Una semana luego… (in Spongebob tone)
Talk about the great outdoors this week! And when I say “great,” I MEAN it. This island and everything on it is truly MAGICAL. Not only are all of our meals completely fresh and natural, but literally the whole system of the Bona Fide farm and our way of living is all natural. First off (well, there really is no “first” because it’s a full cycle of life thriving here), we plant all of those delicious fruits, veggies, and other good mood foods that go into our meals. (Oh, and I admit that we don’t plant ALL, or actually the majority of the food we eat because it would probs take a few months to let that stuff grow successfully.) Anywhooo, the rest goes like so… we gather our necessary ingredients, we cook em’, we eat em’, and of course in the end, it comes out the other end into the luxurious compost latrines (a.k.a. where the rich fertilizer is at). On top of that system, we keep the environment in mind by stuffing our paper/plastic trash into used, plastic water bottles (to be later used in structures), our rooms/cabins are designed with three walls of horse caca, bottles, and other jungular components (pretty sure I just made that word up), and as I mentioned earlier, we have two holes in the ground in place of flushable toilets. Ooooo, and one cannot possibly forget the outdoor showers that provide us with a PHENOMENAL sunset view overlooking vast, luscious fields of greenery and the still-active Volcano Concepción in the distance. WE GOTTA TREE HOUSE WITH THAT SAME, INDESCRIBABLE VIEW OF THE VOLCANO TOO. I’m 99.9% sure that all of those “Magic Tree House” books were referring to this one, magic tree house… Let me tell you, the nature livin here is better than any other place I could ever dream of. As for all of the work, activities, and events that have taken place this past week, we’ve accomplished a lot, and not to mention, a lot of firsts…
For many of us, I would say it was our first time…
…being nibbled alive by nasty “no-see-um” gnats.
…handling machetes.
…trying “cherry suelo” fruits (and you can’t just try ONE).
…actually cooking REAL food.
…chopping down banana trees to make some tasty compost cakes. 😉
…stealing large piles of rice grass across multiple fields.
…weaving baskets with the CUTEST kittens EVER.
…sweating profusely all morning long.
…witnessing tarantulas, whip scorpions, and any other insect the size of our hands.
…devouring freshly-cooked fish that were JUST swimming in Lake Nicaragua a few hours before meeting our mouths.
…seeing newborn baby piggies!
…feeding nutritious termites to chickens.
…falling asleep to howler monkeys in the night.
…cooking up homemade enchiladas.
…nearly getting run over by a feisty cow (well, in this case, both mine and Krystal’s freaky-deaky, first experiences!).
Last, but certainly not least, we are staying with some amazing, warm-hearted, and hardworking peeps, who are also American volunteers (YAY! We can speak English again! But, NAY, I’m probs gonna forget all of my Spanish by our next destination…) We got the lovely Sabrina, the woman who runs the show and is the epitome of a miracle worker or sure; Philly Phil, the “hairy, humorous goat;” sweet, fun-loving Amy; spunky Ashley, who unfortunately had to take off earlier than expected for a job opportunity; soccer-pro Lee; the wise garden healer, Cailey; and the go-to medicinal wonder woman, Lynda. Man oh mannnn, without this passionate team along our sides for support and smiles, I don’t know how this first week would have gone!
Even though during these past three weeks (HOLAY SMOKES, THREE WEEKS, sorry…) we’ve all had some physical ups and downs, we are all growing closer and closer together as a Carpe fam with each passing day. With that, I hope ya’ll are looking forward to next week’s adventures as much as we all are. ☺
PEACE, LOVE, & SMILES,
Bilbo Bloggins
(a.k.a Raquel)
