How many of you like your boss??? It makes a world of difference if you respect your Jefe!!! I am beginning to realize that half the battle in liking your job is being compatible with your boss...or better yet, just being your own boss:)
So this brings me to our next adventure...the farm in Colonia del Valdense. We arrived at the bus stop around 6pm
and were picked up by a man named Augustine. He drove us through the town, showing us around, chit chatting about his experiences living in America, and politely speaking Spanish slowly to help us to learn.
After about 30 minutes in the car, we arrived at what would be our new home for an amount of time we had not yet decided. It was beautiful. A huge plot of land with sheep and cows grazing, a couple of barns, and our favorite part, Panda (mama dog) and Manoush (puppy girl) - our new best friends.
Panda and Manoush greeted us, tails wagging, jumping with excitement, as if they had been waiting patiently for our arrival.
Augustine showed us where we would be staying. A brick building with dirt floors, a separate kitchen, and a bathroom with shower.
Alec and I decided we preferred to pitch our tent and sleep under the stars, and thanked Augustine for his hospitality.
Augustine invited us to an asado (bbq) about 2km from our farm, where he lived with his family, the following day.
Upon Augustine's departure, we began to figure out where to pitch our tent, as the sun was quickly setting.The house was within a closed fence where three cows grazed. On the opposite side of the fence grazed 40 sheep. We agreed to camp with the cows who turned out to be quite curious as to who their new tenants were.
As I had mentioned before, one of the things that always makes me uneasy is the sounds when you are camping in a new place. You can only imagine the sounds we heard that night. Sheep, cows, birds, dogs, and me frantically awaking Alec when the largest shadow of a cow spread across the side of our tent. You see, our tent is amazing, but (for me) it has one flaw. It has no windows to see outside. You have no idea what is out there...except if it is largest shadow of a baca (cow) you have ever seen.
So after surviving yet another crazy night in the tent:), we awoke Sunday morning to the sunshine above, and to Panda and Manoush greeting us with tons of love.
We relaxed and got to know are surroundings, and by mid-day we were on our bikes riding to Augustine's house.
For me, this bbq was a big deal. This day happened to be Eid - the celebration at the end of Ramadan (month of fasting) for Muslims. I grew up celebrating this holiday, and it was nice to feel as though there was a party of some sort about to happen.
We pedaled to his farm, and were extremely amazed by the beauty. We took a look at the house that he had built,
the hostel that he was running (70 dollars per person/per night, i meant "dollars"),
and his amazing farm with donkeys, sheep, horses, and roosters!!! One donkey was especially happy!!!
We returned to our farm, made some matte, and noticed that the baca (cow) took an interest in our tent. It was then and there that we decided we would get along better with the sheep (obejas) on the other side of the fence and took the appropriate action.
At 6:40am our alarm rang. It had been a long time since that occurred for Alec, and forever for myself. We hit the snooze button several times as usual, and were out of the tent by 7:20.Ten minutes to make matte, brush teeth, and make it over to the barn by 7:30. It was our first day of milking sheep.
There were 40. Instructed by one of Augustine`s employees, Hector (23 year old local who has never left his hometown), we herded them around back, prepared the inside of the barn for their entry 15 at a time,
and were ill prepared for the most mierda (you can look that one up on your own) that we had ever seen in our lives. These sheep were terrified of us, running in all directions as they entered the barn. We had to yank, pull, and push them as they kicked at us desperately trying to avoid having their necks secured in preparation for milking.
After they were all lined up, we had to squeeze each tit until milk was extracted, and then place the pumps. We thought that getting them inside was a challenge, this was another story. They avoided us with all of their might. Kicking, leaning, pushing, peeing, pooping, anything possible to avoid those "sucking claws." But to know avail, it was our job, and we were going to get it done!
Alec took to it pretty quick. Myself, I had some troubles. I never seemed to completely extract all of the milk from the sheep. Hector always had to finish them off. I don´t know, I think I was concerned that the pumps were hurting their nipples. After all, they were purple after the second round of pumping was completed. Over the days, I created a song that I sang to the sheep as I milked them. It calmed myself, and seemed to have a positive affect on them as well. Although it doesn´t make the most sense it goes something like this - "Tu eres chaquita, tu eres bonita, tu eres chaquiiiiiiitaaaaaaaaaaaa...tu eres bonita, tu eres chaquita, obeeeeeeeeeejaaaaaaaaaas."
But the best was yet to come...after milking 40 obejas came the cleaning. We had to empty and measure the milk (25 liters on average - this is the amount of milk from 40 obejas, equivalent to 1 baca), bag the milk and put it in the freezer for preparation for cheese (Hector pretty much did this), sweep and hose down all the mierda on the inside of the barn, and then sweep, hose down, shovel, and toss over the fence all the mierda on the outside of the barn where all the obejas had lined up.
The entire process took 3 hours. This was our morning task for the week that we stayed at this farm. We got pretty good at it, but just when we started to feel comfortable, those 40 sheep turned into 80!
-- Expanding Experience through every Step...
How can 40 sheep turn into 80? Thanks, Mom
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