What I have learned

Just a sum up of what I've learned about myself, other people, and my surroundings

1) It's ok to just sit and chill for a bit. This is how great conversations get started! This "talk time" doesn't need to be a scheduled "coffee date" or "bear trail date," it can just happen on it's own. Planning for it really takes the fun out of it.

2) Defining the term "busy"...what does it really mean? Are you too involved in one thing to start another? Or are you just procrasting? Do you put schoolwork above friendships? "Sorry I didn't call you for the past month, I was so busy." ---> Too busy for one twenty minute phone call? Ouch!

3) Weather: um, so I didn't really learn that much here. I already knew that it doesn't rain in Waco. I also already knew that it's just stinkin hot. Dry kind of hot, not humid. I didn't know it gets up to the 105's though. New info!

4) The best way to herd goats: yell "HEYYYYY GOATS!" and try not to sound too intimidated or intimidatING. Both ways make you look stupid or scares the goats.

5) You are not working the hardest. By you, I mean me. Some else is always working harder. Humble yourself. But it's not a competition, just do your best, forget the rest.

6) Definition of a community, a group who works together in a cohesive fashion. We got a lot of chores done, sure, but we also got to know each other, learn from each other, and have fun together.

7) Texas is still the best state, but there are some pretty cool other ones out there too. I just can't remember their names ;-)

8) Don't assume. We all know what assuming does! Ask if you are unsure.

9) Africa is a continent! I used to think it was just a country with thousands of uncurable problems. One step at a time, we can make a difference.

10) How to use a bread machine. Make sure that the pan is INSIDE the machine before you dump all the ingredients inside. Hehe.

Lasts days...ah!

Monday June 29th
Wow, last day! Couldn't believe it when I woke up this morning. Tried to pretend like it was a normal day, but it really couldn't ever be "just normal," as I was very sad to leave my friends. I know that I will be back to visit, but it will never be the same as actually living there, in community with one another.

Morning chore started off easy. I started off taking meat inventory in the Ed building freezer and in the dorm freezer. All went well until I opened up the 2nd freezer in the dorm...to find out that it had been off all night. The meat at the top was squishy...some had ice crystals, while others were barely cold. I want to estimate that we threw away 50 lbs of meat. I would have personally thrown away 20 lbs more, but others thought that it would be okay to just cook it really quickly and then freeze it again.

Sunday June 28th
I really cannot believe how quickly time has flown by at the farm! I go home tomorrow...ah!

Woke up this morning and took Brandon to UBC. Can you believe that I hadn't been there for church during my entire Baylor "career?" For those of you in the dark, UBC is, like, the Starbucks church for young folks. Very cool place, though I really needed some natural light. Sermon was excellent, as I saw a few familiar faces. It's always strange for me to be at Baylor now, because I feel like I am a member of the farm life, not Baylor life. So when I see people that I recognize (aka aren't friends with, but have seen them on campus at some point in time), I feel like I am not a part of "that" anymore. Does that make sense?

Took a three hour nap today. WHY!?!? I guess that's one way to pass an afternoon!

This evening we went to the Hess' for a little BBQ action. I had already eaten dinner, as I didn't even know we were having a party...shame shame! Guess that was announced while I was driving to DFW airport Friday afternoon. It was still really fun...again, just sitting around, talking about whatever subject came to mind. Turns out that both Matt and Sarah went to Baylor and worked for Flash at one point. They both took turns guessing which sorority I was in, which was really funny to compare stereotypes and such of BU students and greek life members. It was a great evening and I finally hit the sack at midnight. That's probably the fourth night in a row that I went to sleep so late. Can't blame a girl, I just love to sit around and talk!

Saturday June 27th
Woke up early today, which isn't unusual, considering that I am such a morning person. Read the paper, ate some breakfast, and just chatted with some folks near the porch swing. That's one of the things that I will really miss about this: community. A sense of "hey, let's just talk" without having to verbalize that we are scheduling this time together. At BU, people don't have time to just hang out and talk, they just want information about your life or about whatever pertains to them, then they want to move on. Hopefully, I will embrace the former rather than the latter after this experience.

Ran into town to shop a little at Target and run by the bike store. I am looking for a bike to cruise about campus on and to possibly take to Cameron park to ride trails with. Now, I have never really been a biker, but I think it's a good hobby, as it's low impact and you can always find a group to go with you. Next semester I plan on going with that bike shop group to CP whenever I can. I didn't purchase a bike, but I will look at other stores in Houston to see what the prices are like.

This afternoon just sort of hung out...went with Swathi to the Hess's to babysit their kids. I was only there for 30 minutes or so, but those girls are so darn cute! Later on, Melody, Brandon and I went to go find a basketball goal at the local high school. However, there was none to be found. So, instead, we decided to make ourselves as human basketball goals and just sort of goofed around that way. Makes you get creative when you have limited resources!

A former member of the farm, Susan, came today. She is going to start the PeaceCorps soon, at the end of August. In Senegal, I believe? Very cool girl. She's going to help with chores this week, as 4 other members of the farm crew are road tripping it to Illinois for a Christian music festival. Sounds like a lot of fun! Most of the drive is, undoubtedly, driving through Texas. Yee-haw!

end of the week

Friday June 27th
Spent the morning organizing, sorting recycling materials, and just putting things back in their spots (a lot of things got moved away from their "home" for the benefit last night). I was happy to do this work, as it meant I could stay indoors. I was really busy and it took most of the morning...just thankful to be out of the sun.

Stopped working around 11:45am to take a quick shower and take Jess (the livestock intern) to the airport at DFW. She is going on a much deserved and much needed vacation with her family in Philadelphia and Nova Scotia. Anyways, she needed someone to take her to the airport, so I volunteered to drive. Not sure why, as I have problems staying awake when I am by myself driving...but I did volunteer nonetheless. I also drove to Austin and back last Monday, and to Houston and back last weekend, not to mention that I drive back to Houston on Monday afternoon. Lots of car time!

Took me 4 and 1/2 hours round trip to go the 120 miles (one way) to the airport. Couldn't believe it took that long. AND couldn't believe how many times I ran into traffic. Literally hit hard traffic about 5 times. I hate I-35 so much and I wish it was 12 lanes across like I-10 in Houston. Listened to the radio a lot and all I heard about was Michael Jackson. I didn't realize what a huge impact he had on the world. The man who did the choreography for Slumdog Millionaire said that Jackson's dance moves really influenced him choreographer as a child. I mean, INDIA! I really like to think that Jackson isn't dead, that he faked his death, went to an island that he purchased with money made from his recent concert, and is living away from the media, finally. May he rest in peace.

For the first weekend ever this month, I won't be leaving the farm to visiting relatives, set up my apartment, or attend a wedding. I will stay at the farm, run some errands, get some good stuff done.

At least, that's the plan!

Monday is my last day here...wow. Can't believe that June has flown by to quickly. Summer school starts soon after July 4th...I can't say that I am excited for summer school, but it is always nice to start something new.

Thursday June 26th
Wow wow wow. BUSY day! Today was the WHR benefit/fundraiser dinner in downtown Waco. It was a lot of fun and we had a lot of participation, but boy was it a lot of work! We had a chef cater the event, and she was gracious enough to do it for free.

Menu:
Cream of vegetable soup with yogurt and parsley
cucumber salad
African meatloaf <--- ok, so that's not the name of it, but that's what it really was.
vanilla custard w/ nilla wafers, caramel topping

It was wonderful! The WHR vols and interns worked as the serving staff, which turned out quite well. We each got to serve a table and "cater" to their needs. I say "cater" because it's not like we can change a set menu if the guest does not like it, just gotta work with what we have! My table was super nice and I did not have any problems at all. Some of the urban gardening kids attended and talked to the dinner guests. Matt, the education director, had a whole program set so the dinner guests could hear about all that the farm does. Last year, we had this event on the farm and we served 35 people. This year, it was at the Palladium downtown, and we had 70 guests. Woo!

