My First Work Day on the Farm

It is just after 2pm on Tuesday right now. This is when I usually get my computer time because it is the time of the siesta; after lunch, many people take an afternoon nap or break for an hour or two. I like to have this time to connect back home and write about my adventures on the farm.

Yesterday, I awoke a little before 8am to go to have breakfast with the family. I drank hot coffee, which I was very thankful for since the weather is still very cool and gloomy here. It has rained everyday since I arrived here! Everything is very green, but there is actually too much water in the ground that some farmers can't plant new seeds now for fear that they will get washed away!

Chérif's mother came to visit for breakfast. She actually lives no more than 2 miles away! How nice! After breakfast and getting ready in old jeans and athletic clothes, I borrowed some boots and Chérif, the Swedes, and I, all went to the stable where the sheep are. There are two rooms. While all the sheep were in one room, we dug up all of the dung from the other room and piled it outside in a large mountain! It really wasn't too bad, especially since we sang songs, talked to one another, and told jokes. The dung will rest over winter as it ferments, and then next year it will be used as ferilizer. How natural and organic! Hurray for goats! As we were leaving to go back to the house for lunch, Chérif showed me another large room where they keep the hay to feed the goats. All the hay comes from there from. They are very self-sufficient and save money this way. The smell reminded me of being in a brewery, as if hops were in the room, too.

For lunch, I ate salad (as with every meal) and pizza that had a little black olive on the slice! There was lasagne, too, but I ate that for dinner instead. The Swedish guy ate so much of the lasagne! I think that lasagne is a favorite food for all guys, haha, no matter where they come from. We each had a little Belgian chocolate. I chose one that was flavored with ginger, which I highly recommend trying if you ever get the chance! After the lunch and the siesta, the Swedes and I went to pull weeds from within a greenhouse ob the farm. They were huge, climbing the walls and sprouting at least three feet high sometimes! There were snails around, too, eww! But I survived (I love gloves now!), and helped put some baby plants in a shallow, wide well where they would get lots of water. There were many different kinds: tomatoes, herbs, flowers, etc.

Dinner was a stew made with vegetables from the farm: carrots, green beans, peas, potatoes, and they used purple potatoes that come from Belgium! We ate Algerian bread, which tastes a bit like corn bread, but not sweet. Dessert was cheese, which is extremely rich with flavor here! I ate a soft, white Italian cheese. I went to bed earlier than usually, but couldn't fall asleep because of a terrible thunder storm. Living near the mountains can be so strange, even though they are so beautiful.

Today, the Swedes left. I got a nice photo taken with them and wished them luck. They will be going back to Sweden for a few weeks, and then spend another year in France at a French university! They are so brave! We are not working much on the farm, though, because of the rain. Instead, we took Chérif's father to a larger city near the Mediterranean coast, Montpellier, to renew his Algerian passport. The city was very beautiful. There are Roman aquaducts still in use and many universities for medicine. Chérif even told me that there is a special house where American students can stay! While waiting for Chérif's father to do the paperwork at the consul, Chérif and Ja-Ja took me to the Arabic neighborhood. It was so nice! Venders sel herbs, especially mint, throughout the streets, and the markets are full of all kinds of fruit! In a store, they bought some books and Algerian ingredients. They bought some Lebanese ingredients for me (fava beans, pine nuts, pistachios) so that I can cook for them soon. Yeah! The food is very inexpensive, such as getting a whole pack of pita bread for less than 1.50 dollars. Wow! They bought me a lamb sandwich to eat once we all got back home. I think it was the biggest sandwich I ever ate! It even had french fries in it!

It's siesta now and my tummy is very happy. I think that we will pull some more weeds from the greenhouse, but this time from the soil and with tools! I hope to take a nice walk or jog in the afternoon, too, which is very relaxing. I an definitely getting closer to everyone, especially the youngest daughter, Ignesse, who is eight years old. She likes to read to me, and I help her with her homework sometimes. I am feeling like a fit in with the family more and more. I am lucky to have chosen this family to stay with.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend! I want to make a special shout-out to Miss Janet and Mary Poston for giving me the journal as a graduation gift. I write in it everyday! I am so glad that I can do that so that I can remember this trip better in the years to come.

Have a great week! Soak up lots of sun and Vitamin D for me!