Friday, December 20, 2013
Hey World! So I know long time no
talk, and I know that I still have to blog about the Greece, Macedonia, and
Bulgaria trip from November, plus recap Thanksgivukkah and Kivu-December, but I
am back blogging and I am gladly sitting next to a furnace in a mini-hut house
on a farm in a moshav Zafririm village outside of Beit Shemesh.
I don’t have good internet, so note that this post was written
last week, but shared with you now!
We arrived on Farm Adulam last
night around 9 PM, and the moon was absolutely beautiful. It was a full moon, and it was an endearing
yellow sphere. The stars also were
glistening and illuminated the night sky, and the farm smelled like goat milk!
I hope to learn how to milk a goat during my week on the farm! Oh and of course
I should mention that I am not doing this alone, I am with my friend Ariel from
Kivunim! We both are open-minded and
love new experiences, so I am so happy to be working beside her for the next
week. Last night we also met our WWOOF
advisor, Yoav, who lives in Northern Israel and is finished with the army. He
has been working on the farm for two months now. The owner of the farm is Oren, and he has
three young kids who we met on the farm today.
Their hut-house is right next door, and another Israeli volunteer, named
Matar, has been here for a week and lives in a volunteer caravan. She will be spending another few months here,
and after serving in the military she took some time abroad in India (A lot of
Israelis travel to India after serving in the IDF)! She and Yoav are very knowledgeable about
agriculture, and I find it inspiring how independent these Israelis are after
serving in the military. I have so much
respect for them. Last night Yoav was
reading a fictional book about farming in Israel in the 1930s, while sitting
outside on a reclining chair taking in the wonderful view. Ariel and I were cozy and cuddled up next to
the warm furnace with a nice fire! We
are sleeping on a comfy mattress pad, and it is nice to not always sleep with
the same accommodations I otherwise would have at home. I truly believe that this year is all about
trying new things, and taking advantage of unique opportunities. I am only experiencing these things once, in the
moment I am in now, and it is really important for people to remember that each
moment passing by is a personal experience that will never happen exactly
the same again. After getting settled
in, Ariel and I went to sleep around 10 PM and woke up bright and early today
at 6:20! This is the farm life, and I am
so glad I am experiencing this over break.
It is incredible to think that I decided to do this at the beginning of
December, and that in September before experiencing the world and Kivunim, I do
not think I would ever envision myself working on a farm for a week. It is fascinating how this year has already
begun to change my mentality on life and I honestly can say I just realized this
when standing on the farm. I have my
friends to thank for going on many hikes with me in the beautiful woods of Connecticut
and encouraging me to become more adventurous, but I am also thankful that I
came to this realization myself just how much nature means to me. Connecticut also has beautiful farms, and
there are even farms encompassing my house within a small radius; all the more reason why I can’t
believe that I did not choose to work on a farm when the opportunity was right
in front of me. I had to travel to the other side of the world to
realize how special farming is. It is so
true that being away from home makes you appreciate what you have, but going to
a new place also makes you appreciate the different experiences that go along
with travelling. Also, sometimes being
in a new place makes you feel more at home than actually being at home. What I mean by this is that when I started
working with the ground and with the animals on the farm, I made the connection
that this was exactly the kind of work I observed people doing on Connecticut
farms, and realizing that made me feel so comforted. Having universal
experiences is such a special feeling, and I have been having many of those so
far only 3 months into the Kivunim trip.
It is also hard for me to say though that Kivunim is already 1/3 the way
over! This winter break will be
revitalizing and make me realize the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that the
Kivunim trip offers me, and the next 2/3 of my trip I promise myself that I
will open my eyes wider, smell and hear more keenly, touch more intently, and
taste the diverse edible arrangements this world provides to humanity.
