I have some time extra time before lunch because it's extremely hot outside, so I'll take advantage of this freedom to write my last blog post from France during this organic farming adventure!
On Sunday, I enjoyed having a feast that Chérif and Ja-Ja put on for some friends. I asked Mishka why they wanted to have this party, and she said that there wasn't any particular reason except that her parents just like to have people over and have a good time. Chérif and Ja-Ja certainly love having company over and spending time with everyone. At least 10 people had arrived by the end of the night. Some even stayed after Chérif and Ja-Ja had gone to bed, haha, but nobody seemed to mind. We ate a fresh tomato and olive salad that Fred the neighbor made, a cold green bean and potato salad, fresh bread with a butter and herb spread, watermelon, cantalope, and a spicy lamb sausage called mergeuse. Fred had made pork sausage himself, too, which tasted spectacular! We all had a cheerful time in the backyard with candlelight. We started shooting watermelon seeds at the parents, so they shot cantalope rinds back, haha! For dessert, I ate fresh Algerian dates that Ja-Ja had bought just for me from the Arab market that morning. She had also bought an incredibly large round of bread that was in the shape of a donut! Ummm... donuts.
Ja-Ja has been making a lot of things in the kitchen just for me! She had Mishka make crèpes, which I ate with strawberry and black currant jam. Everyone munched on them and I watched Mishka so I can hopefully make them in French fashion back in the States. Last night, after collecting crates full of potatoes at around 8pm, Ja-Ja decided to make mashed potatoes for me. They were unbelievable! They were made with organic milk and butter, too. No gravy was necessary at all! I hope to take something of hers before I leave, such as the black currant jam. I will certainly remember her for her exotic and neverending cooking skills that always satisfied any appetite!
It's nearly 1pm here now. I've already completed most of my packing and vacuumed my room. I've been wrapping my gifts and souvenirs in my clothes, trying to protect things efficiently while still respecting the airline weight limits. I brought an extra duffle bag with me, which will come in good use. Tomorrow morning, I will leave with Fred at 5am to go to the Nimes train station. He will already be driving there because he will be picking up his wife who arrives at 6am. My train will leave at 7:50am, so the plan works out pretty perfectly. Hopefully, I will be able to play tourist a little bit before boarding the train.
I've been spending my last work on the farm weeding, which seems appropriate considering that organic farms need this task to be done constantly. I also hope to take my last photos, give the family a gift that I bought them (a pizza cutter, haha, because they actually don't have one but eat pizza and tarts often), take a last jog to see the scenery, finish packing, enjoy the last of Ja-Ja's cooking, and fall into bed early! Tomorrow will be a big traveling day! Please keep me iin your prayers for I will need lots of guidance and strength.
I promise to write again soon when Im home about more of my thoughts on this experience and to answer any questions that anyone might have. I can say now that I do not plan on being a farmer in response to Rayne's question. I do hope to have a garden of my own wherever I live for the rest of my life if possible, but I don't believe that my strengths and passions rest in the fields. I will think about and write about this more. Au revoir for now!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
My Last Weekend in France!
Although I'm trying to get the most out of my last days here, I am definitely excited to be going back home! Trying to learn and understand French all the time has become pretty stressful. I believe I'm improving, and it's fun acting as an interpreter sometimes, but there are times when I just want to be alone so I don't have to struggle to understand everyone. I can keep to my own English thoughts, or listen to my English songs on my iPod while taking a walk along the scenic roads.
I've started preparing for my departure a bit. I think I've got all my gifts together and accounted for, as well as things I bought just for myself. I've started running a bit more. I haven't been running much because it's so hot here. Since it is so difficult to run during mid-day with the sun so high, the bets time to run is in the evening. We usually work from 5-7:30 or 8pm, so I don't have much energy left to go on a run. I'm squeezing them in just before I go back to work in the evenings and on the weekends, though. I feel like I'm at home again, but with the smell of the Cevennes in the air!
The house is very full at the moment, so finding peace and quiet means leaving to go off the farm usually. There are two more younger girls here from Paris. They come from underpriveleged families who can't afford vacations during the summer months. Chérif, who grew up in the Paris suburbs, belongs to an association who arranges for these children to have vacations on farms during summer. Chérif has taken in two girls this year for 10 days. They are the same age as Inès, Chérif's youngest daughter, so she is very happy. The girls even help out with farm chores, like collecting red currents from the bushes for the market. They are very sweet and enjoy being on the farm. One of the girls is called Amandine, which means "little almond" in French!