In the afternoon, I was using Matt's truck (which logged in at 511,000 miles. Read: NOT possible!) to run errands and pick up supplies for the party. Had to pick up rental stuff like drapes, glasses, silverware, etc.

Once the guests left, we finally got to eat the meal around 9 pm or so...boy were we starved! The dinner was so good though. There was a lot of food waste, as the portions were way too big for people to finish. It made me sad that we had to throw it all away. No way Campus Kitchen could legally recover any of that food...once it's been served on a plate, we cannot touch it. That's what happens when you serve a huge main course and have three other courses to compliment it.

I forgot that we were the ones setting up...which meant that we were the ones who had to clean up too. Every table, every scrap, had to be put away and thrown away. It took a while to get everything loaded into cars and sent away, but having so many people help makes it go by a lot faster. There were many leftovers (like vegetable broth, sliced cucumbers, whipped cream, etc) that we sent back to the farm so we could eat off it for a few days. I didn't think that there was that much food, but I was definitely wrong. 3 other girls and I spent at least an hour putting back food, freezing it, and making decisions as to what stays and what goes. It was quite a time. We put all the food in the 3 fridges in the main building.

I had never been in the "Ed building" at 11:30 at night, but it's kind of creepy. Not to mention that there are roaches living there. I counted about 5 or 6 just scurrying about...they really give me the creeps. I am also freaked out by lizards, but roaches are much more...disposable is the word I will used. I have no qualms about using Raid on the roaches...heck, just did it the other day on the three that I found in the bathroom. To treat my roach phobia, I try to send out vibes of "they are more scared of me than I am of them." This treatment sometimes works, but lately I haven't had much luck on scaring them off. Guess I am not a very scary person!

Didn't go to bed until midnight tonight. Wow. That's the latest I've gone to sleep here at the farm. And boy I was feeling it Friday morning!

Americorps update, more goats!

Wednesday June 24th
I literally feel like I am wilting. My energy levels are like this...(picture me making a hand motion of an airplane crashing and the sound effect of it "burning." Thus, the "crash and burn").

Got up early to feed the goats, as the majority of the farm crew went on that field trip. Had to give some of the kids some medicine, which was kind of weird to shove a syringe down their throats. Wait, you've never done that before either? Weird.

We attempted to finish winnowing and threshing the wheat today. Threshing is completed, but winnowing is not. I had to hang up my basket early so that I could go lay down..the heat is just really getting to me. Part of the problem is that I left my Nalgene at home this past weekend, so it's difficult to measure how much water I am really drinking. I usually got for 3 nalgenes per day, which is about 96 oz. Without it, I am probably drinking half of that simply because I don't force myself to drink as much. My body can definitely tell that I am lacking water!

Decided to take a break this afternoon and am currently at my apartment just relaxing, blogging, doing some research on Master's programs/DI's. DI = "dietetic internship," aka what I have to complete in order to sit for my Registered Dietitian's exam. Also need to drop off my Americorps application at the office in downtown Waco. Not that that's far away.

Everything in Waco is so relative. Everything is maybe ten minutes away, at absolute maximum. Is there traffic? Not really. Do you have to plan to arrive 15 minutes early in case there is? Absolutely not.

I am cold with the A/C on. This is grand.

Tuesday June 23
Wowza! Long day today again. Woke up around 6ish (it just seems like it gets earlier and earlier...getting harder to wake up that early after a long day!) to milk the goats. Swathi and I are starting to get into a rhythm, so that was nice. We got some help herding the goats this time, which was wonderful! Helps to have a few more bodies just to guide the goats down to the main pasture. Granted, they sort of went crazy once they got to the main pasture (before we led them to the southern most pasture where they were supposed to be), but nothing as crazy as last time. I don't think I will ever get used to getting goats to move by either:

a) pulling their chain around their neck
b) gently/not so gently pushing them front their backside (think: goat hips)
c) using their ears to pull them forwards, or
d) pulling their tail upwards and pushing

Surprisingly, d) often works the best. Very strange! Certainly do have a mind of their own.

Went back to weed whacking today. Man, I really love that thing. MUCH easier than that darn push mower. Chris said I looked scary with my garb on. Granted, I wear a brimmed hat, safety goggles, and a bandana covering my entire face. And my body is completely covered in dirt. Got a really cute dirt tan, showing where my socks ended and my pale skin began. How is that scary? ;-)

After lunch, I drove Chris to the doctor and swung by the FCS kitchen to borrow some knives for the WHR fundraiser banquet on Thursday. The dean's secretary was there...please note that I did not shower before I went to do this. Secretary looks at my face, then glances at my legs, then looks back up at my face again. Ha! Guess she was not expecting me to be a student. I was kind of glad that my dean wasn't there. Not that I think she will judge me, but I think that she would get a real kick out of my filthy state.

Drove back to the farm, did some emails, some Americorps application stuff, then I went off to feed the kids again. Last night I got lucky, as someone else volunteered to feed the goats while I was driving to/from Austin. But I still have one more morning and, potentially, one more evening to feed the goats. Then, Esther comes back and I will be free!

I am not supposed to feed the kids until 6pm, so I had a little time to kill before then. I decided that a good time killer would be the new farm sport: killing flies. Now, I am a quasi-coordinated person, so I figured it wouldn't be so bad, and it actually turned out to be a lot of fun! Well, ok, maybe not a lot. But pretty fun. After the genocide of the flies, it was like a fly graveyard in their. One way that I would sucker the flies in: wait for them to "care" for their dead, then, WHACK! SUCKER! Every once in a while I would yell "SUCKER!" just for a little gratification. I think the milkers in the next room started to think that I was borderline crazy. Can't believe it's taken them that long to realize this fact.

Tonight/tomorrow the farm gang was invited to go on a "field trip" to another farm and see how they run their operations. There will be cheese making and other fun activities. I decided to stay behind, as someone had to feed the goats in the morning and deliver food to the Palladium for our benefit Thursday evening. Takin' one for the team.

Now I am all showered and clean. It's nice to get rid of that ol dirt tan!

Monday June 22
BIG INTERVIEW DAY!!! AH!!! (scroll to the bottom if you really want to know!)

First off, I signed up for landscape chores this week, meaning...more weed whacking! YES! Today, my landscape power tool of choice was the lawn mower...gives me a little variety from the weed whacker. I drove the farm truck down the street and picked it up from the repair shop, then brought it back. Should've known that it was going to have trouble all morning long. Whenever I took it on a slope or the weeds/grass got to tall, the thing would stall out. To prevent it from stalling, I had to pull the blade in the air, let it spin out, then proceed with mowing. As you can tell, this trick did not work everytime, and the engine just stopped. I thought that I would easily be able to start it again...just push the choke/gas lever and pull the cord, right? NO. Had to get a boy to pull it everytime. Probably asked someone around, whoever was just right there, about 10 times during an hour and a half to get things moving again! Good grief.

Only worked outside for that short time because we had another World Banquet. Remember last time how the kids were given a card: low, middle, or high income...and had a meal/seating arrangements that corresponded to their income level. High sits in a chair, has a table, silverware, a server, plenty of food on the plate. Middle sits in a chair, no table, with a bowl of beans and rice with spoons, small plates, and a small glass of water to drink. Low sits on the floor, with a bowl of rice, use fingers to eat with. This group of kids was wonderful. They were probably middle school aged (like the last group) but were from a church in Ft Worth. Some great discussions afterwards about unequalities, fair trade, corrupt corporations, etc. Wonderful to see the kids slowly grasp it.

A funny thing that happened: the upper class guy wanted to give his food to the lower class, but only after he had eaten the pasta (what he considered to be the best part of the meal). What a great symbol for the upper classes' world view! We are given so much, and are only willing to give once we had have the best part of the lot. Just simmer on that for a bit ;-)

Ok, here's what you really wanted (and had to scroll all the way down here for)...Americorps update! I had the interview today at 3pm at Baylor. Made sure that I was clean, combed, and had dry hair (this was truly an effort, btw!). The interview was more of a "does Americorps want Campus Kitchen as a partnership organization?" instead of "is Christine the best person for the job?" Now, the latter question was part of the equation, yes, but not the majority of it. The interviewer still has to talk to her supervisor about the situation, so we will see what goes on. I really do not want to disclose any more information at this time, so, if you have any other questions or want to know more about it, then feel free to ask me. But I just don't want that information floating around the net, ya know?