Woah, I
forgot I need to be focused and talk about the farm again. I have had so many revelations in the past
day that I just needed to get that all out of my system. In the morning, Yoav showed us the animals
and told us that there are baby goats born last week during the snowstorm in
Israel! The farm also got another dog, a
small fluffball named Snow White (Oren’s children named it that because the dog
is white and they bought it during the snowstorm), and the farm also has a huge
white fluffball dog named Gigi (the nickname my mommy calls me), and Dubi, a
black and brown beautiful big dog (Dubi means bear in Hebrew)—the dogs are
super well behaved and domesticated!
There are cats that like to eat the food sitting out, so we make sure to
be careful where we leave food. There is
also a beautiful brown donkey named Petal that is friends with Snow White, and
it is the cutest when I see the donkey caring for the little pup. The little pup is teething and likes to
snuggle around the donkey’s leg. It is
such an amazing sight to see a big brown animal and a little white animal
having a loving relationship towards one another. It shows how amazing a farm
life is for these animals, as most of the different kinds of animals all
befriend each other and each serves a different purpose on the farm.
We also
met the other workers, Matar and Ramadan, in the shack where the goats, the
donkey, Snow White, and a rooster were situated, and they told us that
hopefully during our visit the mamma goats would be giving birth to some
babies! The babies drink their mommies’
milk, except for the mommies who are stubborn and refuse to give their babies
milk. In that case, we have to milk the
goats ourselves and put the goat milk solution in a cute baby bottle. It is a hard job to do when the goats don’t
want to release their milk, and therefore it sometimes takes one person holding
their neck and body still so another person can milk them.
The
babies are so cute when they drink out of the baby bottle, and as workers we try
to be as gentle as possible when giving them milk. We hold them like a baby, and open their
mouths if they refuse to take the milk; it is important for them to get these
nutrients at the age they’re at! Some
baby goats gladly accept the milk, and it is so nice to see how happy they are
to drink the milk! They really are like
little babies!!
Ariel
and I changed their water and put hay in a basket for the baby goats to sit and
play in—Matar called it a playground for the baby goats! After milking them and
after the babies got their nutrients, the mommy goats went outside the shack
with Yoav so he could bring them into the milking room! The babies had to stay with us, so it was an
interesting experience encouraging the mommies to run outside to Yoav, but to
keep the babies inside. I don’t know the
exact number of babies, but there are probably a little more than two dozen!!
After
doing this, Ariel and I helped Yoav create a terrace for a garden we would be
making, and it took a ton of stones, time, and determination to finish the job.
We constructed the stone terrace all in one day, and now we have to put
concrete on top to add the finishing touch.
While we were doing this, we were also helping Matar make flour out of
whole-wheat grains from farm, and we had to perform a blowing technique on a
tray to get out any extra material that was not the actual grain part. Then we put the grain in a machine, and out
popped some nice looking flour!
For
breakfast, which was served around 10, we all worked together to make a
delicious table of hummus, pita, a vegetable platter, omelets, and an
egg-covered eggplant dish with sugar on top!! Everything was delicious, and I
forgot to mention that every meal we either have fresh tea or warm apple cider!
We make all of this together, and we even get the herbal tea from leaves in
Oren’s garden!
After
this, Ariel and I went back to work on the stone terrace, and I also helped
Yoav take out eggplants in the garden.
We separated the nice ripe purple eggplants from the bad, squishy yellow
ones, and we also uprooted the remainder of the plants. While uprooting, we found a green iguana, and
Yoav put it on a purple eggplant to see if it changed colors to camouflage
itself into the environment, and it did!
Ariel
and I also helped sand down brand new benches and tables for Oren’s store, and
throughout the day we also helped clean dishes.
We saw Yoav bring 4 horses into the farm, and they were beautiful! They
went to a different place for the night, so I hope I see them again!
Oren’s
children came home early around 10 because schools close early in Israel to
prepare for Shabbat, and it was a nice community all hanging out by the
communal store-kitchen area.
