Weekend!

(Written 8/11/13)

Hola! Things are still going great here and surprisingly work is still going well. I've now worked for two weeks and managed to do something different every day. I'm very appreciative of the variety and it makes work easier when I can do different things. This past week I cleared the farm on the mountain for planting, planted plants, weeded the greenhouse, mixed and laid down a cement floor of a house, painted some beams of a cabin, cleared a pathway to the cabin and rode a mule to some orange and mandarin trees to pick 300-400 fruits for a group that arrives this evening.

A lot of work this week but since we only work in the morning, it isn't too bad. The brothers are very aware that this is tough work we don't do at home and figure they can only work us for about 4/5 hours before our legs and backs give out for the day lol. Which is more or less the case. I'm capable of working 7am-12pm, but it'd be physically difficult to go back to work after lunch. However, I definitely feel myself getting stronger (buckets of cement aren't light).

I love spending the weekends taking it easy in town and relaxing at the beach. You have to fight the sea lions a bit to get a good spot on the beach, but once you claim your space they usually leave you alone. 

Today I slept until 8am! It was great to "sleep in". I'm usually so tired though that I'm in bed no later than 9:30pm. No TV or internet also helps me get to sleep at a reasonable hour.

We lazed around the hacienda until about noon and after lunch walked to the small town's one tourist spot, a little treehouse where the restaurant was made out of beer bottles. It was super touristy but it was cool enough for a visit and to have a beer.

This evening I was grateful to get a shower before a group of 20+ high schoolers arrived. The noise level has just increased 200 times. It's still cool to have a big group of volunteers but it's so different from the 24-40 year old teachers I've met volunteering.

The group will be here for the next 5 days so we'll see how it goes!