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!