After the interview, I scrambled back to WHR to gather some cold goods to drive to Austin for the chef for the WHR fundraiser banquet on Thursday evening. I had to put lots of lbs of meat in the freezers, jet over to the gas station for bags of ice (so cheap, who knew?!?!) and then drive to Austin. I was nervous about traffic, as I didn't leave til 4:50 or so. I was having a case of the "bad attitudes" while I was driving, as I was extremely tired from driving to Houston and back over the weekend, and driving to the Woodlands and bk (meaning Houston). So I had already driven about 7 hours over the course of the weekend, and here I was about to add four more. No one was around to go with me, so the "sickness" soon spread to my mood.

I got a call about 35 miles into the drive (while I was at Subway...hm..meat!) that I had forgotten to bring the fair trade purple rice and quinoa with me. There was a debate as to whether I should turn around or not. I ended up calling the chef and she told me to not worry about it, just keep going. Thank goodness! My bad attitude slowly lifted after that call, as Swathi was so nice to me, informing me that I could call her later on if I needed help staying awake (I didn't have to that, but it was nice to have the option). Also, Amber was really nice on the phone, which made me feel guilty for being such a poopy pants! I arrived in Austin at 110 miles, dropped the meat off with the chef's husband, then drove back to Waco, arriving there at 8:50 pm.

So that was my afternoon slash evening! Wow. Can't believe how quickly it went by! One minute you're mowing the yard, fightin off the heat, the next minute you are at Baylor getting interviewed for an important position that affects your entire future, and the next you are driving to Austin wondering why there is no Buc-ees truck stop! Haha!

3rd weekend

Saturday/Sunday June 20th/21st
Wedding day! Thought about going to the gym, but I've just been so tired on the weekend...definitely when farm life ends I will be hittin up the SLC hardcore.

Catherine came with me to the wedding, which made it so much more fun! We drove down there around 4, wedding ceremony was at 5, got to the reception around 6:30 (slight scenic detour, iphone saved us with the map application, yet again!). 3 course meal, appetizers, bride and grooms cake...it was very nice! Lots of fun dancing with graduated ADPi's, felt like old times. It was really nice to get to see everyone all dressed up. Quite a rare occassion for me to be dressed up as well. It was the first time for me to wear makeup in 20 days (since June started). Glad to spend some Q.T (quality time!) with Catherine...reminds me of what good friends we are!

Catherine spent the night and went to church with us, then met up with her boyfriend David and his family, who also attend our church. Trying to remember when I met David...but really I can't even pinpoint it! We've known their family for 10 years, at least, I would say. Funny how he ended up at Baylor, dating one of my best friends, and we still go to the same church! God works in such mysterious ways.

Last full week at the farm this week, can't believe how fast it has flown by! Americorps interview tomorrow...ahh! Pray that it all works out.

Friday June 19th
Today was spent cooking pizza dough and figuring out how in the world to accomplish the task without totally flubbing it. Luckily, Amy was able to help me in the kitchen. She made a wonderful quinoa salad and helped me make Tomato and Basil pizza and a "mexican" pizza (corn, black beans, salsa, cheese). Honestly, I didn't get to taste the second one as I had to peace out early to drive home to Houston for the wedding. I tasted a bit of the T&B pizza (got the part without the cheese, I don't do cheese) and it was good. Still couldn't believe that we made a pizza from scratch, with ingredients from the garden. How cool!

Drove home to Houston that afternoon, tried my hardest to avoid traffic. It's that darn Aggie section of Hwy 6 that always messes me up. Wasn't too bad this time, but I figure it's about time for them to wrap up that construction. It's been going on for over 3 years!

Coming home is always a little adjustment to get used to at first...it's just weird being in A/C and not being outside a lot like I am here. But I got used to it and by the time Sunday came around I knew that I had sort of adjusted back to the real world. Haha.

Rest of this week

Thursday June 18th

Took a while to fall asleep last night, can certainly feel it today.

Decided to abandon wheat winnowing again today and opted for...WEED WHACKING! YES!! Now, many of you know that I have an intense love for power tools. Years of Workcamp experiences have allowed me to appreciate mechanized tools in all their glory. Now, I had never weed whacked before, but I figured it was like lawn mowing, only it took longer. Note that I haven't exactly mowed a lawn since I was 12, and note that I am sort of left handed, which means I am, like, 50% more likely to die from a power tool (because they discriminate, vast majority are only made for righties. Uf.) I did some WHACKING around the Nic house and garden, as well as around some trees. But my favorite part was cleaning the ditch up. In the ditch, around the sides of the ditch, just everywhere. I was only supposed to go where a lawnmower is unable to go, but I sort of got carried away. I loved seeing a weed and then, BAM!, knockin it down and watch it lay waste to the hot sun. I admit, several times I yelled, "YES!" when I whacked a huge weed. I think this love comes from an innate love of destroying things. Don't we all just want to destroy things sometimes? Farmies kept asking me if I was tired. No way! What a blast. Gave me a nice "dirt tan" too. Managed to wear my bandana over my face, as that prevented the dirties from flinging up there. I was very, very filthy afterwards.

When I do chores like that, chores that can be strenuous because you are operating machinery, I think "Wow, this would be a GREAT time to work on my ambidexterity." Does anyone else ever think that? Like, this is THE TIME, right NOW, do or die. As I keep using my right hand, I realize how much less efficient it is than my left hand. When I was milking yesterday, it did this whole arthritis bit where it started cramping and I could feel the bones pushing against each other. Stupid hand.

Tomorrow I am cooking! Gonna cook pizza and already made some oatmeal peanut butter cookies for dessert. Thank goodness Amy is helping me...it's so much more fun to have someone else in there with you. Making the dough from scratch.

True story: I have never used a bread machine before. We never made bread when I was younger, it was never a "cute idea" or a "fun activity." We just bought it. I don't think I knew what a bread machine was or how to make homemade bread until I took Food Science at BU. Anyways, I wanted to make pizza dough in the bread machine. Directions said to just put all the ingredients in there, select "dough," and let her rip. So, I did just that. An hour an a half later, after the buzzer dinged, the mixture looked the same...the flour, salt, yeast, none of it had baked. Amy gave me a hug and said "Did you put it in the pan first?" Wait, what "pan" are you talking about? Anyways, HUGE mess, gross. I am not angry, just wishing that I didn't have to stay up late to cook dough! A learning experience, that's for sure!

Fed the goats again today. Honestly, I am really scared of the couple of "big goats" that are in there near the kids. One of them head butts the other one and it just made me nervousy. I was wearing flip flops too, so that didn't didn't ease my anxiety. I didn't want them to step on my bum toenail (which fell off last week!). I felt like the flies were breeding in the dairy barn. It has now become an official farm sport to see who can obliterate the most flies at one time. Brandon is quite good at it!

Just found out that I have an interview w/ Americorps on Monday next week...I am SO excited slash nervous slash anxious. You betcha I'll post the results here.

Wednesday June 17th
As I typed "17th," I was thinking in my head "Holy cow! June has flown by!" Then I realize that I should probably change that statement to "June has sweated by!" Haha.

This morning I worked in the garden, gettin' my hoe action on, gettin' rid of those darn weeds. I decided not to winnow the wheat again, as I discovered I had too much energy in the afternoon/mornings from sitting around and not moving. FYI, we don't use pesticides to get rid of weeds, but occassionally we use minimal amounts of pesticides IF the pests get too bad. One of them is an insecticide for a certain type of caterpillar, which destroys their digestive tract when consumed. Suckers.

