What a long strange trip it´s been...

Actually I have only been here about 6 months but it feels so much longer.

I finished up farming Wednesday, spent Thursday wandering in Mendoza city, and spent the night on the 14 hour bus ride to Buenos Aires. All in all, a revealing and interesting trip.

Although farming was difficult with long days, it was nice to spend so much time outdoors and spend time in a place so different than what I am used to. The rest of my farming experience involved a lot of rocks - actually a truck full. And the rocks were way bigger than what we picked up last time. Almost boulders I tell you. We spent hours collecting these rocks. At least afterwards, we got fresh apple juice from the sister´s organic farm. They also gave us cookies. But I use that term loosely, because what looked like a delicious chocolate chip cookie was almost certainly a soy patty with raisans that tasted like a chicken fritter but was definitely not. Anyways, the next day we used the rocks to outline gardens that we contructed. We moved some more dirt. Hoed a bit more. Transplanted a nut tree, which took some serious strength. I was atacked by a baby horse. We chased hens for fun. Cut down 3 trees, I guess to make room for the nut tree. Moved dirt again. Carried many old tires to the road to be used as a gardens. Basically, a lot of work. The simplicity of such a way of life is intriguing, but its is not for me. I am more interested in urban farming. Anyways, the family definitely warmed up to us and were sad to see me go. I kinda thought of myself as an abassador from the USA during this trip. They were curious about the American life and I think the other American volunteers and I suprised them by projecting a warmer and somewhat altruistic image.

After a week of an organic vegetarian diet, I was ready for some steak and that was the first thing I did in Mendoza. I sampled some wine and really just walked around the city. It is super nice and very clean. There were a lot of police officers too. I went to a couple plazas and really just took it easy. I didn´t go to any of the hundred bodegas or winerys. Another time...

Now I´m back in BA and going to spend time with the family, one of the best parts of being abroad here. I´ll put of some pictures of the farm later.

Lastly, Argentines really like carmelos. Now, I naturally thought it might be something sweet. But if someone offers you a carmelo, don´t accept it because it is really just a Halls throat lozenge.

Willing Worker On Organic Farms

Hi! I am currently WWOOFing in a small town outside of Mendoza, right below the Andes. Manual labor is what I signed up for, and manual labor is what I got. Some things that I have done - shovel, move dirt in a wheelbarrow, move dirt again, collect rocks, collect cacti, plant cacti, remove cacti from fingers, and chop with fire wood with a machete (I like it better than the axe). The rooster crows at the break of dawn. We get up at sunrise and work til sundown. When we wake up, we have breakfast (usually bread or toast, and tea) and sit by the fire to get warm. The mornings and nights are very cold. To sleep, I think I wear 5 shirts, a sweatshirt, sweater, 2 pairs of socks, long underwear, pants, and 2 blankets. Yeah...But then the day begins. After breakfast, we move the horses from the stable to a pasture where they eat grass. The farm uses the horses to remove the grass so later the farm will have cleared land to grow potatoes. Then, the rest of the day we are planting, mending gardens, and fixing fences. Work changes everyday. I´m sorry, the farm that I am staying on is ¨Mother Earth.¨ Let´s paint a picture of who runs the farm. There is the older guy who has a long white beard and has to be in his 60s. He is together with a woman who is 36. They aren´t married because, well, that is part of the system. They have been together for several years and have two young children. The children are homeschooled, but I don´t really know when ¨school¨ is. Then again, the children are not always there. The two children each spend about 5 days living on another farm run by other family members. It´s a communal feel as everybody is raising the children. The couple is certainly anti-, well anti-most things. They are tired of the capitalist system, yet they own a car, sell products at fairs, and have a television. They are very cynical too. It´s not that myself and the other American volunteers feel like we are being judged, but we take everything they say with a grain of salt. It is somewhat annoying, but oh well. Before going abroad, I read that you may feel more like an American at times. This is one of those times. So here it goes - yeeeeeeeeeehaw USA! Ok, there is also a man named Marc, kinda a shady character. He is from the US but now lives on the farm, way back in the forest. He is financing a project to create cabins where ¨artists can come and finish their work and all of their needs will be taken care of.¨ Sure, ok Marc...They were shooting for a september opening date, but they dont even have 1 cabin up. Fortunately we are not here to work on the cabins, a private enterprise. The farm has 3 horses, over 40 hens, and many gardens that need serious work. Maybe I havent seen the whole farm or something, but the only vegetables I have seen coming from the farm are pumpkins, garlic, and I think tomatoes. I thought this would be a sustanible farm, and in some aspects it is, but it is not as if these people can live without the outside world. This farm cannot yet maintain itself and survive just through what it produces. They buy bread. They even have bought eggs, because eggs come infrequently on their farm in the winter months. And they certainly rely on volunteers. If there were no volunteers, the farm simply wouldn´t function. But it is a cool experience. I am learning a bit about the land and I have definitely challenged myself. Two of the volunteers are a newly married couple and get this - the girl is from Evanston and went to Camp Chi! ¿How crazy is that? There is a another young couple and now 2 guys my age from Argentina. But soon it will just be me and the Argentines. This probably would have been a better experience had I been here with a friend, but its ok. I´m enjoying my time, but I am defintely looking forward to being in Chicago with my friends and family who I miss dearly. This is exhausting work in a rustic setting, but at least there are hearty meals. My muscles are sore and I have dirt under my fingernails. I think I am going to leave the farm Thursday, see the city of Mendoza, and then go to Buenos Aires that night. Today was a half a day of work and tomorrow we are off. I may go to the mountains and do some hiking or something.

