never saw it. Paloma repeatedly affirmed that she brought it over to our house. About five minutes after they left, she came back in with her head down and set the toilet paper on the table and walked back out. Are you sure you brought it? It meant nobody had to use the paper flour bag, though there was creative alternatives to TP. Today is a work day, not a day of rest this week, though we did get to sleep in. And our wonderful foreman, as I am calling Patch, made papas fritas norteamericanas (when you dice the potatoes and fry them). The Canadians didn’t dice yesterday, but they did contribute their ketchup again today. What an aroma, but no eggs today. Can’t quite get the combination down! I went “to the mountains” with Sean, Myrna, Paloma, Patch, and Azucena to pick “tea”. I was excited we might have tea in the house again, but really they were just these wild yellow flowers along the side of a road perpendicular to the mountains. So I did get to see the mountains, but we didn’t go to them. It was so hot, too. Azucena asked me to build a fire when we returned. I was never a boy scout, and my brothers would probably say it’s a waste of time to even let me try, but try I did. I had great success, and then it went out. In the end I made a go of it and got the potatoes cut and boiled. We had boiled potatoes and sauces for lunch, plus the usual salad of bitter greens and olives and anything leftover from a past meal. Azucena is usually pretty good about reinventing leftovers, particularly turning something into a soup. There was a great dilemma because we had no oil. These guys put oil on everything, though I usually don’t care much. Patch biked to a kiosko with no luck. Alas…it was good to me anyway. We didn’t get much time to rest before going to work. The moon was in the right position for planting, so we planted tomatoes and tomatoes and tomatoes. We mostly replanted, didn’t even get into new rows. We planted until it was too dark and too cold to be in the rows with the water coming down. Dinner was tasty polenta soup, a recreation of the recreated leftover polenta from lunch – that was really tasty, too. We enjoyed cards and conversation about Thanksgiving. We talked about foods and traditions, Peggy constantly asking why and what because they don’t have Thanksgiving in France. I joked that they don’t say thanks in France. Azucena said we will have Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday here, which excites me, though I don’t know if I will be able to make mashed potato casserole or not. There will be a lot of people here, and we don’t have the proper dishes for trying to bake it. We’ll see… I had such great conversations with Katie tonight. She is heading to El Peregrino tomorrow afternoon, so we may not have a chance for another good chat. We talked for a long time. I wish her luck and am excited for her to continue her adventure – maybe here or maybe Chile. Peggy, Tatiana, and Katie leaving tomorrow…Sean and Myrna on Wednesday…solo Patch y mio…ciao

Un gran aventura!!!