Afternooon milking with the dairy gots. Did I tell y'mention that I had a stress dream about milking? I think that I am getting ever so slightly better at it, so hopefully we won't repeat that dream again. Lucas turned on "All Things Considered" on NPR, which made the time go by so much faster. There was an excerpt about a girl texting champion...she won $50,000. Woah. I read about her in the paper. She texts 400-470 texts per day. Ridic-ulous.

After my afternoon milking session, I fed the kid goats in the early evening. They love love love the milk replacement stuff we give them, which smells like sugar cookies. It's like a liquid Krispy Kreme donut (see previous post for KK reference) for goats. Very addictive. Brandon showed me how to do it, so it was much easier with his guidance. We filled two buckets with milk replacer and water, then put these little "nipples" on the outside of the bucket, which flows to the inside. Then you go into the kid pen, and they go CRAZY, you sort of kick and shove a bit until you can set it down. It's pretty hysterical.

Had a good meeting with Matt regarding CSA veggies for Campus Kitchen in the fall. That meeting got me really excited for graduation, made me want to just get out of school and put more CK stuff into action!

This was my first "full day" of work. Usually I don't have that many chores to do all in one day, but today I did. After my shower and a quick dinner, I sort of zonked for about an hour, then read for an hour, then went to sleep. Makes me feel like a weenie, as the interns do so much more work than I do everyday. Much respect!

week 3

Tuesday June 16th

For those who are truly curious, yes, I am all better from Sunday night's sickness bought. Thank goodness! Still don't know the culprit of the sickness, I am just glad that it is over. The fan blowing softly on my face did wonders for my sleep. I hope that sentence was poetic enough.

Funny story: I had a stress dream last night about milking the goats this morning. I dreamt that Jess (our livestock intern) had us on time schedules for each milking tasks and that I wasn't fast enough. Reason I had the dream is because I am not very fast at milking, so I get stressed because I am not good at it. Is anyone else like this? If you aren't good at something, then it makes you like it less? I can say this is true for certain sports too, all of which I am not good at. Case in point: volleyball, golf, throwing a frisbee, etc...But milking turned out to be fine today. Swathi and I did well, I was so proud! At the end of milking, we have to herd the goats down the road a little ways to their pasture. You can probably imagine two females walking around yelling "GOATS! GO!" and grabbing goats by their ears and hindsides. It must be kind of funny to watch, but really not funny at all if you are there. We managed to get them all to their field (with Carl's help, of course!) and were very thankful when it was over.

After we finished milking (we missed devotionals), I was "in charge of" more wheat winnowing. Such a therapeutic task, but it does get old after doing it for two days previously (Monday and Friday). Later on, Amy and I got to use 2X6's to break up the wheat chaffs in a huge barrel and separate it from the hay. I do love me a good hit. Makes me really want to learn how to kick-box, STAT.

Had a fantastic Campus Kitchen meeting this afternoon with Anna, AGAIN! We are so full of ideas, it's sort of ridiculous. We met with Shirley of Restoration Haven, our primary community group, and talked about nutrition classes, exercise classes, cooking classes...we were all over the place! I love checking my email in the afternoon and see 15 emails in the inbox! Basically just everyone on the CK team writing back, saying "Yes, I agree! Great idea!" and executing these ideas. BAM!

Monday June 15th
Woke up this morning after completely sweating out last night's torturous affair. No fan = no air movement. And sleeping in your underwear doesn't always relieve the situation either. Also, having diarrhea/vomitting in the compost toilet/in a plastic bag is really no fun, in case you ever considered multi tasking like I did. I wasn't sure what it was that I ate, but it was definitely dinner, as the evidence positively indicated. However, I don't think that chickpeas and vegetables make you that sick. Using my convenient food safety knowledge, I am still trying to brainstorm how it all happened and how it will NEVER happen again. I think it might have been due to the heat, but I really haven't found evidence to support that hypothesis (NERD!!!). Finally fell asleep after 2am and awoke at 6 again. Wow. Long night! Whenever I throw up (which is rare, about once every 4-5 years or so), it makes me realize that I could never survive as a bulimnic.

Wasn't feeling too well this morning, so I decided to winnow wheat again (and not go out in the fields), which was considerably more lonely this time because I had no one else doing it with me. Luckily I brought my ipod with me, so at least I could be soothed by the finer medleys of Journey and Boston. Later on, Brandon came and chatted with me for 2 hours or so. We always have such great conversations! Relationships, the future, the purpose of education, etc. I felt bad because we were especially shorthanded today (with one other intern as a sicky poo, another left for home this week, and another left for a long weekend). I sometimes feel like winnowing isn't strenuous, so therefore others are working much harder than I am. But it is a chore that still has to be done!

Milking the goats twice this week instead of just once and am cooking on Friday. Whoop! Gotta find a good recipe. Also, leaving for Houston on Friday for a wedding on Saturday evening. It'll basically be a big ADPi shindig.

2nd Weekend

Saturday June 13th

Didn't wake up til 8:30 today. What is the DEAL with all this unproductive-ness? I can't believe I allowed my body that much recovery time. Unacceptable.

Went to see the movie "Up" today and it was really good. I couldn't believe how much I cried! Maybe I'm just an extremely emotional person or maybe it was because old people were involved. It's not like I have cried during any other major Disney/Pixar films...except for that time during "Monsters, Inc" when we thought that Boo and Kitty got separated for good. And when Dori almost died during "Finding Nemo." And maybe during "Toy Story" when the girl forgot about her toys because she was growing old and the toys were extremely sad about it. And perhaps during WALL-E when we thought that WALL-E and his little girlfriend robot were separated slash dead. But those are the only ones.

Made enchiladas for dinner, hopefully the fam enjoyed it. We even made margaritas, so you know that it was "real Mexican" food. Boo-yas all around.

A little update on the whole "future" concept: I may or may not be participating in Americorps starting in the fall. If all goes according to plan, then I will be an Americorps member during the fall AND the spring working for Campus Kitchen. Basically, I would get paid for things that I am already doing on a volunteer basis. This also means that I could apply for the May-August dietetic internships, which is HUGE HUGE HUGE! Many more DI's offered during that time than during January. I mean MANY more. Let's compare the number of 4 (that I would've applied to) to like, 200 or so.

Been having a wonderful time in Ft Worth. It's always an adjustment to get back to living with a family again, but nothing that I cannot handle for 3 days. I think I will leave early to setup my BU apartment that didn't get setup last weekend. P.S. the floors at my apartment DID get fixed, I DID get new beds, and the A/C may have been fixed, we'll see tomorrow.

Found out that Grammy and Papa are reading my blog now. Welcome!!! Sorry that my dates are "backwards." Yes, Grant told me that the format is irritating. Apologies!

Sorry that this weekend's post was not more interesting. I am such a normal person that it just gets ridiculous sometimes ;-)

Friday June 12th
Woke up automatically at 6:30 this morning. Did I have to be awake then? No. Maybe God is trying to tell me something...probably along the lines of "Get your tushie out of bed." I can totally see that being the message! Haha.

Had a really good devotion today. We all spent about 5 minutes (10? not sure how long) in quiet prayer, just enjoying the stillness of the body, outside. I sat indian style, tried to straighten my back, and feel the cool breeze against my body. It was a great time, especially since the sun was not out. Morning devotions have really been such a blessing.

Spent the rest of the morning winnowing wheat. This consists of threshing (or "free threshing," as Wiki calls it) the hull or chaff around the little kernel of grain. Get a huge, flat circular basket and move the grain back towards you, making sure to remove all chaffs as possible. It was tedious work and we only get a small yield for the amount of time we worked. We sat down the entire morning just winnowing away. It became a great time to get to know our new family, Amy and Randy, along with the new Baylor live-in vol, Ben. 3 and 1/2 hours leaves room for lots of great conversations to take place. We talked about book series (Harry Potter, LOTR), and raising kids and TV and In Defense of Food and even my future in dietetics! What a great way to spend the morning. After Amy and Randy left, Ben and I chatted about both being only children, growing up, Baylor life, God, and (duh)...LOST!