Shabbat
was beautiful, and Ariel and I brought our siddurs down to sing a few Kabbalat
Shabbat prayers. It was not super
successful, because I still do not know the prayers and tunes by heart without
someone guiding me, but it was the thought that counted to share a Kabbalat
Shabbat experience we would have on Kivunim with the other farmers. After eating dinner, we sat by the fire
located in the center of the outside store, and then Amit’s dog Billie (Yoav’s
friend from the army), was trying to play with a cat. The cat got scared though so it ran up into a
tree and stayed there for about three hours!
I took a
nice warm shower, and Matar, Yoav, Amit, Ariel, and I ate cake for Ariel’s 19th birthday!!!
Amit’s dog, Billie also joined us, and we sat near the furnace to keep warm and
we drank some delicious herbal tea. Now
I am going to bed, to prepare for another long day tomorrow!
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| Baby Goats! |
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| Look at those cute hut houses! They have a furnace, mattress pads, dressers, and a kitchen area inside! |
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Today
Ariel and I woke up around 7, and we washed dishes manually and cut up
tomatoes. We had to set up the store for
a busy Saturday, and I wiped down all the benches and tables for the customers
that came between 10 and 5:30. We were
selling hummus, pita, goat cheese platters with lavne (an Israeli dish that is
cheese in a texture more like yogurt). We also had homemade apple cinnamon
bread we were selling.
Throughout
the day we cleaned the dishes from the customers, and there were so many
families who visited the farm, so there was a lot of cleaning to keep us busy! I
was happy to see how many customers Oren has because it is refreshing to know
the farm is successful! While we waited for work, we wrote in our journals and rested. Ariel sketched Dubi-- I love how artistic she is and how obedient Dubi is! Look at how well he is posing.
It is interesting how time works on a
farm. The day feels a lot longer, and
there is a lot of physical work to do.
It is nice to have a fulfilling day that feels super long and effective,
because I oftentimes feel like I do not accomplish enough all in one day in my
daily lifestyle. Working on the farm
really makes me realize how significant time is and how you can either use time
effectively or throw valuable time away.
At home I was definitely guilty of saying, “I’m bored,” and “there’s
nothing to do,” but during my stay on the farm and Kivunim in general, I am
learning that there is always something that can be done!!!
Yoav and
Amit guided the older goats and some younger goats along the dirt road to the
pasture where they would graze. They
also took the donkey with them, and Billie too!
Yoav was carrying a shepherd’s stick, and I thought he resembled Moshe. As the animals and the men were getting further
and further away, it was a magnificent sight to see the animals following Yoav
so intently and routinely.
In
between cleaning dishes, Ariel and I went to play with the baby goats, and we
saw Snow White sleeping on a baby goat in the play pen. Snow White clearly loves this goat as she was
keeping it safe and warm, and was cuddled up with it!! I wonder is Snow White
thinks she’s a goat; she also sleeps with the baby goats at night. There is an indoor and an outdoor part of the
pen and outside we realized that some baby goats got out of the gated area and
were on the dirt road. We investigated
and determined that they got out through a tiny hole. Baby animals are super
smart and curious. We guided them back
into the pen, and after playing with them a little bit more, we returned to the
store to continue helping out!
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For
dinner we had soup, rice, hummus, pita, salad, and Ben & Jerry’s ice
cream! After we cleaned the dishes and sat
by the fire a little bit. Gal, Matar’s
boyfriend, showed us a special instrument he bought in India called a didgeridoo,
and he was teaching us how to blow into it and make a cool sound! Yoav left
with Amit that night so he could have his day off the next day, meaning Ariel
and I would have our own room for two nights.
We had some tea, and then we went back to our room around 8 to get some
much needed rest!!
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Today we woke up at 6:30, and
although it was freezing, we were efficient and got ready for a day of farm
work quickly! This is a unique
opportunity, and there is no need to complain about living conditions that are
different than our everyday way of life, because part of understanding the
world is immersing oneself into new cultures and environments. We went next
door to Oren’s house for some breakfast! We had a cup of coffee and granola
with fresh goat milk yogurt! It was
absolutely delicious!
Then
Ariel and I split up, Ariel helping Oren milk the goats, and I helped Matar in
the kitchen and I helped Ramadan paint the supporting post green in the middle
of the store! I went up on a ladder, which is great for me because like I said
in previous blog posts, this year I am overcoming my fear of heights!
