September 13-15, 2013

Rupanco was a good change of pace. There was plenty of work, so much sunshine, and incredible landscapes at every juncture. We spent most of our time in the fields turning the soil, making beds, and planting seeds. We planted lettuces, cucumber, peppers, garlic, onion, potatoes, herbs, and other comestibles, but also a nice mix of flowers and some clover all with a special purpose and intended return in regards to the future health of the farm.  We passed the time having our minds blown with some Mandarin lessons from our Taiwanese volunteer. I can now successfully say hello and count to 6 in Mandarin thanks to an hour or so of group recitation. I would venture to say that my future as a Mandarin speaker isn’t looking too bright, but I definitely have an appreciation for tonal languages and their difficulty. Ill stick to the Spanish for now.

Outside of tending to the soil and improving our Mandarin vocabulary, our time was spent sunset fishing, reading by the fire, and enjoying the wood-fired hot-tub. Not too shabby.