Realized that the tops of my hands got sunburned from the outdoor stationary position all morning. I will have old lady hands sooner than I thought! I have a really nice watch tan too. I think it will only get "better" as these next two weeks at the farm go by!

We had a little conversation about some words that have a definition with their prefix, but lack a definition without their prefix. For example, you may have been discombobulated before, but have you ever been combobulated? or just bobulated? I've been disgruntled many a time, but have I ever been gruntled?

Lunch was absolutely spectacular. Spices enfused in potatoes and squash...tumeric and curry...very good stuff going on. I added some black beans so I could get some protein in there...great meal!

Afterwards, I headed off to take a quick shower and then get to Ft Worth before traffic started building up. I was about to step in the shower when I spotted two roaches, which were very much alive and well (unlike the practically dead ones at home, they have no chance). My father was no where near to be found, so I had to do the deed myself. Luckily I bought some Raid last weekend and used it well. I know, that's really cheating, using Raid and not my shoe. I think it's just that their antennaes move around and it's just...ew. Hopefully I can muster up some guts later on, in case this happens again!

Did a late blog entry this week, I promise that I will be more faithful in the coming weeks. However, after my farm time is over, I cannot promise you that my life will be quite as eventful!

Thursday June 11th

Another great day at the farm! The weather this morning was absolutely amazing. I wish everyday was as overcast and as windy as it was today! This morning I got up early to milk the goats. This time Duchess wasn't all antsy and didn't kick the bucket. Thank goodness! I was still so incredibly sweaty afterwards, and the day hadn't even started!

We had a tour group of middle school aged kids come through. They participated in our Hunger Banquet. This consists of a $.13 breakfast in the morning where they are given money and have to purchase their breakfast based on prices that we set. For example, we sold bananas, cherries, donuts, and bread for breakfast and they paid for what they could afford. Some of them were really upset that coffee was so expensive. For lunch, all seventeen of them were given a card labeled low, middle or upper income. These cards were distributed based on world percentages of the economic classes. The lower class consisted of 10 students...we were aiming for 60% of the group to represent 60% of the population that is lower class. 5 were middle class and 2 were upper. The upper classers got a table, silverware, and a two course meal complete with meat, veggies and a dessert. Middle class sat in chairs and ate beans and rice with a spoon and plates. Lower class sat on the floor and had to use their hands to eat their rice. The exercise was supposed to teach them about the economic classes and how they can make a difference in the world. I think we touched a few, but others were a little more...resistant. That's the nice term. I prefer...snotty. One girl tried to steal food from the middle class. She stole the entire bowl! She also took a spoon from the upper class. We asked the upper class if they felt guilty about eating meat and having a waitress (I was the waitress). They said absolutely not! These kids have a lot of potential, hopefully we can get them to think a little!

Other than the Hunger Banquet, I helped cooked four chickens (they were frozen from last week) and "trained" the tomatoes to grow on the vine by tying some biodegradable twine to the stem/stalk and attach it to a wire trellis. Another victorious activity for today: I managed to count the amount of ant bites on my hand...ended up at 17. So that's why I have some gashes on my hand from last night...I must've scratched them to the bone while I was asleep. It's ok though...the body heals so magnificently that I am not concerned.

More Campus Kitchen work to do today, but I am so invigorated by it. I love this organization so much that it's just really ridiculous. We have such a great leadership team that it's such a joy to volunteer! Sending some good emails, getting responses, and getting the balls rolling. Yes, I said "balls" because we will be rocking it next semester with so much stuff.

I've been finding that I pass my afternoons and evenings quite quickly. I either read, write in my journal, surf the net, or just talk to people. This has been such a great way to spend this month...I wouldn't have had it any other way. I am still having difficulty writing in my journal for long amounts of time. I find that I can type so much easier (and with much less wrist cramping) than with my journal.

Sunset was absolutely GORGEOUS tonight! The sun was like a big ball of yellow fire in the sky...appeared to be rising higher into the sky instead of sinking. The sky itself was a palette of colors...couldn't believe how beautiful it was. There was also a great breeze outside...felt like I was on the beach again.

Wednesday June 10

It was overcast today, perfect for not getting sunburned! I didn't even have to wear my cool safari hat. Ryan told me that I looked like I was going on a safari in my hat, I then did a Steve Irwin impression and said a joke... too soon?

I helped the farm director, Niel, move wood around the new (unsturdy) structure. It has basic supports on the inside, but the whole thing still shakes (if your heart so desires to make it move). A Baylor boy volunteer was also there helping. I felt pretty cool that I knew the difference between 2X4's and 2X6's. Thank you years of Workcamp "training!" All those years of construction projects really paid off!

Also helped Chris move the chicken plucker from the barn to the Ed house. The wheat harvesters were going to use them for the wheat? Not sure how, but we just did it anyways. While we were moving the plucker, I suddenly turned into Miss Klutz and tripped in a ditch while walking backwards and left poor Chris to carry it by himself before it dropped to the ground. No big deal, just shake it off, but I just felt to clutzy!

Today was also a good day because I got to talk to Rachel for an hour and a half about...LOST!!! YES!!! She hadn't seen the past two seasons, so I tried my hardest to recap them to her as best I could. That time frame was absolutely necessary and I hope that I did the series justice. I was very happy that I could spread even a little bit of my LOST-nerdiness to others. I found that this was a great way to pass the time as we were "side dressing" again...this means you get a hand hoe, scratch the dirt next to the root, put fertilizer in, and cover it back up with dirt and hay. Quite a tedious slash ant infested activity. Today's was even better because the soil was nasty muddy, so our fingers got very very dirty. Reminds me of playing soccer in the mud when I was little.

This afternoon I had more Campus Kitchen stuff to do in town. We moved all our stuff from our old kitchen at Columbus Bapti

st to our sketchy office in Mars McClean. Took many trips with just two people. My car thermometer said it was 101 degrees outside. I guess that means its officially summer!

In the evening we all went to Common Grounds to watch some of the farm guys play at open mic night. The open mic deal ended up getting cancelled due to "rain" (which never occurs in Waco, don't be a fool) but they playe d anyways. They were so good! It was quality folk/country/chill music. Quality. A bunch of freshman line campers were there. I think? Or they were high schoolers. Some of those boys looked pretty baby-faced..but I guess that really could still go either way ;-)

One of the best parts of the entire day was me driving a car load (read, 7 people fitting in my car, one of which was in the trunk) down the road to a friends' apartment. Please note that two of them were carrying coffee in their hands and still managed the clap during "Annie Waits" by Ben Folds.

Tuesday June 9th

Harvest day! In the fields by 6:30am, managed to finish off the bed of carrots this morning.

Basically did this all morning, which was fine. The ground was really hard so we had to water it down a bit, didn't quite get as muddy as Wednesdays!

This afternoon I drove into town for a 3 1/2 hour Campus Kitchen meeting...which was AWESOME!!! We had so many great ideas for next semester and I am just totally pumped. I really want to execute all of those ideas and not just let them sit on paper. We have lots of work to do to prepare for the semester, but hopefully it should all work out. I ran into several people on campus that I knew, which was really weird because I didn't think that I would. I swear, this double life is throwing me off.

Came back to the farm around 8pm and settled in for our outdoor picnic. The boys were playing frisbee, which I have major respect for since I am no good at frisbee. I brought out my cool yellow Nerf Vortex. Once they were done throwing, Brandon and I threw really far to each other w/ the Vortex. It was so great to throw like that again! Turns out the ol lefty shot still works. I told Brandon that Jenn and I used to throw all the time together, especially at church retreats. I told him that Jenn was the thrower, and I was the catcher. He then asked how we played together, as those two dots really don't connect. I told him it worked really well when we were on the same team, but if it was just us, then it still worked out too.

