Bowl number six

This morning I chopped up the cilantro and the onion. I’m working my way up. This morning was also my first morning of work. After breakfast I accompanied Otoniel to harvest a bag of lettuce and bring it down to the eco-lodge. I always feel a little embarrassed tagging along behind Otoniel when we go down to campus, but the kitchen ladies smiled and waved and Julio came up behind me and gave me a hug. I continue to under estimate how welcoming everyone is. After we dropped off the lettuce, Otoniel took me by the pens where the new baby cows (terneros) are. When we got back we worked on the farm until lunch. It was great. It was sunny but there is always a strong breeze. We prepared some land with the compost that I had helped him make the year before. After preparing the areas we wanted, we planted lettuce, cabbage, carrots and cilantro. We always talk a lot about the farm while we are working. We talk about what he tries, what works, what doesn’t work; We talk about why things work the way they do etc… It is the most practical, most laid-back, hands on learning experience. It is rewarding to wake up and do manual labor every morning and as far a farm-work goes it is pretty nice. After our first round of hauling compost and preparation and planting, we took a water break and Lilian had made fresca de papaya, which is fresh papaya in a blender with water and a little sugar. After finishing up the rest of the planting for the day we went inside and ate lunch: rice, beans, some sort of mashed potatoes with spices, some ground beef with onions and peppers, and chimichuri, which is pretty much the same thing as salsa fresca.