Then Ariel and I helped everyone
else move the furniture out of the store, because there was hay, a bookcase,
and a children’s slide on one side that we needed to take out by using a
tractor.
Also,
today we helped make 10 AM breakfast, by making shashuka! Shashuka has roasted garlic, onion, peppers,
tomatoes, spices, and eggs on top, and it was really tasty! I felt accomplished
because I would not consider myself to be any type of chef. But with Ariel’s help and Gal’s guidance, we
made quite a yummy meal.
Then
after breakfast Oren asked me to help him take the goats out to the
pasture! I was so excited, and little
did I know that I would be in for a great experience! Yoav usually is the shepherd to the goats,
but since he was not here, other people helped the goats in his place.
As Oren
led the goats with his shepherd’s stick, I moved the goats along and stayed in
the back for any stragglers. Some goats
really did not want to stay with the rest of the gang, and would just stop and
eat whatever they wanted to and forgot to keep up. Today I learned just how difficult it is to
herd the goats when you do not have a personal relationship with them, and it
is difficult for them to be acutely attentive to a stranger, so I am sure they
are not as unruly with Yoav who they know as their everyday shepherd. This experience really taught me just how
hard of a job it is to lead the goats, and how much effort and time goes into
making a relationship and gaining trust with each individual goat. By the end of the day, I think the goats
started listening to me, probably because I had spent the past 5 hours in the
pasture with them. This is another
aspect of herding people probably do not realize; eating and walking around a
pasture gives them sufficient exercise for the day and takes them away from typical
climate of being cooped up in a pen all day.
People may think that 5 hours is a long time for goats to play in the
pasture for, but today I realized how important it is for goats to have a lot
of time to explore nature themselves, in a large area. When we wanted the goats to come, we said
“Boi, Boi, Boi,” which is “Come, Come, Come” in Hebrew, and when the goats were
too far away from the others we would say “Ech, Ech, Ech.”
We sat
down to make some tea at around 2 PM, and Matar and Gal came to help us. We made a fire out of sticks, and we put the
tea pot with fresh herbs onto the fire.
I love how on the farm everything we do is so connected to nature.
After
sitting for a little bit and letting the goats graze some more, Oren and Matar
left, while Gal and I continued to stay with them until 5 PM. The goats moved
around a lot and the pasture is on rocky and hilly terrain so we definitely got
a lot of leg toning after following the goats everywhere they roamed. There are 56 adult goats, 53 female and 3
male, so just imagine keeping track of 56 goats; I do not know how I did it but
I did. The donkey named Petal was also accompanying us, and she was such a
sweet companion. She reminds me of the
donkey from Shrek!
Once it
got to be around 4:30, Gal and I made another fire to keep warm, and we watched
the golden sunset illuminate the sky and dissipate in a short amount of
time. It was beautiful, and we took some
moments to meditate ourselves and take in the wonderful view of animals and
nature. We then had an intellectual conversation
about happiness and being a good person in the larger world. It was a very
interesting conversation. We talked about the responsibility of being a good
shepherd, and how King Solomon in biblical times was prepared to be an
effective leader from the skills he learned as a shepherd who herded
sheep. David had 7 older
brothers, and they all looked physically strong and brawny while
David looked weak. He was a strong
leader, proving that you cannot judge a book by its cover. It is a very inspiring story, and I give a
lot of credit to shepherds.
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| Goats enjoying the sunset |
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| Petal gazing into the sunset |
The time in the pasture with Gal and the goats
passed very quickly, and at 5 it was time to walk the goats back home! Gal was in front saying “Boi” and I was in
back saying “Ech” to the stragglers, and the system worked very well. The goats all walked home with us in a pretty
organized fashion, and they got plenty of nutrients during their time out
eating plants in the pasture. When they
went back to the pen, some of the baby goats ran to their mommies to drink the
goat milk. The rest of the evening was
very low key, and I ate the wonderful chocolate-banana cake Ariel made, and for
dinner we had lentil soup, spaghetti, and tea around the fire pit. Then we made ourselves a fire in our room,
and went to sleep for another early night’s rest.