Also tonight two of the goat kids were born...Wow! Can I just say that I am glad that I am not a goat? It was so cool seeing the goat still in the placenta as it came out of Gracie, then it dropped to the ground and Jess quickly broke the placenta near the kids mouth and nose. It couldn't even stand up! So cool. I got some pictures (not of the actual birth, that would bother the mamma) of the new kids, so I will post those at some point. While the kids were being born, some of the older goats were tugging on my clothes, trying to get a little munchie in. I felt like they were scared or nervous or something while they watched their mother/aunt give birth to more kids..is that weird?

When I closed my eyes to go to sleep, I literally saw carrot tops and dirt on the back of my eyelids. Even though I have toiled over those veggies, I still have a lifelong love affair with carrots. I appreciate peeled and washed carrots so much more now.

Monday June 8th

Back to the farm today! I was spoiled from the A/C from the weekend, but I quickly adjusted back here. One thing on Sunday that was neat...as soon as Amber saw me, she said "Welcome home." I thought that was so cool. I think that we all have several homes throughout our lifetimes...but it really comes down to the people that make a place home. A house is not equal to a home, but those who you care about and love definitely equate to a place of belonging.

Today I was thrown into the "oh, can you cook today for 30 people?" ring. We had a group of high school boys come to help setup the skeleton for one of the new buildings. So we served goat meat (which had a lot of fat on it, so I served only the parts with little fat), some leftovers with added veggies (that served as a filling for tortillas), a cold salad and couscous. The goat meat was very difficult to cut...not sure if that was because it was goat meat or because my knife was dull. It was nicely marinated and smoked this weekend, so I figured it would still be good to serve. I used a few knives to break through the meat, but it was like sawing a piece of rubber...just wasn't happening. I managed to get about 3 cups worth (?) to serve for lunch. One of the boys asked me "is this all the meat?" I almost said to him "why don't you go get yourself a knife and saw through it yourself?"...but I didn't say anything, he was just a hungry kid. I am learning about the idea of silence, of not always speaking your mind, because sometimes unpleasant things come out which become things that you don't necessarily mean to say. One day at a time I am learning...slowly, but surely!

We had class today about how to rank veggies that we currently grow, which ones to nix, etc. Took a while...so, as usual, I totally dozed off right in the middle of the class. So, since I am prone to snoozing, I usually sit in the...front? What? Why? That makes no sense. So, from now on, I will seriously evaluate whether I am too tired to sit still for 2 hours. It's just rude to zonk out like that in front of our director, he works so hard and doesn't need me falling asleep right in front of his eyes.

Sunday June 7th
Last day that Mom was here, so sad! I forget how close (relationship wise) we are when we are physically apart for a while. I don't worry about it though, because it all comes back when we are together again. It's fun to have a companion to do stuff with!

Funny story: I tried to tell her funny stories about the chicken slaughter, but she wouldn't have it. None of it. So here I will tell the "world" (or the 5 people who read this blog) a good story. When the chickens had died, were defeathered, and headless, someone accidentally squeezed their breast too hard. This created a wheezing/squawking sound to come out of their dead bodies, which was really hysterical. This was thanks to the trachea was still intact. We found this really funny, then realized we were not "honoring the process" as we should be and quickly viscerated it. Story complete!

After a hearty meal at Food for Thought, I went to Ashley's apartment to read/write/talk and help her "focus" on her work. I was so thankful at how interested she was in my farm life! Sarah also called me, which made me doubly thankful! To think that people would take time out of their busy schedules to ask specifics about my life...I am so blessed. Such genuine people...what more could a girl ask for? Love you both.

Today I am having trouble reconciling farm life vs other "out there in the world" life. They are so different. One is full of conservationism, hard work, good eating, fantastic conversations, enjoying the slower life (in the afternoons), reading for pleasure, and admiring God's abundance in nature. The other life is full of thoughts of the potential future, financial concerns, health concerns, my future life in general! Sure there are overlaps (hard work, good eating, wonderful friends, supportive family, etc), but how can I mesh these two worlds when I go back to summer school in July? This will be the question in my life for a while, the main focus point that I will need to figure out. If anyone has any suggestions, please share.
I am also confused as to why some people are born "have money" and others have "lack of money." In other words, those that never really worry about money versus those who constantly worry about it. They may not be so cut and dry, as there are probably multiple groups, but I am talking those who are third world vs those who have more "stuff." I am trying to say this as kindly as possible and I do not mean to offend. Just throwing the question out there.

To answer a bit of my own question #2, I think that life is truly what you make of it. In Honduras, yes they had little wealth and education, but they made the best of it, they still worked hard, and they enjoyed the company of others in their community and family. I am going to use that partial answer as a spring board to answer this question later on.

Saturday June 6th

Slept till 10 am on Saturday. READ THAT. 10 FRIGGIN AM! Do you realize what blog you are reading? This is my quota for sleeping in that late: once per year. Apparently I have reached it for 2009, can't remember if I did it in 2008. But I did sleep in once til 10:30 in the fall of 2007. Now you know what a miracle this actually is. Means that we slept for 11 hours. Those blackout curtains are wonderful! This was also the first time that I didn't eat breakfast. Growing up, we didn't ever skip meals or "not" have breakfast. You ate at least three meals a day, that's it. No reason to skip breakfast (and I still firmly believe in this today!). So that was very unusual just to have 2 meals that day. I can see how people who skip breakfast might weigh less/more because they skip breakfast. Doesn't convince me that breakfast is unnecessary.

Went to Panera for lunch, which is always amazing! They ended up bringing us an extra plate of fruit, which was delicious! In case anyone is keeping score, we don't really have fruit on the farm. Except last week when someone went and bought some peaches. We eat lots of veggies and bread, but I try to have protein at the meals that I prepare myself (breakfast and dinner). We planted canteloupe and watermelon last week, so no home grown fruit until then.
Now, I know that you are going to excommunicate me forever for saying this (bear yourself), but I think that home made bread is a lot better than Panera Bread. AH! Sorry! For one lunch at the farm someone just ground up loose grain and put it in the bread machine..it was amazing!

Anyways, after this we did some errands: Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Michaels, Sams, Target. All were extremely overwhelming for me. I have been around the antithesis of what those stores symbolize all week. I have been completely separated from materialism, from the "I need more stuff" syndrome, and then you plop me in a store where they mass produce tables and computers and fake art and frozen chickens?

It was daunting at first, but then I was able to grasp onto it and be fine with it. Just think about THAT. THAT thought is more scary than anything else I have encountered...it basically shows me how easily I could forget everything I have learned here, how EASY it was to forget the whole week and how much I have learned, how I simply slipped into this other worldly and amazingly secular world so quickly. That's terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.

For dinner Mom said I "had to eat meat." With that forceful statement, I decided to go to Texas Roadhouse, which, not so surprisingly was formed in Kentucky in 1993. wait, what? Ok, so I had a 6 oz steak, steamed veggies, and a dry sweet potato. Letmetellya, it was absolutely bliss. Wonderfully made. I appreciate all of it. I noted the person who dug up that sweet potato, washed it, scrubbed it, shipped it off to Waco. The person who peeled those carrots and froze them up to ship off to Waco. Try not to think about the "ship" business of that meal and it all works out fine.

Friday June 5th

Another HARVEST DAY! Yes! Tomatoes, snap beans, really-long-skinny-green-beans (scientific name, verified), and squash. The squash had all these little prickly sticker thingies on the stems and stalks...must be a defense mechanism for the plant. It worked pretty well as I wouldn't have been able to do that forever. Taught me to be really careful and diligent when plucking the harvest. I will kind of feeling down today, just energy wise, not emotionally/spiritually/whatever-lly. I don't know if it was the sun, the lack of wind, lack of energy...just don't know.

But, something special occured that completely altered the day. David, our farm manager, gave us some sweet corn picked right off the stalk. RIGHT OFF THE STALK!!! DID YOU READ THAT!?!? It was amazing. It was so Honduras. Heaven. Melody immediately gave thanks and started singing a song about praising God for the wonderful harvest. So wonderful.
This made me start thinking about something else that God has given us: an eternal harvest of life with Him in heaven. What a cool metaphor! I will think about this more and let you know.

