Hola Long Lost Friends and Family!
On behalf of the entire group, we are sorry we never remember to blog, and we will try harder, but no promises.
The farm flew by! When we first got there, we were convinced we woudn’t last thirteen nights without a bathroom, walls, or anything more than a mosquito net to keep the gazillions of bugs out. Inevitably, we quickly became tatted with bug bites and covered in a thick layer of dirt and sweat. Many of us struggled with the dilemma of whether or not it was actually worth it to shower off this dirt and sweat mixture when it was guaranteed to come right back, and instead decided to take the week off from showering. I’m only half kidding. Anyways, now, thirteen nights later, toilets actually seem constricting, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to sleep tonight without the breeze on my face and the lullaby of distant howler monkeys. Ometepe is home of a bunch of our group’s favorite crops- coffee, avocadoes, mangoes and grapefruits. Unfortunately, we came at the exact time of year when absolutely none of those things are in season. Luckily, bananas were overwhelmingly plentiful so we gorged ourselves on the bunches growing all around the farm instead. I averaged around eight a day. We also made chocolate from scratch with locally grown cacao beans AND got to taste some before the ants beat us to it.
Elle turned nineteen. Happy birthday Elle!!!
We jumped into working around the farm and we really did learn a lot. Two weeks ago I didn’t know if I could trust most of us to handle a machete… and now I for sure know that I cannot. There was a lot of planting and heavy lifting, and we all picked up some new cooking tricks from the wonderful women we helped out in the kitchen. We had mini classes in permaculture design and a natural medicine workshop, which seemed appropriate considering every single one of us got sick while we were at the farm. All of the stuff we learned was really interesting and new and it was really cool to spend time with locals. On our last work day, we helped Levis, one of the workers, harvest rice for his family. We worked alongside a couple of other locals, who were able to complete about ten times as much work as each of us and make it look easy. Luckily we have strength in our number and were able to help harvest enough rice to feed Levis’s family for a year and a half. It was really cool to help out and also to see and think about exactly where that gigantic pot of rice we eat at every meal comes from.
Despite our unconditional love for that pot of rice, (and beans, and fried plantains, and all the other delicious food here we love) sometimes we just can’t help but crave those home cooked meals that only the love of our moms (or dads, or Auntie KKs) can make taste so good. Here were some favorites:
Elle – homemade spaghetti
Sam – ribs, spaghetti, sweet potatoes and First Day of School Chocolate Cake
Big Sam – Auntie’s Spatzle (shoutout to Auntie KK)
Emma – gluten-free crepes
Myles – mushroom risotto with red peppers
Jack – “big fat ol’ Italian combo” with crinkled cut fries
Maggie – toasted bagel with peanut butter and a chocolate cake shake from Portillos
Riley – nameless squash ground turkey cannelli bean veggie mixture?!
Lucas – “pickles, crackers and cheese, oh my”
Maddie – DOMP (obviously) and a big fat scrambled egg with onions, tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, bacon and toooons of American cheese
P.S. All of these answers were accompanied by big grins and plenty of convincing “yummm”s and “mmm”s.
P.P.S. Welcome home dinner ideas. Hint, hint.
Anyways, we are spending tonight in our favorite hostal in Moyogalpa to celebrate Riley’s birthday tomorrow, and exactly one month left in Central America! Tomorrow we are taking the ferry back to the mainland and heading to Playa Gigante for a week of homestays and our last Spanish school. The trip is going way too fast!!
Love,
Yenny
P.S. Thanks for the finger animals Madeline!