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| Making some herbal tea in the pasture! |
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| Beautiful Petal |
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| Goats grazing in a pasture |
Monday, September 23, 2013
Today we
woke up at 6:30 and went to Oren’s place for breakfast again. Then I went with Oren to learn how to milk
the goats. It was done in a special part of the shack, and there was a place
for the goats to stay before getting milked, a platform that fit about 10 goats
to get milked, and an area for after they got milked. Not all of the goats had milk in them, but
they went through the procedure anywhere to grow accustomed to the routine. While being milked, the goats ate food to
distract them, and we used a special tube gadget to get milk out of them. We also had to press on their breasts to get
as much out as possible. Some of the
goats also got loose, so we had to catch them.
It was quite an experience, and it was very difficult for me to be stern
with them and push them back where they were supposed to be, but I think this
week has been making me stronger mentally and physically which is good for
me. Oren’s 6-year-old kid also helped
us, because he missed his bus to go to school because he eating cornflakes. I started raking the hay and dirt off the
floor to clean up for the coming Shabbat.
Visitors get to see the goats being milked so we wanted to have a clean
environment for them, and after cleaning I replaced the hay in the baby goat
playpen.
Then I
went with Oren, his son, and Ramadan on the tractor to pick up more rocks to
build another terrace on the other side of the store, and we got huge
rocks. Oren probably took about 15 trips
back and forth to the area where the rocks were, and I waited for them each
time to return. The sun was very strong
and it was a beautiful day, so I got some nice time to reflect myself and sit
in the sun. After all the trips, Ramadan
and I sat on the hood of the tractor, with Oren and his son in the driver’s
seat, and all the rocks in the back, and we drove back home for some lunch!
Ramadan is this very interesting farmer, and on the way home he made me hook
arms with him so I would not fall off during the bumpy ride. He jokes around a lot with Ariel and I, and I
am convinced that he thinks we do everything in an inefficient manner. He corrects us though and teaches us to be
more efficient, which is a great tool for getting a lot of work done each day. Definitely on the farm I am realizing there
is a slow way and a fast way to do every kind of job and one has to use their
common sense to plan out a job in the most effective way possible.
We had
the same typical Israeli lunch, but remember all of this food is 100% fresh and
organic, so the taste never gets old, and every day I am so appreciative for
the amazing food we make together on the farm.
Oh, that is another thing that is so lovely about this farm; there is
such a sense of community here, and we all help each other and look after one
another. I could not ask for better
guides and more patient workers to share this opportunity with, and they all
really contribute to the wealth of knowledge Ariel and I are gaining while on
this farm. I will always remember the amazing camaraderie felt in this farm community. We are like a family, and together every day
we gain lots of wisdom.
After
lunch, I helped make a terrace with Gal and Ramadan on the other side of the
store to even out the project we did the first day on just one side, and we put
in stones one at a time into a position that seemed natural and not
forced. It is fascinating how nature
fits together so well sometimes and I am so glad I got to make the terrace,
because I always wondered the procedure for making one. We also still need to put concrete in the
middle between the two rows of stone walls we made to complete the terrace and
make a smooth sitting area on top; maybe we will do it before we are done
WWOOFing.
Around 3:30 Yoav came back home,
and I cleaned some dishes. My hands are
a lot rougher after almost a week of working on the farm, and they are all
calloused from the long days we have working with hands. I definitely feel a lot stronger mentally and
physically, and it is amazing how a week of farm life has been changing my
mentality to be better.
I then
prepared dinner and cut up some onions and garlic for tomato sauce, and Gal,
who has a lot of cooking experience, taught me how to cut garlic and onions
very small in a very quick way. Then we
cut up mushrooms, eggplant, onions, and peppers that we would use as topping
for pizza we would make, and we made dough from the grains and separated them
into small balls. We also had goat
cheese with sesame to add to the dough after we rolled it out into a pizza
pie. Gal and I probably made at least 20
pizzas, and we also made (that special kind of bread) with olive oil, zatar,
and salt after we ran out of the tomato sauce.