At 11:30, Rachel and I went inside for a water break (is God punishing us with this heat?). Found that Amber needed serious help with lunch for the 12:30pm meal. I ended up frying the veggie burgers (read: lentils, rice, shredded carrots, beans) and Rachel fried potatoes. Amber also made fresh whole wheat buns which were great! I shaped the veggie burger mixture into large balls and then placed them in the oil. Since I don't eat fried food, I put a large scoop of the mixture aside so I could eat it for lunch. Here's where you say..."you would." If you did think that, then I fully appreciate your concern and knowledge of my personal mannerisms. Well done!

Friday afternoon Mom came into town with the intent of moving my stuff into my Baylor apartment. Yes, you're right, it is weird that I am paying rent AND living here. I couldn't sublease it for a month, which is sad that that money gets flushed down the toilet basically. BUT we couldn't move stuff in, as there is extreme mold in under the vinyl in the kitchen/bathroom, so we couldn't really move anything in as it would get dusty and that would equal more cleaning work...and who wants more work to do than absolutely necessary? So we unloaded everything from the minivan and pushed it shut in the closet, hoping that the dust from the construction won't seep in there. This also means that I will have to move in, or rather "put everything in it's place" by myself, which is always unfortunate. It's ok, as that what loud classic rock music is for. No doy.

Funny story: we were moving in, and as the evening crept upon us, Mom started getting really hot. Check the thermostat, it's 80 degrees. Mom said that we HAD to go to a hotel. Well, I was not going to argue with her if we were going to get A/C and a plush bed to sleep in. Needless to say these two things spoiled me rotten for the whole weekend!

The rest of the farm folks went to a wedding this weekend. I felt like I missed out on it, as it would've been a great way to get to know people outside of the work that we do, but I was glad for the little break.

So, I viscerated 10 chickens....

Thursday June 4
Got up at 6 to help milk the goats this morning. So many steps to make sure everything is sanitary! I was so slow at milking; I milked one goat by the time Jess finished 6. Embaressing. But she said everyone is slow on their first try. As the milk flow started lessening, the goat began to kick. Tricky part: if the goat kicks the bucket, it's game over. If the goat touches the bucket, it's game over (unsanitary!). To prevent this, you have to lean your body into the goat. At one point I was bracing myself against the wall to prevent the goat from kicking. My back was aching aching aching at the end of it. Couldn't believe how taxing that was! It was a good experience. We then had to herd the goats into the pasture, which was pretty close to the dairy house. While it seems easy enough for two people to shepherd a herd of goats down the road, it's really not! Not at all. The goats broke free, started running into a gallop, and then proceeded to attack the corn and potato crops. I started running with them, which I was told later to not do. Some kids that were there (why? don't know) helped us herd the goats up. Very frustrating that animals are sometimes smarter than humans.
Since today was the day of harvesting chickens, I did not work in the garden. I was glad for this break and I was kind of excited to see how this chicken slaughtering business was done. Normally they don't kill a bunch of chickens at once, but since these egg layers were 2 years old, they weren't really producing many eggs any more and were really just taking up space and feed. And that's why we killed them.
Here's how it went: we put the chickens in a metal cone with the smaller end of the cone facing the ground. There was a little chute for the blood to run into which led to a bucket to collect the blood. Once they bleed out and stop moving, the head is cut off. If the head is cut off before they die, then the heart keeps pumping and too much blood comes out. Next they were placed in a scalding bath at 145-165 degrees for 50 seconds, which helps to get the feathers out. Then was the de-plumer, which is a machine with a big wheel with spikes on it. The wheel turns constant and the little spikes pull out the feathers. It looks kind of violent, but does really well to get the feathers out.
Last we viscerate the chickens guts, which is what I did. I estimate that I did about 8-10 chickens. I had no idea what I was doing at first, but I got used to it. It was more of an anatomy lesson for me than an emotional conflict. I kind of enjoyed it, and that may seem weird, but I felt zero guilt about it. First the "knee" is broken, cut off, and discarded. Then the oil gland (near the tail) is cut off because it interferes with flavors. Then the underbelly is cut and you yank all the guts out. It was kind of like pulling the guts out of a pumpkin because it just all comes out with a little tug. I had to be careful of the anus, the gizzard, the gall bladder and the intestines. If I punctured any of those, it could lead to a horrible smell. Cutting the anus while it's still intact to the carcass spoils the entire chicken (we discarded one of the 33 chickens for this reason). Everything else just sort of came out easiliy. I was amazed at how small the lungs, heart, and kidneys were. Then I cut out the "crop," which is a small membranous like organ near the neck. It's like a pre-digestive organ. The crops were empty because we didn't feed the chickens yesterday (for this purpose!). Cleaning up the prep house was kind of gross, lots of organs and blood everywhere. Let it be known that I did wear latex gloves during the visceration. I have so many cuts on my hands and I know too much about microbiology. Nuff said!
Funny story: Chris was carrying the heavy bag of guts to the landfill. When he was outside, it split open due to the weight. Yummerz.
Best part of cleaning out the chickens: sometimes whole eggs were in their bodies, ready to be laid. They were covered with a thin membrane and just came out when you pulled the body parts out. We kept those eggs and they are now in the fridge. I am definitely seeing the value of eggs for most of my meals. What a great source of non-meat protein.
The interesting part about all of this was that everyone didn't feel comfortable at the beginning of the operation. We said a prayer before we began because we wanted to honor the process of slaughter. The Lord gave us animals for a reason, but we needed to honor the chickens, to hope that we cared well for them during their two year reign in the fields, and thank God for the opportunity.
Tomorrow Mom is coming to town to help me move into my apartment. I swear, moving back and forth between "The real world" and "farm life" is completely strange. It's like I literally lead a dual life. Here everything is chill, sustainable, and looks really aren't a concern. Beyond the farm, it's the complete complete complete opposite. Needless to say, this comparion has let me see that I am starting to see the my real life for what it is and what it needs to become. What this means in terms of how my real life will change when I leave, I do not know.

Wednesday June 3
More weeding this morning of the collards and swiss chard. Weeding in general was much faster this time and much less taxing mentally as I had a friend there to help me. We had some really great conversations about life, boyfriends, the future. We each had hand hoes and had to break up the soil around the plant, then put fertilizer in the broken ground. The fertilizer consisted of two parts fish remnants and three parts rabbit poo. Needless to say, by lunch time my hands smelled sufficiently like my former fish, Speedy (may he rest in peace!).
This afternoon I attempted to make fresh carrot juice. I salvaged the juicer that hadn't been used in years (as evidenced by the massive amounts of dust). All went well until it decided to poop out on me. But it sure tasted good! I am starting to enjoy the "process" of things: peeling carrots, soaking dried beans, etc.
This afternoon Brandon and I went to HEB to get band aids, ear plugs, and motor oil. Bandaids for the ant bite situation! I also bought a Coke Zero. I know! Totally cheating on the whole "green living" deal. But it was a treat. Or a necessity. I might possibly be addicted. But I went two days without it, so that's progress (?). We also went to Michael's to get Amber a crochet comb for her dread locks. Couldn't find one, but got these awesome bandanas instead. They are nice feminine colors, which is always good! I don't feel too feminine here, so I gotta take what I can get. I have been showering everyday though, so don't fret. I wear so much sunscreen that I would feel so gross if I didn't shower. But being at those stores, dressed ready to work at the farm, being dirty and smelly, I felt different, and true, I looked different. But I was definitely treated differently by workers at both stores. I wish that this hadn't happened, but it did. I now know how homeless people feel when they walk into a store. Kind of like when Tyra Banks dressed in the fat suit. Yes, I just went there. I thought that I might run into someone at one of these stores and I totally did. I wasn't embaressed, but I wonder if she knew that I looked different..she probably smelled me and immediately knew. I am not going to put too much thought into it, I got better things to do with my mental free time.
That evening we sat on the porch swing and talked and joked about life. Ryan got out his guitar and just strummed some chords while the weather cooperated with a nice breeze. The stars weren't quite as kind and I am always still looking for Orien's belt...he just won't show it to me lately. Ha!

