WWOOFing, Part 1

Thursday:

Today we got up early for a five-hour drive to our WWOOF sites. It's a sad day as the Old Lady Crew is going to be seperated. This is such a funny experience. I'm sure this is what it's like for kids at camp. Two weeks ago I didn't even know any of these people and now I'm stressed about spending 5 days away from my buddies! I'll have a few folks I'm familiar with to keep me company, though. It will allllllll be okay.

The drive was fun because Dave got lost (even though he says he didn't...) so we stopped a lot, played Boticceli (new favorite car game!) and enjoyed a new 5-hour mix on my ipod. The goodbyes were surreal. We were just plopped into this hippie house and told we'd be picked up soon. "Why don't you all go off to the pool for a spa while you wait?" Don't mind if we do! So, my first hour of WWOOFing was spent in a hot tub. Awesomeness.

Dave decided to stay behind. I think he was sad to leave us too. It meant some tight quarters in the converted rail car we slept in. Oh, yeah, did I mention the converted rail car we slept in? Surreal!

Friday:

Day one of work! After a late breakfast we head over to the work site. We're going to be fixing up this house for use as a refuge for women who have been sexually abused or need a safe place. Pretty awesome. It's such a mish-mash. I love how they use everything they can to put this thing together. I'm guessing there are no building codes to worry about. The property is tucked into the woods (sorry, I'm supposed to say "bush" here) and is super quaint. Dave stayed to work today and head-butted us (gently) when leaving. (Is that custom?)

We work with Mateus, from Germany, and Doug, from NZ. They have both been here for a week, tearing down and rebuilding this place. Jo and her partner, Ben, are hosting us. Jo keeps us well fed. (Tonight we had coconut curry!) It occured to me the other day that she walks just like the "Keep on Truckin'" cartoon. We worked about 6 hours today, banking our time so we can get a free day. I was surprisingly exhausted at the end of the day and we all pooped out early. I even LOST at Scrabble, if you can believe it. Kay (another girl in this program but at a nearby site) kicked our butts. I'm actually a little worried she's too good for me. I'm not familiar with this feeling!!! (Hold me!)

I'm enjoying time with Hannah, Wilson and Rebecca. Wilson keeps singing "C'mon rude boy boy..." and spent most of the night trying to light his farts on fire for our enjoyment. At one point I noticed dark spots all over his shorts and thought he may have burned them but it was just deck stain. Sigh. He cracks me up.

Saturday:

Late start to the day (because we can) and enjoyed some museli and instant coffee while staring out into the mist over the valley. It's so quiet here. There's no way you can't be at peace in an environment like this. Jo talked to us about the Maoris a bit. Had we asked earlier we could have spent a day on the Marae nearby chopping potatoes. Darnit! She also entertained us with stories of drug smuggling in Indonesia in her 20's to fund her year of traveling in Asia. More surreal!


Did some more sanding, scraping, painting and general wandering around looking for tasks today. Last night it rained so the neon green window Hannah worked on had bled and needed to be repainted. I found bugs all over my lovely blue door so had to recoat that too. Jo brought us jelly beans. Mateus farted a lot. (What is it with boys and their farting??) There were giant red ants and bees everywhere. Tomorrow is a day off! I really need to do my ethnography. (Shakes finger at self.)

Sunday:

Got up at 4:30 for our ride into town. It's DARK that early. It's ANZAC Day, which is like Memorial Day except here they actually remember. There was a parade at dawn with speeches about the fallen and a 5 gun salute that scared the pee out of me. Now we're just hanging out in Jo's house. It's a mish-mash of everything. Kind of like if you lived in a thrift store. My hippie theory was confirmed when I found a copy of "How To Keep A Ferret" in the bathroom.

For now we're watching THE WORST MOVIE EVER ("Molly": She's magically cured of autism when her brother teaches her how to tie her shoes!) and enjoying some free, unlimited wifi. I'm playing catch up with emails, photos, blogging and, oh yeah, homework. Jo has a big pit bull (Mr. Pig, Mr. P or Dog, depending on who asks) who is curled up at Hannah's feet, snoring.

We're hoping to get rides back to the site by dark but Ben's clutch gave out as we pulled in. We'll see!