home home on the farm

one of dante´s little friends picking raspberries.






nano and matias whipping up something tasty in the kitchen


wow. where to begin. well i´m here in el bolson and it is absolutely gorgeous. really small valley town. it looks like ojai in the winter on serious steriods. tons of farms tucked away here and there. the farm i´m working at, chacra el cielo, is insane. um, rustic. chop wood to heat the water for showers and for washing the dishes, hand wash clothing in tubs out back and line dry, chickens and geese and ducks wandering all over the place, 4 dogs, two fat and i mean FAT pigs (enormous), sheep, rabbits. the best part are the baby animals. there are tons of little chicks zipping about making high-pitched "cheep cheep cheeps" and tons of little kittens and baby rabbits.

the main house is where everyone lives. there is this dividing wood wall that separates the hostel room that has 10 beds where people sleep with the rest of the house. people also throw tents out back and sleep there. the cabin is way old and has a really cool co-op hippie feel. music is always playing, someone is always cooking or making bread or jam, little munchins are zooming around. the people who are there right now are awesome. two girls from england, a few argentines, two chaps from ireland and this young german kid who rode his bike from buenos aires south to the farm and is planning on continuing down to tierra del fuego.

things are super mellow. this morning i made the feed run around to all the animals and then cleared and planted a lettuce patch (oh how i wish i could say it were a cabbage patch). we wake up around 9:30, feed the animals, then everyone sits around and eats breakfast and drinks coffee and then we get to work. at around 4pm we eat lunch and then it´s siesta time. around 8pm everyone congregates again and chills. dinner is around 11:30pm or 12. meals are the best because a few people cook and then we all eat together. twelve or so people gathered around the table. for you stanford peeps, it´s like chi theta chi or synergy taken to whole new level.

rosa and nano along with there little boy dante are in charge of the farm. they are waaay chill. rosa was born in new hampshire and traveled around the US a bunch and then decided to settle down here with nano, a big big jolly argentine man who reminds me of the big kahuna (he does most of the cooking). so yeah, that´s a little taste of the farm life i suppose. the farm sits up on one of the valley mountains so the view is quite taking. it´s about an hour walk into town.