Early Mountain Morning

Getting up early every morning has become a comfort. I wake up, look out of the tiny window in my room and am usually jolted awake to a foggy, mysterious, enchanting view...Many of my photos are taken out of my window when the sun is gently waking up the day.

This is our mountain dog that lives at our house! She is posing...

One morning I woke up and went out onto the front porch and a light mist was moving over the hills. I looked out of the window on the other side of our house facing the other direction, and there was no rain, only sunlight and a glowing rainbow...I was sipping on a hot cup of coffee, staring out of the window at this, and a sheep walked into view and started pooping right after this picture was taken. It was actually quite hysterical for me...Isn't it funny when something like that happens and you are the only one to see it, chuckle to yourself and then move on with your life...now it's documented. I will forever remember that moment. haha

WWOOFing

The director of La Confluencia keeps a blog with updates of the farm etc. He has been taking a lot of photos of the Wwoofers. So to put names with faces, I am posting some of the photos here.

We enjoyed an awesome potluck in the lodge on Sunday night. Julia made homemade pizzas, and there were also delicious fresh cheeses, jamon de Argentina, olives, guacamole, freshly baked french bread de Ellie, beer made in El Bolson and red wine. Here we all are, sitting around the table enjoying great company. I am in the red shirt with my back to the camera with Julia to my left and Michael from Oklahoma to my right. Ellie, the director, is next to him. Marlon, Lauren from NYC, and Emily (who can't be seen) from Miami. We are the team!!! Getting things ready for Spring and sharing our cute little cabin, getting acquainted pretty quickly. Just last night we all bundled up into our sleeping bags and watched Wall-E on Lauren's computer. It was very appropriate...how to change the world? Organic farming.

We do alot of work in the gardens outside of the lodge. Here we are pruning the rasberry bushes! It was coooold that morning.

The 3 of us standing on the front porch of our house. I am explaining something of the utmost importance to Marlon from Australia and Julia from Buenos Aires.

Cajon de Azul

Yesterday, Julia and I went for a hike about halfway up to a refugio in the mountains nearby. We crossed the Rio Azul, then walked for about 45 minutes arriba...UP. We came to a gorgeous overlook and sat down on a huge boulder that was jutting out of the side of a mountain. From our viewpoint we could see our little house down in the valley in the distance and the farm, and we could see the entire mountain range. The sky was so dramatic, the weather so nice, we sat there on that rock for almost two hours just talking about life.

That is our little house that i'm pointing to.

And in the next picture, our house is in the bottom right corner of the photo.

How cool is that?!

Could the sky be any more dramatic and photogenic??

La vida

Argentina! The life in the backcountry of Patagonia...wow, I love saying that. I need that reminder sometimes..Hey! Sarah! Those mountains that you are looking at...those are the Andes. Hey, Sarah! Wake up...you are in Patagonia...amazing.

We hiked down to this gorge where the clear waters of the Rio Azul flow...amazing. We sat and stared for hours.

so clear, so cold, so blue

a favorite- Rio Blanco

I'm really getting used to life here on the farm. The work days are long, hard, and rewarding. The experience has definitely changed since Julia and I arrived. For one, I make a killer fire now in the mornings. We now have a full house. Marlon from Australia arrived a week ago, Michael from Oklahoma arrived last night and Lauren and Emily one from Miami the other NY arrived today! I like everyone..this is going to be interesting in such close quarters. We are going to adjust though, and have a great time I suspect.

footbridge over the Rio Azul

I wake up early in the mornings and 'charge the hill' to get my blood flowing and to warm me up. Charlie the dog has really gotten used to me, so she is extra frisky in the mornings and we play. I feed her treats and she runs around like crazy all excited to have new friends.

Rio Azul..view from the lodge

The Rio Blanco and the Rio Azul are our favorite relaxing spots. It's so nice to chill on the rocky banks, listen to the water flow, and breath in the mountain air.

I've become the translator for Julia, although Michael that just arrived speaks Spanish pretty well. My Spanish has improved immensly. We laugh quite a bit, and take on a new 'inside joke' every day it seems.

The days are really beginning to warm up. When the sun is out, we shed our layers and basque in her rays. It's sonice while working to glance up every now and then to see the gorgeous peaks of Cerro Piltriquitron towering over us. Today, Julia and I hiked up an adjacent mountain and got to the top for an incredible mirador (viewpoint)...I'll post pictures in a little bit.

A lot of the seeds that we've planted in the greenhouse are already sprouting. Lettuce, onions, lots of different varieties of flowers, beets, cabbage. Out in the gardens we are weeding, pruning and silting compost...basically making preparations for Springtime. Life for a new season here, oxygen, sunlight, love.