Other farm work that they have helped out with is getting fruit from fruit trees on the property. There is a plum tree near a stream where we collected lots of plums. We tried to gather the most yellow and the largest. Chérif also drove us to another tree on the property where there is a very old pear tree. The pears are so small and very green with some red spots meaning that they are ripe. They are super sweet! We all couldn't stop eating them, haha, but since they were for the market, we had to save most of them. When it rains pears on a summer evening, everyone is smiling and happy!
The fruit amazingly didn't sell so well at the market on Saturday. I was shocked! The prices weren't high at all and the fruit is wild. I think that since fruit trees are so abundant in the region, many people already have access to these fruits near their houses. One vendor at the market had fresh figs for the first time this year. Ja-Ja knows that I adore figs, so she bought a little basket of them just for me! I shared of course, but finished them all by the end of the day. What a treat!
The day at the market was pretty normal. There were less tourists, though, it seemed. The green beans, eggs, and tomatoes disappeared. An Italian man bought nearly 10 basil bunches off the table, which is all that we brought. The little eggplants and zucchinis were popular, so I think it must be ratatouille season! Our four potoato varieties sold well. Getting organic potatoes is very important if you want to it the skins. Otherwise, the skin can absorb a lot of pesticides and fertilizers. The same goes for carrots, which are gigantic now! The rhubarb, Swiss chard, and lettuce also sold well.
One night, I got to see plenty of pictures of Algeria and the village of Chérif. It seems so beautiful! There are fig trees all around and monkeys can be spotted swinging around the trees. There are also banana trees and lots of other greenery. The clothes are very colorful and many people still wear traditional robes and pants. I'm glad I got to see another part of the world that I'm really not familiar with. I love the Mediterranean culture and climate! I hope to travel around the sea a lot more!
I don't know if this will be my last blog post while in France. I hope to write another on Wednesday, but I'm not certain if I will be able to do so. I hope that everyone has been able to learn about another part of the world and organic agriculture just as I have. Thanks for reading, learning, and sending back input for me to read. I've had a wonderful time, and look forward to having a similar experience (but shorter!) somewhere else in the United States. Anyone interested?
I've started preparing for my departure a bit. I think I've got all my gifts together and accounted for, as well as things I bought just for myself. I've started running a bit more. I haven't been running much because it's so hot here. Since it is so difficult to run during mid-day with the sun so high, the bets time to run is in the evening. We usually work from 5-7:30 or 8pm, so I don't have much energy left to go on a run. I'm squeezing them in just before I go back to work in the evenings and on the weekends, though. I feel like I'm at home again, but with the smell of the Cevennes in the air!
The house is very full at the moment, so finding peace and quiet means leaving to go off the farm usually. There are two more younger girls here from Paris. They come from underpriveleged families who can't afford vacations during the summer months. Chérif, who grew up in the Paris suburbs, belongs to an association who arranges for these children to have vacations on farms during summer. Chérif has taken in two girls this year for 10 days. They are the same age as Inès, Chérif's youngest daughter, so she is very happy. The girls even help out with farm chores, like collecting red currents from the bushes for the market. They are very sweet and enjoy being on the farm. One of the girls is called Amandine, which means "little almond" in French!
Other farm work that they have helped out with is getting fruit from fruit trees on the property. There is a plum tree near a stream where we collected lots of plums. We tried to gather the most yellow and the largest. Chérif also drove us to another tree on the property where there is a very old pear tree. The pears are so small and very green with some red spots meaning that they are ripe. They are super sweet! We all couldn't stop eating them, haha, but since they were for the market, we had to save most of them. When it rains pears on a summer evening, everyone is smiling and happy!
The fruit amazingly didn't sell so well at the market on Saturday. I was shocked! The prices weren't high at all and the fruit is wild. I think that since fruit trees are so abundant in the region, many people already have access to these fruits near their houses. One vendor at the market had fresh figs for the first time this year. Ja-Ja knows that I adore figs, so she bought a little basket of them just for me! I shared of course, but finished them all by the end of the day. What a treat!
The day at the market was pretty normal. There were less tourists, though, it seemed. The green beans, eggs, and tomatoes disappeared. An Italian man bought nearly 10 basil bunches off the table, which is all that we brought. The little eggplants and zucchinis were popular, so I think it must be ratatouille season! Our four potoato varieties sold well. Getting organic potatoes is very important if you want to it the skins. Otherwise, the skin can absorb a lot of pesticides and fertilizers. The same goes for carrots, which are gigantic now! The rhubarb, Swiss chard, and lettuce also sold well.
