Dreams come true...

None of us slept really well, and I had a mini-belly ache. I had been thinking all night about cutting up one of my apples and adding it to the leftover gingery white rice, along with some cinnamon and sugar and butter. Therefore, I made it! It was so delicious, though nobody else wanted any. Jorge had already showed up, but I didn’t rush. I really wanted my rice, and the day looked pretty grey, so I figured no hurry. It did warm up, and at one point I was too hot. I planted…(drum roll, please)…tomatoes. Every time we plant them, it is the last time. Still replanting, too. I also got to plant lettuce, help Nacho harvest moras, and take pictures. Moras are blackberries, but they grow in trees. The black ones aren’t ripe, but the white ones are – I know! White blackberries!?!? Who would have thunk? I was grateful for a day with yoga, again. We haven’t had it for a week because Jorge’s foot has been really bothering him. Lunch was one of Patch’s creations, and evidently the polenta I was enjoying wasn’t quite done yet. It didn’t stop me from digging in. This afternoon I wrapped my big toe, stuck my foot in the rubber boot, and jumped in to the mud with one shoe on and one shoe off. It felt pretty silly, and I really did want to get mud squishing in all my toes, but I knew better. Kaitlyn and I mashed away, mixing the clay from the bottom with the wet stuff on top. Then we added sand and straw. Water, clay, sand, and straw. Unfortunately there are rocks and sticks in there, too, and they don’t feel as good under your feet. Sadly, my right foot, the bare one, still feels really rough and calloused. I also got to throw mud because we were moving a little slowly in the afternoon. And when I say afternoon, I don’t mean four o’clock. We don’t start work until 4:30 or 5 pm, and then quitting time is darkish, typically around 8:30 or 9 pm. Thus getting dinner at 10 pm doesn’t feel late. I don’t like going to bed with a full belly, though, yet I want a full night’s rest. Such a problem for me: to be hungry after working and not want a full belly before going to bed! Spoiled, I know! Kaitlyn and I walked to the first kiosko to buy cookies for everyone. I was just happy to stretch my legs, and Kaitlyn and I have great girl-talk. We like to talk about our dreams from the night before, relationships, and plans for the future. We plan to meet up in Portland after Christmas, so we can catch up on the next month. It feels weird to be leaving here. I like it here. Change, change, change…only constant, eh? tori

It did it again...

I didn’t try to jinx myself. Mondays just happen to me. I was hoeing straw, so we can get the mud good and thick for construction this morning. It was not even a hard swing, just a little duffer, but I hit my big toe. I looked down and saw that the skin pulled off. Shoot!!! I worked a little more because it wasn’t bothering me, but I decided to bandage and clean it. Once I did that, it bled a bunch. I ended up adding another bandage or paper towels and some plastic from an old bread bag over the old one and going back to work. I didn’t think to bring in my work clothes last night, so this morning they were cold and dewey. Thus, I was wearing my chacos instead of my boots! Goodness!! Somethings can be prevented, but you never know when. Poor Kaitlyn is a bit taller than I am, and she hit her head on the roof of the open-air building by the drying racks. Even worse, she did it a second time walking into the roof. She stopped and held her head, but I was really worried because she walked into the end of the corrugated metal! At first it seemed there was no cut, but I found it right along her hairline. It wasn’t deep, so she just chilled while I collected more straw. We came up with a story about a hoe-fight, though it played out more like an episode of Scooby-Do: Scooby and Shaggy are slowly walking back along a corridor, and approaching the corner, Daphne backs in to them; they think it is a ghost and run. But in our story, we both spin around with our hoes, Kaitlyn catching me in the foot, and I catch her in the head. It is definitely a better story than the truth. We switched jobs to mudding the tienda and adding more bottles. I also got to go into the trees to collect some more palos with the cloppers, which meant getting to use the machete again! No injuries, either! We ran out of mud right about quitting time, so I came back to clean up breakfast dishes. I also changed the bandage in total and have elevated it almost the whole time of our siesta, and it hasn’t bled through the band-aid yet. We will do more mudding this afternoon, but now we are trying to catch a nice breeze to relieve of us of the heat. We made more mud than this morning, so it took a little longer. We all shared a lot of laughs and teasing as we mudded the inside of the tienda. Patch tried to get us singing, but I really prefer just to listen to him. Last week he disclosed he was in musicals in high school, so we all know he can sing; the trouble is whether he remembers the words. Jorge got the car running again. It has been almost a week since it broke down in Mendoza. Azucena had work to do and left us to our mudding. I did pick up the hoe again, and there were no more injuries for the afternoon. We started dinner for ourselves because Azucena usually returns late when she goes to El Peregrino, but she returned and brought Nacho back with her. We laughed quite a lot at dinner, and I shot a video of Nacho. I am realizing how sad it will be for me to leave, and how I wish I could take so much of this place with me. We played cards after dinner, and all went to bed feeling a bit restless and tired, I think. A difficult contradiction – the rain began and put us too sleep, but also made us all have to get up and pee! Happy birthday to Todd and Mark and Michelle! A belated happy birthday to Johnson! Paz afuera - tori

