T(hy)ime & Rosemary

Today I woke up around 9am after going to bed at 3am, so only about 6 hours of sleep. I surprisingly slept very good even tho I took me a while to fall asleep. I also realized last night I forgot my excedrin so that also isn’t ideal. But Brooke maddie and I shared a small damp motel room, maddie and I in one bed and Brooke in the other.  We woke up, packed, showered and headed to breakfast. There the owner of the motel served us ham and egg sandwiches and guava jam, and coffee and juice.

Then we packed up in the vans with the gifts for the families and headed to victorias house ( one of Pablo’s friends of 26 years) and she made us an amazing and filling lunch with rice, beans, avocado , and chicken plantain stew. Next we squeezed the 15 people party back into the van and head for arroyo de toro and el campo  in the mountains. We stopped in the town below the mountains and then packed into the back of pickup trucks that drove us up the steep dirt roads. Everyone we passed laughed as they saw a bunch of gringos in the back of the trucks acting like locals or something.

When we got to the town I was cramping from the ride up and slightly dizzy but we met the families that we would be staying with. I decided to switch with one of the girls so that my friend aubrey could be with a girl who spoke more Spanish because I did know a little more. I was paired with Chloe and our host parents are a super sweet couple that owns achers of land on a big cliff. Juana and Felipe. ( my homework from Pablo) they have been married 60 years and lived here cultivating this land, completely self sustainability. They grow their own coffee beans, tomato, veggies, and have cows that produce milk and chickens they slaughter and lay eggs that live completely free range on the land. They have a chocolate brown horse and a cat and dog both named Mario ( that they yell at frequently for coming near us or trying to beg for food). Most importantly they are so kind, they’ve welcomed us into their home like we’re old friends and told us stories of their kids who all moved to the United States and are married and their 4 grandchildren and one great grandchildren. They walked us around their land and made us fresh coffee and so many other amazing foods. Lunch tasted better but similar to chicken adobo and mashed potatoes with garlic. Juana knows her spices and flavors to perfection.

We also got to hear stories from the mayor of the town and how there’s no jobs because these small organic farmers are competing against big companies and are losing all their workers and jobs, they said it’s not possible to work here unless your growing thyme or rosemary and it used to be they produced so many different things. Now all the next generations are leaving for the cities to making higher paying jobs or get further education because they have no future in a place where there’s no work, so the town is dying. But after this we played with some kids, said our good nights and walked back to the house in the dusk to head to bed.