One night, I got to see plenty of pictures of Algeria and the village of Chérif. It seems so beautiful! There are fig trees all around and monkeys can be spotted swinging around the trees. There are also banana trees and lots of other greenery. The clothes are very colorful and many people still wear traditional robes and pants. I'm glad I got to see another part of the world that I'm really not familiar with. I love the Mediterranean culture and climate! I hope to travel around the sea a lot more!
I don't know if this will be my last blog post while in France. I hope to write another on Wednesday, but I'm not certain if I will be able to do so. I hope that everyone has been able to learn about another part of the world and organic agriculture just as I have. Thanks for reading, learning, and sending back input for me to read. I've had a wonderful time, and look forward to having a similar experience (but shorter!) somewhere else in the United States. Anyone interested?
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Potato Patch Princesses
Our fireworks excursion was very fun on Monday. We set out in cars at around 8:30pm and arrived in another town closer to the top of the mountains here. We then hiked over an hour to the summit. We mostly walked along a gravel road, but also squeezed through some brush and climbed rocks to get the best view we could. Along the way, we saw a grave for a French soldier who was "assinated by the Nazis" in 1944. There were beautiful flowers around the engraved rock. There is so much history here. The firework display was fun to wathc, but since we were so high up, it didn't seem very extravagant. They were mostly red and white, too. We could see them from at least four villages, which was neat, but I think fireworks are better from ground view (just a suggestion for the future). We had a great time joking around, nevertheless, and trying to make our way back to the cars by flashlight. We also had a mini-picnic near midnight, eating chocolate cake and drinking hot tea.
The next day, Tuesday, we woke up at our normal time to leave at 9am with another farmer who needed help collecting potatoes from their potato field. The two older daughters, the other two WWOOfer volonteers, and I all went. We spent all morning and some of the afternoon collecting potatoes from a large field. I had fun because it was like hunting for Easter eggs, haha. The soil was also very cool, so I enjoyed running my fingers through the Earth. In the end, we had about 55 crates full of potatoes! We stacked them in a building where it was cooler and they keep their tools. I had dirt all over my legs, arms, and even around my toes through my shoes and socks! They fed us all lunch. I enjoyed eating their beets and red onion salad. It was so sweet, so I mixed it with lettuce. I walked around the farm and saw a lot more raspberry bushes, tomato rows, and rhubarb plants. There were so many tomato varieties! The wife makes her own rhubarb and strawberry jam, which were delicious!
Yesterday, I did a lot more spraying. The rain clouds over the United States must be sending their friends over here because it has also been too wet and humid. I sprayed the zucchini, cucumber and onion plants, as well as the zucchini plants inside the greenhouse. It took two hours! Refilling my tank with the copper-sulfur solution also took some time. I wear a 10-liter tank on my back over a jacket to keep me dry. I was definitely sweating in the sun! I saw mold even growing in between the onions. Not a good sign.
Otherwise, on the farm, I have been weeding more and being Ja-Ja's assistant when she needs an extra hand. We picked potatoes this morning already for Saturday's market. The smallest variety of potato they have is called rat potatoes and are the most expensive. Chérif called them "potates de luxe," hehe. We also collected the rest of the black currants from the grandfather's house. We will sell some of them at the market, but also make jam for the house.
This morning, I saw my second animal killing. Someone ordered meat from half a sheep for this weekend, so Chérif killed on this morning. The family will keep the rest of the meat and parts for themselves. They are giving the skin to the neighbors who have a baby on the way and can use the wool and skin for a blanket or clothes for the baby. Chérif first tied up the legs, killed the sheep by the throat, and started the process to skin the animal. Naoko, Heather, and I all watched. It was a very clean process. Chérif had learned how to do everything from his father and uncle when he was 15-years-old. He didn't start cutting the meat, though. He will wait until tomorrow afternoon when the meat has dried a bit. It is resting in their celler now. I hope to watch again. I did cry a bit so I had to walk away. I don't know why I cried, but it just happened. I think I cried because the proces was so fast and I felt like the animal needed to be respected a bit more before skinning it. I hope to eat more meat now from farms like this where the animal probably enjoyed a normal animal life while it lived and isn't treated like a product to be bought and sold.
I am looking forward to Saturday's market now. I am a creature for the market! I love making interactions and serving the needs of people with pride in what I give them. I only have ONE WEEK LEFT, so this Saturday's market will be my last. I hope everyone is having some summer fun! If you see someone French, say "A mort, le roi" ("death to the king") for their Independence Day!
