Imbalanced vibes

Laundry at the Bosque

SO forgive me for talking like a hippy but my harmonies have been strangely imbalanced the last couple of days... I have had a great time, but some things have just seemed a bit off. Today is a good example! The weather has been insanely weird and temperamental. Usually the days here are gorgeous, with hot sun and a cooling breeze and the nights absolutely freezing. However, last night was surprisingly warm! So I should have known that today would be super cold! I was working outside too so I couldn't feel my feet and ended up putting on 3 pairs of socks haha. This made me feel very pissed off and grumpy as I don't take to the cold that well but then as soon as lunch was served I felt SO HAPPY as there was sun AND humous!! Haha a bit schiz?! Although again, right now I am feeling horribly weird again as I'm too bloody FULL! Haha I just ate the most delicious lunch of freshly-made humous, vegetables and tortilla wraps. I went a little crazy and ate too much but only to make up for the horribly cold morning I had... Everything is imbalanced!

SO on Thursday I got the best news ever! It was my second day of work and Brian and I discussed me making a weekly vlog for the Bosque as my work service here. I am absolutely THRILLED!!!! Whilst I enjoy the outdoorsy work as it is so new to me and not stuff that I'd EVER normally do or will probably do again, I am so glad that I get to keep up my filmmaking and hone my skills here. Plus, I get to film on Brian's HD camera and edit on Adobe Premiere so it should be good for me to learn and feel comfortable with both. So for the past three days I have been filming everything I can - the different work tasks we do and all the fun we have! This has included so far cob-building, wood chopping, meditation, a chainsaw workshop, interviews with volunteers... I think I've enjoyed filming the various vistas here the most as it really is quite stunning in the forest when the sun is out... Today I began editing my footage which hasn't been as difficult as I thought it'd be, turns out editing software is all very similar. It feels quite good to be 'on it' again in the same way I am in London. To feel productive and in control of my own projects. I'm a laidback person but I need to feel that I am actively contributing to my own development at all times haha. The physical labour does help but the filming is easily more satisfying for me.

Rose painting

I have helped with a bit of cob-building alongside the film work though which has been really cool. The new cabanas here are being made from eco-friendly 'cob', a mix of water, sawdust, pine needles and earth. So yesterday and today, we've been smoothing the floor of one of the new cabanas with finely ground cob mix. Yesterday, Judith and I laid it all down and today all of us volunteers went barefoot and smoothed the mix out across the floor of the cabana. At first I was filming but it looked so much fun that I decided to join in... and MASSIVELY regretted it!!! It was so effing cold!!! My toes were freezing!

Chicken coup

We finish work at 2pm everyday here and then all sit down to a huge lunch together. After this we are free to do whatever we want and this is my favourite time of the day, between 2-7.30pm (when dinner is served) as I always feel so happy, chilled and peaceful. Particularly when the sun is out! Sometimes I'll hang out with the other volunteers (sometimes getting drunk early if someone has alcohol haha), but mostly I prefer to spend this time alone just lying in my favourite hammock reading (currently Sophie's World - am I a cliche?!) or writing whatever inspires me or wandering around the acres of forest here. After dinner, all of us hang out together either by the fire in the Casita or outside by a fire. Last night was one of my favourite nights here, we all hung out by a fire at The View (the best part of the forest) drinking local wine and playing guitar.

Genevieve working hard

I cannot believe I've been here a week already! Time goes by so strangely here... The week has gone so quick but at the same time, I feel very settled here like I've been here longer. I know that the vibe will change after this weekend though as many volunteers are leaving... Alejandra (the super lovely 20yr-old from Mexico City), Little Brian (a 33yr-old English lit graduate/ fisherman/ girls' favourite haha from US), Aaron (a 24yr-old absolutely mental biking-around-latin-america seasonal firefighter from Canada) and sweet sweet Shaya (22 from Israel.) I am most upset about Shaya as we get on very well and have SO MUCH FUN together and she was going to stay longer but then decided she wanted to see more of Mexico but only has a month left so she's going earlier than expected. She's my favourite here as there's just no bullshit with her and she doesn't pretend to be someone she's not and she never follows the crowd but is always her own person and she's really freakin cool! I plan to see her again in my travels and we have talked about potentially travelling Belize together. Hope to meet Aaron again sometime later as he is travelling some more and is really funny and bizarre company! We are having a couple more volunteers arrive next week but I am still sad as the dynamic will definitely change. That doesn't mean to say it won't still be fun, just different!