My last Sunday on the farm...

I think I am leaving on Wednesday with Sean and Myrna. They have delayed their departure once again, and I think we will travel south together. I have much to say, but I have to go. We wlaked in for ice cream, and a quick e-mail check. Just have to say we had a delicious Thanksgiving feast. And last night we had a great party! More to come...tori

The real Sunday blog

Oh my goodness!!! We had a late Saturday night of partying, but the family and their friends who were here also stayed up late. Nonetheless, they were up early and turned Moby on. There is no door, so on our one day off to sleep in, we didn’t have much choice. Alas, Antoine and the other volunteers brought crêpe fixings, so I didn’t mind getting up and eating crêpes. As the morning wore on, we all moved into the shade at Vida’s and played cards and listened to music some more. The heat was really getting to all of us, and we were hungry for something heavier than crêpes. Lunch is always so late, and there were so many people to feed. We still didn’t have the energy to walk into town. The heat was too much. We played a lot more cards. Sean, Myrna, Kaitlyn, Patch, and I get along really well: two Canadians, a Californian, a Coloradoan, and an Oregonian. We have a nine year spread, and I get teased for no longer being in my twenties. But we just laugh and tease. Though some of us want the practice, we usually don’t speak in Spanish. We did end up walking in later to get ice cream and e-mail, but it wasn’t until after 7:30 pm. It is still so bright here that late!! We hitched a ride in Luis’ truck, and though he charged me solo, he didn’t charge the five of us. I figure I already paid enough. The internet place was full, so I didn’t get to write much, but I will post again soon. A highlight for the night was reading El Principito. Patch had said he loved the story, too, so we talked about having a nightly read aloud. Now with less than a week left, we started reading. I read so slowly out loud, but it will probably help my Spanish. Can’t wait for more tomorrow. tori

SATURDAY NIGHT PARTY!!!