Talk to you all soon,
Farmer Dan

And some parting words from President Obama´s speech in Ghana today:

And here is what you must know: The world will be what you make of it. You have the power to hold your leaders accountable, and to build institutions that serve the people. You can serve in your communities and harness your energy and education to create new wealth and build new connections to the world. You can conquer disease and end conflicts and make change from the bottom up. You can do that. Yes you can ... because in this moment, history is on the move.

But these things can only be done if all of you take responsibility for your future. And it won't be easy. It will take time and effort. There will be suffering and setbacks. But I can promise you this: America will be with you every step of the way -- as a partner, as a friend. Opportunity won't come from any other place, though. It must come from the decisions that all of you make, the things that you do, the hope that you hold in your heart.

:)

La Feria Mataderos

Fresh off being sick with the stomach flu, I spent the day with Lito and Juanita at the Mataderos fair. The fair is in the southwest part of Buenos Aires. It takes about an hour to get there but it is totally worth it. It is a more authentic and traditional fair than say San Telmo or Recoleta. The first thing that hits you as enter the fair is the faint smell of cow poop. Reminded me of Champaign. Mataderos is the part of the city where cows are slaughtered and then distributed (Mataderos comes from “matar” which means “to kill”). Anyways, the smell quickly gives way to that of grilled meats and asado. This fair is a great place to eat. First, we sampled some tamales and humita from northern Argentina. Later we had some parrilla – bife de chorizo and mollejas. For dessert we had a pastry that was fried and had some dulce de batata in the middle. We walked a bit, saw the same ol’ things like mates, belts, knives, jewelry. But the area has a distinct vibe. First, there was a band and couples were dancing in the town center – old and young. Many of them were dressed up. There were several gauchos. I also saw ponies and a llama. Later in the afternoon, there was a horse/guacho demonstration. They blocked off a road, put some dirt on it, and the guachos rode and hit this lever as they passed under this special stand. Kinda difficult to explain. This event was cut short by rain. We hopped back on the bus and it began to hail. Oh, the name of Matadero's football team is Nueva Chicago!

Crazy to think that this place is in Buenos Aires because it has a totally different feel. Because BA isn’t just Palermo, Calle Florida, Puerto Madero, or other parts that most people see. This was original. Mataderos isn’t that great of an area and during the week its people work hard. But once a week, they come together to relax and rejoice.

That’s it for now. I might be leaving for Mendoza tomorrow…for the next two weeks. Not sure though because the swine flu outbreak has changed a lot of things. Tons of things are closed…like my school. So tomorrow I learn what I do about my final exam.