Anyways gotta go, am visiting Eronga with Shaya... Wanna buy some booze for tonight as it is her last! Hopefully next time I write I will feel more in sync with my own rhythms or whatever... Think some sun will help enormously!

xxx

nature calls

Hola!

On Monday I attended a bread-making class in a tiny nearby village romantically named La Zazarmora together with another volunteer, Genevieve. She is a 23yr old from Portland, Oregon who despite studying Landscape Architecture at uni, works on her own eco ranch in California with her boyfriend. She is here at the Bosque to learn other sustainability methodologies to then implement back in her own ranch. The bread-making class was at the home of a Mexican family who run several businesses; a shop, a distillery and a bakery from their home! Senora Alicia, the family's grandmother led the class together with her daughter Soco and her two young daughters were also helping! So we had three generations baking bread together. They were such a beautiful, loving and happy family and despite Gen's and my crappy Spanish we were all able to laugh and joke together throughout the long day. We left completely breaded out and bought several bottles of the family's liquor, Vino de Zaza to share with everyone back at the Bosque. Everyone really appreciated it as it is so tasty and more importantly, quite potent! So we all spent the evening playing cards, getting drunk and hanging out by the fire of the Casita, our own lounge hut.

Yesterday, I had the most perfect day! In the morning, Genevieve, Rose (from Minnesota) and I walked in to another nearby town named Erongaricuaro which is so so charming! Rose and Genevieve are super eco-conscious in their lives back home so I was enlightened with talk on permaculture and suchlike... And also some spirituality they both follow involving rebirths and dedication ceremonies. I couldn't add much to that particular conversation and for a city-girl like myself, it's not something I am particularly excited about however it was interesting listening to the different ways in which they both live their lives. We walked around the market of Erongaricuaro and I bought a cowboy sombrero to blend in with the locals! Haha, they all looked at me like I'm a crazy gringo... Although, saying that, the locals here often mistake both myself and Genevieve for Mexicans, but from Mexico city. Genevieve is half Native American and so I guess with our brown skin we both fit in with some of the demographic here...

Outdoor composting toilet - The Boogaloo

When we got back to the Bosque, I spent a few hours reading in my favourite hammock overlooking the hills of Patzcuaro. It makes me feel so unbelievably happy and so fresh and so lucky and so alive! Then, Judith, a German volunteer here from Circus school, brought out the jump rope and many of us had such a hysterical and exhilarating time skipping together. Turns out, I'm not as agile as I was back in primary school... After this, myself, Rose, Laura (a retreater) and Alejandra (from Mexico City) had a 'Spanish Corner' whereby the three ignorants attempt to speak Spanish and Alejandra corrects us! I really don't think my Spanish is improving... Especially here at the Bosque where all the volunteers speak English!

Shaya & Genevieve

Today was my first day of WORKING! We began at 8.30am and worked through to 2pm when we took lunch... Today I shovelled fertile earth to a less fertile spot where we are going to begin planting a vegetable garden. Despite my usual aversion to physical labour, I REALLY enjoyed this! So tiring, but it felt so good to be working amongst nature and outdoors and to work my arms! It was tiring but fun as myself and Shya, an Israeli volunteer, were put together and she's really cool, interesting and fun so I love talking to her. Her life has been so varied and she's only 22, having lived in eco villages in Israel, California and having been travelling alone for the past 5months around Mexico.

I'm about to go for a thorough tour of the entire Bosque with Brian, the owner and creator of the project and film it at the same time... Look forward to doing more shooting and getting good footage here!

Adios!
A x