The next day, Tuesday, we woke up at our normal time to leave at 9am with another farmer who needed help collecting potatoes from their potato field. The two older daughters, the other two WWOOfer volonteers, and I all went. We spent all morning and some of the afternoon collecting potatoes from a large field. I had fun because it was like hunting for Easter eggs, haha. The soil was also very cool, so I enjoyed running my fingers through the Earth. In the end, we had about 55 crates full of potatoes! We stacked them in a building where it was cooler and they keep their tools. I had dirt all over my legs, arms, and even around my toes through my shoes and socks! They fed us all lunch. I enjoyed eating their beets and red onion salad. It was so sweet, so I mixed it with lettuce. I walked around the farm and saw a lot more raspberry bushes, tomato rows, and rhubarb plants. There were so many tomato varieties! The wife makes her own rhubarb and strawberry jam, which were delicious!
Yesterday, I did a lot more spraying. The rain clouds over the United States must be sending their friends over here because it has also been too wet and humid. I sprayed the zucchini, cucumber and onion plants, as well as the zucchini plants inside the greenhouse. It took two hours! Refilling my tank with the copper-sulfur solution also took some time. I wear a 10-liter tank on my back over a jacket to keep me dry. I was definitely sweating in the sun! I saw mold even growing in between the onions. Not a good sign.
Otherwise, on the farm, I have been weeding more and being Ja-Ja's assistant when she needs an extra hand. We picked potatoes this morning already for Saturday's market. The smallest variety of potato they have is called rat potatoes and are the most expensive. Chérif called them "potates de luxe," hehe. We also collected the rest of the black currants from the grandfather's house. We will sell some of them at the market, but also make jam for the house.
This morning, I saw my second animal killing. Someone ordered meat from half a sheep for this weekend, so Chérif killed on this morning. The family will keep the rest of the meat and parts for themselves. They are giving the skin to the neighbors who have a baby on the way and can use the wool and skin for a blanket or clothes for the baby. Chérif first tied up the legs, killed the sheep by the throat, and started the process to skin the animal. Naoko, Heather, and I all watched. It was a very clean process. Chérif had learned how to do everything from his father and uncle when he was 15-years-old. He didn't start cutting the meat, though. He will wait until tomorrow afternoon when the meat has dried a bit. It is resting in their celler now. I hope to watch again. I did cry a bit so I had to walk away. I don't know why I cried, but it just happened. I think I cried because the proces was so fast and I felt like the animal needed to be respected a bit more before skinning it. I hope to eat more meat now from farms like this where the animal probably enjoyed a normal animal life while it lived and isn't treated like a product to be bought and sold.
I am looking forward to Saturday's market now. I am a creature for the market! I love making interactions and serving the needs of people with pride in what I give them. I only have ONE WEEK LEFT, so this Saturday's market will be my last. I hope everyone is having some summer fun! If you see someone French, say "A mort, le roi" ("death to the king") for their Independence Day!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Joyeux 14 Juillet!
Happy July 14th! Today is the Independence Day celebrated in France. In short, this day marks the end of monarchism in France. Hurray for democratic zealots!
I'm a market zealot, myself. I have discovered that I really have a passion for going to the market, helping Ja-Ja sell her garden produce, and mingle with the people. I have made a lot of friends: a woman working in the local pharmacy, a woman my age with lots of pins on her purse, a Berlin couple with whom I try to speak my University-learned German, a British couple with two little dogs, and a French guy with dreadlocks who lives in the woods with his brothers. I like talking with all the other tourists, tryiing to make them feel welcome at Ja-Ja's stand. I hope I am bringing her business. The shy average Frenchman or Frenchwoman seems scared and unsure about how to respond with my outward friendliness. They usually smile and put on their sunglasses. Eep!
Saturday's market was extremely successful and busy. We ended up making nearly 1,000 Euros! We brought crates of green beans, potatoes, zucchinis, tomatoes, lettuce greens, and carrots. The beets, strawberries (our second harvest), raspberries, and onions sold fast. We had a new bean today: les haricots cocos. They look like large pea pods, but have a white and red pattern on the pod. This would be the giraffe of the bean world. My personal goal was to sell all of the eggplants. Ja-Ja grew a baby variety this year, so they are small and cute. Ja-Ja and Chérif are upset because they love the huge ones. Somebody has to love these miniature ones, so I will! We ended up selling them all. The basil and parsley were also easy sellers. The potatoes and tetragone (similar to baby spinach) didn't all sell, so then they were for our home. For dinner that night, Ja-Ja made a tart using the leftover tetragone, and seemed some leftover potatoes and pattypan squash. She made a garlic aioli to go with it. I tummy was singing and satisfied!