Yoav was cooking the pizzas by the stone oven, and Matar would feed Gal
and me the pizza once some were made. It
was so fun to make the pizzas, and I think after this week I will be better at
cooking than I was at the start of this adventure. We ate the banana chocolate cake that Ariel
made, and like always we had tasty tea served with our dinner. After dinner, I did the dishes, and I am so
used to cleaning a lot of dishes at once now.
The special skill of farm life is that living on a farm you want to
maximize time and work as hard as you possibly can. This is definitely a skill
I am going to work to achieve in my everyday life when this week ends. I am going to sleep now and it is only around
8:30 PM! Farm life has early nights
which are a treat for me.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Today when we woke up Ariel
and I were forced into taking a 3-person selfie with Petal because she asked for it...we were glad to make the memory! Following that adorable experience, we went to the goat milking section of the farm to help Yoav. I helped Yoav one time to get goats onto the
platform, and then Matar came to help him with the milking. Ariel and I swept chicken feathers, hay, and
poop off the floor, and then after we had our yogurt with granola
breakfast. I cleaned some dishes, and
helped prepare the normal 10 AM morning meal.
After the meal, Ariel and I changed the dry toilet in the outhouse; it
was an experience!
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| Petal, our best friend! |
After we
went with Yoav to herd the goats, and it was nice to go with the everyday
shepherd. He is very good at his job,
and the goats listen to him well. He
gives them a lot of freedom to go around the pasture, and when he calls them
they come to him. There is a blind and
deaf goat so Ariel and I had to guide it so it would keep up with the others
when they roamed around, and one of the goats has a broken leg so we also were
patient with it. Two mommy goats stayed
back because they are pregnant and are about to give birth! I hope tomorrow they have some babies for our
last full day on the farm! Dubi came with
us today to the pasture, and is good at making sure the goats stay in the area
Yoav wants them to be in. Petal also
guides the goats, and I asked Yoav what the main purpose of having the donkey
on the farm is; he told us that once the donkey gets bigger, the designated
shepherd will ride her while in the pasture!
Also, Petal has a special garment she wears that has a pouch and holds
the baby goats when she sits down. Like
I think I mentioned before, I love how all kinds of animals on a farm
coexist! Different cultures of humanity
have a lot to learn from a farm’s heterogeneous mixture of animals. Homogeneously we are all just animals and
living beings.
Then Gal
came for the later shift, and Yoav wanted Ariel and me to come back with him to
the central farm store to help him. So
today I realized that Oren’s vision is to renovate the whole shop, and so we
took out the rugs that were on the dirt floor, and we started putting down new
soil Yoav brought to us with a tractor and we used a rake to even it out. We would be getting ready to make a concrete
floor. The farm men have also been
taking a lot of measurements to make sure each job gets done as accurately as
possible.
Some
customers came to the shop for an afternoon lunch, and Matar prepared the food
while I served it to the couples. We set
up a picnic table for them away from the construction, so they would be able to
enjoy a more pleasant and private meal.
For
dinner we had soup and I cleaned the dishes with Airel. We had to take the fire pit out because of
the renovation, so we went back to the hut house for a nice fire to keep us
warm. Now I am going to bed! Last day
tomorrow; I cannot believe how quickly the week of farming has occurred! I would not have wanted to spend the first
week of my winter break any other way!
Oh, and Merry Christmas Eve to all my Christian friends. Ariel and I sang some Christmas carols to
remember the jolly holiday spirit felt in December back at our American homes.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Today was our last full day
on the farm! We woke up at 6:30, had
some coffee, and I asked Yoav if he wanted help in the garden. I spent the morning with a pitchfork to
loosen up the soil and took out the roots of the eggplant plant by pulling them
out with my hands. It’s funny because
this is the work I envisioned doing on the farm on the daily. I am so glad that I got many farm experiences
during this past week nonetheless!