Gonna go backwards in time here. Most recent days at the bottom. Freaky picture, sorry. Haven't showered from today's work yet.

Sunday, May 31st

Last day at home! Went to church and then, later, a wedding. It was very surreal to be all dressed up and fancy pancy for a wedding and then turn around and come here! I met the farm gang, which consists of about 10-12 volunteers/interns, all in their early twenties, more than half are very married or very seriously dating someone. All have very global Christian mindsets, are very hard workers, and who love joking around! These are my kinds of people! Everyone is also very chill and down to earth, very real friends to have, I think. Very different from the suburbia that I have experienced in the last two weeks!

Interesting story: as soon as I arrived Sunday evening, three guys were tilling soil, shirtless, and the sun was almost setting. Later, they started singing songs and dancing around out there. Before you know it, they'll be singing plantation freedom songs. Ha! What a great way to start out! They also enjoy peeing outside of the house and almost make it a point to do so.

Pretty much everything here reminds me of Honduras. From the dirt road, to the community lifestyle, to the constant heat/sweat/sunburn, and the wonderfully kind people. Just brings back some really great memories.

Some things that I learned: the pecans are the only ceritifed organic product and we have a chicken mobile (read Omnivore's Dilemma to find out what that is, or just ask me later!).

We sat around singing guitar this evening...made me wish I had a much better voice!

Monday, June 1

Slept in til 7:20 today, made some breakfast, devotional at 8, chores list given at 8:30. I signed up to work in the garden, which meant I was pulling weeds all morning! I couldn't believe how right Dr. W was on this prediction. It was fun though, as it gave me a chance to get to talk to people and listen to their opinions. I used a hoe for a significant amount of time as I had to break up a bunch of grass, pull up the weeds, then move hay around the crops (peppers and cucumbers!) to make sure it doesn't cover it. Kind of confusing to explain, but moderately easy to do.

Weather wasn't too hot, there is a nice breeze, and the humidity doesn't kill you like in Houston. My parents always say that living in Houston during the summer = getting a free facial everyday. Ashley says that it's also like going underwater, minus the whole wetness and "I don't breathe water" bizniz.

Got to gather the eggs today after lunch. Did you know that not all eggs are white and brown? Found several blue and pink ones too! More of a pale color, but still, how cool! We attacked the chickens from the front of the coop in their little nests. They just stared at us like "whatyougonnado?" vibe. I am told that if you grab their necks then they will move. I am still slightly scared of them. On Wednesday it's chicken "harvest time," meaning...THE AXE for 30 some odd chickens. I will update on how that's done later. I am not sure if I am able to kill one yet, but I want to know about the process. I have read about it, but not sure how it's done. I think the boys are mostly in charge of that.

We had a class this afternoon (given by the farm director) about farm experimentation. Not drugs, silly. It was about different geographical regions and how to start testing for placement of various crops. I am sure that it was a great presentation, but, sadly, I fell asleep during at least half of it. When I say "sleeping" I really mean nodding off, as I am sure that many of my classmates and sorority sisters have seen me do.

Tuesday, June 2

HARVEST DAY!!! Everyone got up at 6:30 am to harvest the veggies: green beans, kale, collard greens, carrots, potatoes, and tomatoes. I was working on potatoes for about 3 1/2 hours or so, and then some carrots for about 1/2 hour. Those potatoes sure were hard work! Had to get a shovel to unearth them all, it was quite a task! Stumbled on quite a few fire ant beds, which I soon figured out after my ankles/hands were gnawed on. Makes me glad that I am not highly allergic to them like Dad is.

The best part of all of this is that we work next to each other and talk about life and Jesus. Such a cool thing. I listened to two folks chatting about it, about if language is given to man by God or if man created it, if God even talks to man via language, how this relates to Tower of Babel, etc. Very deep. Made me wish that I think about these things more often. No worries, as I am sure that I will have LOTS of time to think these next few weeks!

Our basic work schedule for most days: devotionals at 8am, chores assigned at 8:30am, then work til 12:30pm, then class (twice a week) or do whatever you want. Today my "do whatever you want" afternoon including helping with the goat kid milking and taking a three hour nap (from which I just woke up). I have felt the sting of having no caffeine for two days now. Two days! No coke zero here! I miss "non water drinks" but I think I can get used to it. It will be good for me.

After lunch I went to help feed the baby goats (kids). We pasteurize the milk that we give to the goats because they can get some sort of disease from unpasteurized milk. The kids aren't sucking anymore, so we use this big bucket which has little droplets "nipples" on the sides, where the kids suck. They completely attacked us when we were in there. One of the goats, Nuguet (named after Ted Nuguet) had to be bottle fed. Not sure why, but he had no idea how to use the nipple bucket contraption. The goats were so sweet! Like big dogs, almost. They wag their tails when we come close and nuzzle against your leg.

Funny story: I asked the girls if there was some sort of shower schedule. They said "no, don't worry about it, just shower whenever you want. In case you haven't noticed, there's not a lot of showering going on around here." I am home.

Still recovering from that vicious three hour nap this afternoon. I still can't believe I did that.

For those of you keeping tally on the sunburn issue, my answer is it hasn't happened (yet)!

Blessings!

Well, hello! I am starting this journal in prep for my month long stint at the farm. I will be a live in volunteer at the World Hunger Relief farm during the month of June. It's about ten minutes from BU, so still very close to campus ;-)
I do not know what internet access I will have during the week, so I have decided that I will journal my experiences (hand written, eek!) during the week and then post them online when I have access on the weekends.

Let me just say that I, pardon the west coast language, TOTALLY STOKED to do this. I started looking into it about a year ago but never knew when I would be able to be a year long intern. However, this month long stay presented itself. Funny how God works sometimes, eh?

Basic schedule is:
6:30 am dairy rotation
7:00am morning chores, breakfast
8:00 am devotion and work assignments
8:30am -12:30pm morning chores
afternoons we have devotionals, classes, etc.

When you think about it, 6:00am is not that early. Sorry, college students, hate to destroy that dream of yours. Real working people DO get up at that time. I am a morning person, so you won' t hear any complaints from me about the time schedule. Heck, I've been waking up at 7am this whole summer. If you wanna conquer the world, gotta wake up early!

I will be living in a "dorm," which is essentially a house. It has a kitchen and small living area, with two large rooms, men and women sleeping in separate quarters. Each gender has their own restroom. The main house contains the WRH offices, a fair trade shop, the basic business doings of the farm, and the kitchen/big table where we all eat. There is a compost toilet in the main house, but I do not know if there is one is the dorm as well. 

Some of you may be wondering, "Oh, Christine, you will get so tan during your trip!" Clearly you have not known me for more than 2 minutes! I burn so incredibly easily and it never turns into a tan. I am prepared with high high high SPF sunscreen and a wide brimmed hat. While I may not win cool points for this, I am not concerned (cool points haven't been a priority for some years now). I might have gotten burned once or twice while I was in Honduras for 6 weeks (uh, FOUR YEARS ago!!), and that was much more brutal. Closer to the equator = closer to the heat of hell.

I am also really excited to meet new people. The volunteers and interns there will have such a great world view and such wonderful hearts.

Anyways, just know that I am totally ready for this experience. I am doing this because I want to apply my "book smarts" to my hands. I want to get them dirty and break callouses. I want to learn from others who know about the land and how to live off it.

Am I making this all sound too idyllic? Sounds idyllic to me!

I am not sure how much access to technology I will have (or how much I will actually WANT to use it!) so, if we do not chat for a while, I apologize ahead of time.

So, if you have free time to kill, keep up with the blog, or don't.

Make it a great day or not, the choice, is yours. hahahahaha!

http://www.worldhungerrelief.org/