During the weekend, I have been relaxing more, so I don't have much to write about. I watched the Edith Piaf movie in French with the kids and other WWOOFers. I have also been trying to do some tanning and yoga in the gardens, walking around the roads, copying recipes onto my laptop, reading in the plaza in Lasalle, and sleeping. It is still incredibly green here and all of the flowers and trees seem to be holding up well. There are a lot of mold spots even on tree trunks. The blackberries are getting ripe now, so I picked some of a tree. They are very soft and sweet. The trees are tall, though, so I couldn't eat much.
The market this morning in Lasalle was packed! Tourists are here for the 14 Juillet events, I believe. Naoko and I had a coffee at the café. It's becoming part of our routine now to sit and talk for a long time there and then walk back to the house after Ja-Ja has already left in the car. We have become friends with one of the waiters, so we got some drinks on the house today! I ordered an Orangina! He put ice in the glass. I felt like a was having a taste of heaven: an ice cold soda on a summer day! It's these small things that we take for granted in the States, haha. I think soda is truly good for the soul. I was smiling a lot, and so was Naoko with her cold tomato-carrot juice! What a healthy lady!
Only 10 days left! I will be able to enjoy fireworks tonight for the holiday and hopefully some other special outings before I leave France. Have a good week everyone!
I'm a market zealot, myself. I have discovered that I really have a passion for going to the market, helping Ja-Ja sell her garden produce, and mingle with the people. I have made a lot of friends: a woman working in the local pharmacy, a woman my age with lots of pins on her purse, a Berlin couple with whom I try to speak my University-learned German, a British couple with two little dogs, and a French guy with dreadlocks who lives in the woods with his brothers. I like talking with all the other tourists, tryiing to make them feel welcome at Ja-Ja's stand. I hope I am bringing her business. The shy average Frenchman or Frenchwoman seems scared and unsure about how to respond with my outward friendliness. They usually smile and put on their sunglasses. Eep!
Saturday's market was extremely successful and busy. We ended up making nearly 1,000 Euros! We brought crates of green beans, potatoes, zucchinis, tomatoes, lettuce greens, and carrots. The beets, strawberries (our second harvest), raspberries, and onions sold fast. We had a new bean today: les haricots cocos. They look like large pea pods, but have a white and red pattern on the pod. This would be the giraffe of the bean world. My personal goal was to sell all of the eggplants. Ja-Ja grew a baby variety this year, so they are small and cute. Ja-Ja and Chérif are upset because they love the huge ones. Somebody has to love these miniature ones, so I will! We ended up selling them all. The basil and parsley were also easy sellers. The potatoes and tetragone (similar to baby spinach) didn't all sell, so then they were for our home. For dinner that night, Ja-Ja made a tart using the leftover tetragone, and seemed some leftover potatoes and pattypan squash. She made a garlic aioli to go with it. I tummy was singing and satisfied!
During the weekend, I have been relaxing more, so I don't have much to write about. I watched the Edith Piaf movie in French with the kids and other WWOOFers. I have also been trying to do some tanning and yoga in the gardens, walking around the roads, copying recipes onto my laptop, reading in the plaza in Lasalle, and sleeping. It is still incredibly green here and all of the flowers and trees seem to be holding up well. There are a lot of mold spots even on tree trunks. The blackberries are getting ripe now, so I picked some of a tree. They are very soft and sweet. The trees are tall, though, so I couldn't eat much.
The market this morning in Lasalle was packed! Tourists are here for the 14 Juillet events, I believe. Naoko and I had a coffee at the café. It's becoming part of our routine now to sit and talk for a long time there and then walk back to the house after Ja-Ja has already left in the car. We have become friends with one of the waiters, so we got some drinks on the house today! I ordered an Orangina! He put ice in the glass. I felt like a was having a taste of heaven: an ice cold soda on a summer day! It's these small things that we take for granted in the States, haha. I think soda is truly good for the soul. I was smiling a lot, and so was Naoko with her cold tomato-carrot juice! What a healthy lady!
Only 10 days left! I will be able to enjoy fireworks tonight for the holiday and hopefully some other special outings before I leave France. Have a good week everyone!
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