After
the uprooting process, Yoav also finished milking the goats, and Ariel took a
break from working with grain, and we took a break for lunch. Later, I went back to work in the garden, and
taking out roots can be a difficult job if they are deep in the ground. Next I put clean hay fertilizer between the
rows of plants, and I thought about how much I love the drip irrigation system
Israel invented (the method is an effective way to water plants worldwide).
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| Ariel working hard, and making an intimate connection with the ground. We love nature! |
When
Yoav went to herd the goats, Ramadan told me that I was not supposed to be
using the new hay but that I was supposed to be using the dirty hay on the
bottom of the goat pen. I have heard
before that manure is oftentimes used for fertilizer, but by being on the farm
and doing the dirty work myself, I started thinking about how it was
interesting to think that plants we would be eating were fertilized by
waste. If I did not spend a week on the
farm I may have thought that was a disgusting concept, but now it makes sense
to me how the food and organic waste cycle makes sense. It is
definitely a natural way of doing things, and if anything the week I
spent on the farm I felt my healthiest!
After
putting the fertilizer down, Ramadan told me to walk over to where the eggs
were being incubated underneath the hay stack and to retrieve them. We had to use a flashlight to see the eggs
down there, and I accidentally broke one when I tried to pull one out with a
mini pitchfork. He laughed at me, and it
was a funny experience. My failure was followed by three successes, when with much focus and ease I was able to
retrieve three eggs! I also took the cutest picture of Snow White who was in the goat pen.
The rest
of the day was relaxing, Ariel and I painted Hebrew signs, and the sunset was breathtaking. During the sunset Gal was playing his guitar
and singing songs with his beautiful voice.
The sunset was blue, pink, orange, and yellow, and it was a perfect
painting. We heard Yoav’s faint whistling
from the pasture, indicating that he was guiding the goats home from the
pasture.
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| Ariel, Snow White, and the painted sign! |
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| A shepherd and his obedient goats! |
When he
brought them in, Ariel and I had the job to get all the baby goats from outside
and to bring them inside for the night.
A little fast white-colored goat just did not want to go. It probably took Ariel and I ten minutes to
get the goat inside. Ramadan was
cracking up while watching us.
After we
had our last dinner and thanked all of the workers for the amazing experience
we shared with them. I am so happy I
choose this farm for my first WWOOFing experience. Here we were not just given one job and did
not just have one farm experience, instead we got an idea of the diverse jobs
that need to be done on a farm to make it run smoothly. From cooking to building to planting, we did
it all! Ariel and I definitely would be
interested in visiting the farm again, and I hope to see the renovation
complete upon my return!
I will
leave you all with an inspiring story:
Matar told me that Oren used to be
a building contractor, and owning a farm was always a dream of his. It is so inspiring that he eventually
followed his heart once he earned enough money to make his dream into a
reality.
Matar arrived a week before Ariel
and I did, and the first night she arrived at Adulam during the snowstorm,
everyone was cuddled up in Oren’s cozy hut house around the fire. Oren was saying how happy he was to be living
where he was and in the process of building a farm from the grassroots (he started Adulam in 2011, and it has been growing ever since). He mentioned how he has a relaxing lifestyle even though every day he works hard and experiences new and sometimes challenging
adventures. Enjoying his modest hut house,
he told the workers how he believes families try to work so hard under stressful environments
and save so much money to plan out what they think will be a peaceful vacation.
On the contrary, everyday he is waking up to a continuous lifestyle of serenity; he has
nature and an amazing view all around him. Sometimes people just forget to separate from the
hustle and bustle of everyday life for a few moments, and should take time to reflect and
enjoy nature’s beauty. You do not need to
wait for a vacation to experience peacefulness, because it is at humanity’s fingertips every
single day in nature! Oren lives a very notable and
happy lifestyle, and I am glad I had the opportunity to WWOOF on this farm.
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