' i may be trying to squeeze a freckle out of my foot...'

well well well


i am taking a break from the feria - a gigantic farmer's market in downtown san isidro- to check the emails and attempt to fill you in on the last two weeks.
bullet form brainstorm, here we go:

spiderwebs. everywhere, cause mi jefa can't see them i think?

gorgeous sunrises. consistently followed by light fog, the hot hot sun starts around 10, then nice breezes til the sun goes down around 5:30.

batshit. on the kitchen table, always, cause they roost in the ceiling - - plus side: twe can use it inthe garden and bats are just generally wonderful.

seedlings! growing like mad and already some want to be transplanted - - thge oldest ones were only seeded on the 5th. .

clay. the soil is a burntish red, high in iron and hard as, well - clay.

compost. almost ononexistent cause the care(less) takers managed to mess that up, along with everything else.

'mess up' : understatement of the year. the people who own finca tierra rosa only live here during the dry season, and have had various (seemingly insane) caretakers over the past few years. the first round turned out to be the bet, but just didn't know much about farming and i guess the lady wasn't up for the coutnry life. the second was some guy who apparently had some episode and burned their large foam mattress outside in order to rid the farm of scabies???... meh.

the third set takes the cake - they robbed the farm blind, selling the horses, cows, power tools. . stole various appliances and even returned later on for the kitchen knives, propane, etc. . really truly crazy.

this story, all the facets and gorey details,m have been told and retold a hundredfold since the first account i recieved on the bus ride down here. this is barely an exaggeration, because honestly everyday there's something. . am officially driven mad by this overdigestion - gave then the benefit of the doubt at first, cause well, anyone would need some time to process such a grand loss, however i am fed up, because inevitably discussion of past events is accompanied by

money. all the time. it's rather awkward because i am just not used to discussing personal funds and complaining about how expensive everything is - - it results in discomfort and something akin to guilt, when using things on the farm, i.e. food. . which i'm paying for anyhow. turns out that most costa rican (if not all?) farms charge money. yes, this is contrary to the wwoof system and i am rather the opposite of 'down' with it. meh.

spanish. they don't speak it.
i knew that english would be the primary language of the farm , but not that they straight up don't speak spanish . . . i've recommended CPI to them - especially rosie cause i think with a few weeks of class she could get along much more easily.

the feria.
i'm spending my days off with the neighbors - luz, guillermo and thei kids nicol, fernanda, guillermo jr and daniela. yesterday i went to the rive (their back yard) with daniela (9 yrs old) and we exchanged friendship rocks and seeds. 'mejores amigas'. the seeds are maizio,(sp?) or ´lagrimas de ssan pedro´- tough little thi8ngs that have removable tufts that create perfect holes through the center - insta-beads. anyway, i'm staying with them until tomorrow afternoon, helping at their farm and just chillin. .
today we woke up at 4 am to drive to SI for the market. luz sells her milk, eggs, bananas, celery, marndarinas, lemons, and 'mostaza china' - literally chinese mutard, which looks like bok choy or something similar. i am practicing my spanish like mad, and it feels really good to be surrounded again. . after just two weeks on the finca , practicing very little, i felt like i had forgotten everyting and lost confidence, for sure. but now, after a 1/2 day with the neighbors, everythings coming back and i am less worried.

the 'bathroom'.
is seriously ridiculous. by ridiculous i mean disgusting. yes, it 'flushes' but it also leaks and is generally unsanitary. even a portapotty would be better, and i loathe those things. give me an outhouse or even a temporary latrine over this nonsense please. .

TICKS.

everywhere. didn't realize at first, cause i was on the lookout for the adulte, which are less plentiful and easier to avoid thatn the babies, who look like crawing dirt or freckles. the quote that serves as the title for this entry is courtesy of kelci, my latest wwoof comanion, during one of our nightly (really multiple times a day) tick-checks. .

water. we've been having problems with it, but all's mostly fixed now. i went with the local worker carlos to inspect the line, all the wasy to the souce a km away, through the neighbors cow feilds, which resulted in so so so many ticks. also had a little run in with a pejibayi tree, which is covered in 2 inch long spikes - - on the edge of the muc creek where carlos was working, i leaned to toss him something and almost slipped, but reflexively steadied myself on that damn tree. picked the last of my splinters out yesterday. . polka-dot hand to match my mosquito bitten ankles.

electricity. we don't have any. this is not so bad, as we only need it for the fridge and the lights in the house. we have solar panels to charge lanterns and i actually kind of enjoyed washing my clothes by hand yesterday. (there is a washing machine here but i never used it while we had power. . meh. )


the upside.
we have fresh bananas, coconut, yuca, and are drying cacao to make chocolate. i can now make some mean tortillas and empanadas from scratch, and yesterday i made an imitation 'mary´s best potato salad' out of yuca and it was delicious. also i am anjoying our new hens and their fresh eggs, as well as raw milk from luz's cows. .


well there's much much more to tell but i am off to work more in the market. am currently formign plans to return to guanacaste, maybe to teach enlgish, mabe learn to surf. .

will work for a while at l&g's farm, then spend some time in the city to internet and wash clothes. .

until next time, wish me luck
my best to you all
love
mak