Half day! I was thrilled to do construction this morning. My first job was stomping around in the mud. I am not sure which day we are using it for construction on the tienda, but it was a fun morning workout for my quads. Myrna likes to say everything is practice for Machu Picchu. We had added a lot of water to the mud a couple days earlier, but needed to mix it up and add a lot more water. Azucena gave me a pair of orange rubber boots. They kept making farting sounds and getting stuck in the mud. When I sufficiently stomped around – and without falling in, Azucena asked me to make the window. I lined up glass bottles and used twine to secure them. They all lined up pretty nicely side by side, a blend of colors. The second level was a bit more difficult because I was trying to balance the bottles on a long stick. Kaitlyn and I teamed up to make a really nice window. Myrna helped us mud it up. When we finished, there was not much left to do, and our shift was mostly up. Let the weekend begin!! Actually, it was pretty cool in the shade in the morning, so I wasn’t warm enough for a cold shower. I offered to help Vida with some work with her trees to warm up. It helped. For Sean and Myrna’s last supper, we asked Vida about having an asado at her place. An asado is a typical meal in Argentina, barbecuing lots of meat and chowing down. There are parks along the highway and all over the place with big cement barbecues for people to pull up in their trucks and start a fire. There is often lots of wine involved. I found some milanesa de soja at the grocery store, along with an onion and green pepper. My choices of flavor were original (ajo y cebolla), zanahoria, queso o jamón. I chose queso, as the thought of ham flavored veggie patties seemed ridiculous. Sean bought 4 kilos (8.8 pounds) of meat, which seemed like a lot to me for five people, but that’s the meal. We bought wine on the way back, too: 3 bottles for 12 pesos ($4). Crazy, huh? Three volunteers ended up coming from El Peregrino, so I shared my goods with the two vegetarians, and there was another meat eater. We got the fire going right away, and Sean fashioned a grill with wire and a grate. I pulled out the leftover pasta from lunch and a bag of bread, too. It looked like we had all the ingredients for a great party. Patch arrived a bit later with the beer. Kaitlyn took a little longer to arrive; she walked home alone in the dark for the first time, and she got lost twice and got rides twice. She was so close, second-guessed herself, and turned back. Dinner was great. The chorizos ended up a bit ashy, since they were smaller than the grill. We vegetarians ate from a cast iron pan, so not to worry for us. We moved inside for some music and dancing. It was tons of fun. A great party, though not the last supper because Sean and Myrna are enjoying themselves so well, they are staying till Wednesday. If they don’t delay again, we will travel south together. Hooray for music and dancing!!! tori

TGIF!

I was not sure about waking up today. I had incredibly vivid dreams last night. I was working in a store/restaurant, but everyone spoke another language. I tried to be helpful, and there were some really nice people who smiled at me. I mostly felt like I was on the outside. They were mostly older, and I started crying because I wanted my grandpa. Then I got tickets for a boat, so Sean and Myrna came with me. There were orca whales jumping and dancing. There were really big whales holding little baby orcas in their right fins as they danced through the world. There were others swimming under water, and then the boat wasn’t so large. Sean and I were at the front talking, and I felt like I had to get away, so then the helm of the boat became an elevated plaza off a mall with a movie theatre. There was a dam close to us that was coming apart. And then we were driving down this street that was a mix of Denver and Portland. I remember thinking, as Myrna drove, that I was wondering how to get to these streets. It was dark in the shadows of the big trees, and Sr. Marianne Mistech (Grandma’s classmate) was standing on the sidewalk, and I was now alone as I approached her on foot. She tried to tell me everything was okay, but I was crying again for my grandpa. I couldn’t explain to her how hard it is have the holidays without Grandpa. I just kept walking into the darkness of the street, into the light of today, and woke up crying. Oh sometimes dreams seem a little too close to reality.

Last week Myrna and I were talking as we worked, and I hit a chord when I asked about her dad because she hadn’t said anything about him. He died a month before she and her boyfriend left for South America, so it still feels pretty raw. We talked about death and grief. I am not through with my grief yet. Living so far away and now traveling, I am not around to live how it feels for life to keep going. I was thinking yesterday how thankful I am that I went home for our birthday this summer, though early on I hadn’t planned on it. Moreover, I am grateful Erik could meet him, too. A pensive morning for me…the sky is cloudy and gray. It rained last night, so the fields were especially wet. I planted spinach all morning, but I think the weather subdued all of us and quieted us. We were all working in separate parts, too. We got a late start, but it didn’t get hot, so we were able to work later. Patch revived the pumpkin soup and some other leftovers. My potatoes didn’t make it past breakfast. We all agreed that this is perfect weather for chocolate caliente y una pelicula (plus a blanket fort). I think they have movies at the other house, so maybe we’ll try for one later tonight. No movie, but we did sneak some drinks out since we were not having company. Azucena was not expected until much later, and Jorge and Paloma were eating when I walked over for matches for the stove. It was lots of fun playing games and enjoying beverages. Azucena did walk up while Vida and I were at the kiosko buying a bottle of wine and a couple bottles of beer. Because there is a deposit on the bottles, the man poured them into empty plastic soda bottles. We walked and talked on the way home, and Azucena didn’t make a fuss. We are all having so much fun. To good times!! tori

Dia de Gracias!