Holy shirt! This morning I didn´t want to get out of bed. Peggy planned to visit Manzano Historico, a town at the foothills. It is our day off, so last night I went into the city with a few others for dinner (not that great) and ice cream (delicioso). They were trying to convince me to sleep, but I wanted to get away from the farm, and I am healthy again. So when Peggy woke me, I was undecided. I got ready, and that was decision enough. We walked into town to the bus station and learned the times changed and we had half an hour. This was a blessing because we stopped for fruit and vegetables at a shop close to the station. I fell asleep on the bus to awake at a dusty stop. There were lots of campgrounds, half occupied. There were a couple little cafes, closed. The information booth and museum, closed. Nada! So lucky we bought food in Tunuyan because we planned to buy lunch in Manzano. We decided just to walk up the road into the mountains and see where it led us. A couple guys heading into town told us there was a path a couple kilometers ahead and great views 40 kilometers ahead. Yeah right!! We found the park and walked through a lovely area of rose plants and streams. We were debating about the hunger tugging at us because we didn´t exactly have a destination. It seemed to be a good place to return for an afternoon nap. The trail wandered aimlessly up the little river. The road was not far to our left - just a dirt road. We ended up on the road when the path turned really wet. Pegy doesn´t have waterprrof boots. One part was so amazing. It was like a floating lawn. The grass and mud rippled like water as we walked across. Really bizarre, but fun. We passed a hotel that burned down. Evidently, it was better just to rebuild behind it, so the old tangled metal and stone frame stands on display like outdoor art. We came to a sign for Cruz del San Pedro. This seemed a good place to hike to and eat. Along the way we spoke only Spanish. Peggy is French and speaks Spanish better than English. We talked about much, and I really enjoyed the practice. We had a great discussion about religion on our way to the cross. The trail kept going up, up, and away. I lamented we would never make it, but it really wasn´t that bad. There were pretty cactus flowering and occasional butterflies. The sun warmed us, and the cloud cover cooled us, and the wind refreshed us. It was perfect!! We reached the top, a vista of the the valley and more snow-capped peaks. I was in love. Me encanta mucho! Even better, it was lunch time! We pulled out our crackers and produce. I ate crackers with palta y pimiento rojo y pasas de uvas y una banana y un mandarin. I think it is one of my favorite meals. The views, the fresh produce - especially fruit! Surprisingly, there isn´t a lot of good fresh fruit here. This is in part because it is Spring here, and they don´t import produce from all over the world like the US. our peaceful lunch was interupted by a cuatro cyclos, an ATV. Neither of us were terribly pleased, but he left quickly. Then he returned and came closer. We talked briefly, and before long, we made friends with Carlos, a man in his fifties who is a member of a paragliding club. He was picking something up, I think. In the end Carlos contributed greatly to our adventure. The trail was really steep in places and just loose rock and dust. Neither of us wanted to walk back down that way, but we didn´t have to. Carlos strapped our backpacks on the front, and we hopped on behind him. There were a few times I thought the 4x4 would slide out under us because it was so steep, but it was lots of fun. When we reached the bottom, he asked us if we knew the rest of the road. Arriving on foot, we hadn´t really made it that far, so he took us to the end of the road. We saw a beautiful waterfall, lots more snow, beautiful vistas from new directions, and some rock climbers. At the end of the road, well not really the end, but the military has a station set up because it is close to Chile. They are just trying to control the border. Anyway, we talked with Jose for a while. He pointed out the rock climbers, and we talked about his post at the end of the road - a month long assignment. The return was beautiful, too, and I didn´t know where he would leave us. We returned to the building for the papagliders, just an open air building, and he invited us to barbecue. We needed to catch the bus in two hours, so we thought it would be too late for us. So instead we got back on and went to his house. He is actually building the house, but we went to his land and had maté, the tea everyone drinks here. I actually liked it because he added sugar. He asked hard questions, like what my opinion was of Argentina before I came and now, particularly aboput the people. In truth, the people I have met are few because I am almost always at the farm and because my Spanish isn´t the best. But everyone extends such amazing hospitality. Doors are always open, and people are so happy to be helpful or offer their time. I couldn´t have an adventure like today´s in the States, I think. I wouldn´t accept a ride from a stranger, let alone go to his house. It is so wonderful how people are trusting and can be trusted. This is a very special place. We enjoyed discussions about much more - travel and family and my need for a new adapter for my computer charger. He said we are welcome back anytime - in the near or not so new future. When I get my photos online, you can see. His wife Miriam works close to Azucena in Tunuyan, so he knows the finca. So fun! We watched one bus come and go, so we thought we might have to hitchhike back to town or the other farm. In the end they have actually added a bus to the route. While we waited, we visited the museum, now open. On the road we met a local guy selling this and that. He was quite fun to talk with and told us about dulce de leche from goat´s milk. We ended up buying a couple jars. So delicious! The bus showed up just in time, and now we need to walk back to the finca from town. We have a bonfire tonight for two birthdays. Tomorrow we work planting in the afternoon because the moon will be in the right phase for planting again. (Thus we had today off.) If I can find an adapter, I will try to return in the morning to upload all the other things I wrote this week. With much sun in my smile, tori

Ketchup!!

Bummer, my converter broke, so I can write until this battery dies! It feels good to feel good! And guess what! This morning I had a fried egg and some fried potatoes!!! So exciting!! It wasn’t anything like the delicious ones I am used to back in Denver, but just the idea of it was tasty enough. And when Sean pulled out ketchup…wow!! It is something little like this that makes me smile. The sun is so hot these days, though when we wake, the morning is dreadfully cold. Doesn’t make the first trip to the pit very inviting when it is cold and the grass is wet. But I will admit that having to go really early in the morning meant watching the sun rising on the mountains. They don’t usually have shadows, so to see them in the morning shadow was a treat. I might try to get up early another day to take pictures. Shocking, I know, that I might get up early! These little things that make me hold my breath for just a minute bring a smile from ear to ear…mountains…eggs and potatoes…being able to work! I was back out planting tomatoes in the field this morning. I made peace with tomatoes yesterday when I ate some sun-dried tomatoes, so working in the field was refreshing. I hadn’t been out working in the field for a full week. Who knows what we’ll get to do this afternoon? I am hoping we will start some serious work on the baño seco because we are going to end up with pits all over the place if we don’t. ooopps...didn't finish. Here it is anyway! tori