I woke up to Azucena knocking on Vida’s door to pass on a message that Mickey called. Vida wants to buy some property from him that is adjacent to her property, but he won’t sell for a reasonable price. She has a collection of candles and prayer cards for intercession with the sale, so we were hopeful that was why he called. Sadly, no. I collected my things and headed across the fields back to the cabana to get breakfast and get to work. Patch was reading a Thanksgiving card his mom packed for him. Azucena gave us our work for the day – weeding. Kaitlyn and I worked a row over together. It wasn’t too bad, though neither of us wanted to use the zapa. We made great progress until the sun came back out – it had been warm and overcast until about 10:30 am. Our other obstacle was the water that started coming down the irrigation ditch. Bummer! At lunch, which was tasty leftover polenta with quinoa greens and fried eggs on top, Azucena talked about Thanksgiving. We invited her family’s farm and volunteers to come over for dinner. She took a list of items we wanted and planned to go to the store to buy our groceries. We weren’t going to work really long in the afternoon. I was thrilled to get to make mashed potato casserole – papas famosos, as Patch called them. I tried napping in the hammock during our break, but it wasn’t great. The flies bother me, and I just couldn’t get super comfy. I wrote a bit, and then it was already time to get back to work. We “cleaned the floor” of the mud-construction building. This involved hoeing up the leaves and sticks because it is currently a dirt floor. It was amusing. We also filled the mud beds with water to prepare the mud for tomorrow. There was a mini-water fight between Sean and Myrna, but I was happy to stay dry, if not clean. That didn’t take long, so we collected firewood. Gratefully, Azucena returned with the vegetables, so I could get started on cleaning potatoes and getting them boiling. She forgot cream cheese and sour cream, but a bunch of people can’t eat dairy, so I figured I would just use lots of garlic and rosemary. I had a wooden spatula to mash potatoes, which I thought would be terribly difficult, but it worked quite well. No pyrex in these parts, but I did have a big rectangular metal pan charred with lots of past dishes. The oven is a metal drum sideways in the wall. There is a door on our side with two racks and rocks on the bottom. Outside there is a space underneath to build a fire. It works great, but changing the temperature means having a fire of different sizes. I wasn’t exactly sure how hot it was, but I wasn’t about to fret about that. Halfway though prep Azucena said the other farm wasn’t coming, but they surprised us and showed up anyway. It was a confusing night for us in the kitchen. Thanksgiving was not the same for Patch without college football, and most were really missing the turkey. I enjoyed myself, didn’t gorge myself, and washed a lot of dishes! There were 14 of us. We had mulled apple cider with spices and oranges with apple juice from the other farm. I made a big pan of mashed potatoes, and the other farm made a layered dish of potatoes and vegetables. There were roasted sweet potatoes, garlic, fennel, and carrots. Patch made a huge pot of pumpkin soup, which we will be eating for a while. There was a group effort on stuffing that was a little mushy, but none of us make it the same way. It tasted great, much to the surprise of the meat eaters, who doubted stuffing existed without meat juices. We had salad from lettuce, as opposed to the typical bitter greens we pick from the yard (maybe dandelions?). It felt like a great feast, but I missed pumpkin pie. I was imagining that if Gail and Mike were with my family in Portland, Gail might have made amazing pumpkin pie. And homemade whip cream? I guess there are a few things I missed. We don’t eat much in the way of desserts here, mostly just bread with cinnamon and sugar for me. The cider was pretty darn dessert-y for me. I washed a lot dishes before heading back to Vida’s to sleep. I am so thankful for so much! What a privilege for me to be here! Peace, tori