Sunday (tomorrow)...because we now have a full house of WWOOFers, we are going to have a fiesta at the lodge with everyone. Potluck! I think tonight, we will have a bonfire outside of our little mountain house, take the mega bean bag and stare at the brilliant stars. It's so dark here at night, the stars light your path, and it's such a different sky than I'm used to. If my Dad were here he could name every constellation. Since he isn't here to tell me, I create my own.

MMM, we had a delicious dinner last night. Rice with a tomato base sauce, bell peppers, carrots, onions, eggplant, potatoes, and cheese all baked to perfection.

So..2 weeks down, 6 to go. Everyday I think about my future in Japan with my new husband. What's next? After this? who knows...A beautiful new life will finally begin, with someone that I love more than anyone in the world. Everything about Argentina is wonderful...except this aching loneliness I feel when I think about Adam. Even though I'm constantly surrounded by new and interesting people, things to do, and friendly faces, I miss him so much it hurts. That is the only hard part really. So when I think of him, I just go outside, stare into the mountains and think about how much there is to look forward to...and when Adam and I will be back to Argentina together to scale the Andes. :)

Future life, future wife

OK everyone...I think it's official. The Air Force has posted the location where Adam and I will be based...

druuum rollll please ! ! ! !

OKINAWA, JAPAN on Kadena Air Force Base!!!!! It's a small island off the Southern coast of Japan. YAAAYYYY SO excited for what the future holds!

私は私の夫を愛する

My farmer face

Per Adam's request, I am posting pictures of myself in Argentina. I realize there aren't any...so here you go...my attempts that I or someone else along this journey have taken of me...

Mostly Bariloche and NahuelHuapi

Rio Azul...aaaah, many more of these to come...

I will try to integrate more pics of me as I continue...HELLO EVERYONE!

Sabrina

Animales

I love waking up to see the sun rising behind the mountains and the sheep grazing on the hill...so tranquil.

And I smile so big when we get back from a long day of working to see Sabrina at the top of the hill moo-ing at us!!!

Hard work gorgeous view

Wow...working on a farm is hard work. So worth it though...I look forward at the end of the day to crawl into my warm sleeping bag (thank you REI, thank you thank REI Halo 30 degree down sleeping bag, I love you so much) We work from 10 am until around 1, then have some lunch and a break, then go back to work until 5. So the days are long but fun. It's Julia, and Marlan (a new guy from Australia) and I who are becoming pretty close. We live in close quarters...what can I say...it's tight. Another guy is coming on Friday from Oklahoma, and 2 more girls on Saturday..it is going to be reeeally tight. I really need my alone time. I usually go for a little hike on my own after work each day. I have been reading quite a bit. Finished the book that I brought and there were books left in the house where we live. Now i'm reading an ancient version of the The Catcher in the Rye...it's been a while.

The weather is so funny here. One day the sun will be out and while we work we are constantly shedding layers. Then the next day, we can see our breath its so cold. Weird.

This is the new casa. It’s all wood, and quite cozy when the furnace gets nice and hot. I’m getting much better at making a fire. We just got some diesel fuel, so we will mix it with ash to make fire starters…yess, because early in the morning, it would be nice to make a fire quickly…I really like the smell of the house..it’s very campy. Most of the time I smell like a campfire…I’m beginning not to notice anymore.

Life on the Farm

I LOVE life on the farm...except there is no wifi :(

But I will be posting pictures soon...in the meantime, my everyday life so far goes something like this:

I am staying in a little log cabin

that is on the side of a mountain.

I have been living and working with an Argentine girl named Julia, who is 27, and we are very much

alike. we joke a lot...in Espanol. I have been speaking 90% of the time in Spanish, about 10% of the time in English with Ellie, the

director of the farm. Julia and I live, together, eat together, deal with all the problems in our little

cabin together. She taught me how to make wheat bread in less than 20 minutes, and it was delicious!

Last night for dinner we had hot bread a la Sarah with butter and honey...mmm, melt in your mouth. We had like half a loaf.

Every morning I wake up to the sound of roosters crowing, cows mooing and sheep baaa-ing. I put my jeans inside my sleeping bag to get them warm, then I get dressed (while still in my sleeping bag) and get up, I sleep really well at night on a mattress with that wonderful wonderful sleeping bag, thank you REI!! So warm!! I gather firewood and make a fire (or attempt to) and try to get the place warmed up. I boil water on the stove and make coffee...and usually try to eat a little desayuno, (breakfast), its usually pan y miel, (bread and honey). the honey here is delicious. Julia has been helping me so much with my Spanish, and it has all come back to me! We communicate very well! She speaks no English at all, so i've been teaching her some English. I made her breakfast this morning, eggs with ham and onions with fresh bread and coffee. mmm! We eat well!

The house itself reminds me a lot of Gramaw and Grandpaw's little log cabin in Mississippi...except for this place has the most amazing views..on both sides are the gorgeous Patagonian Andes, peaks with snow...so gorgeous. The lodge and director's house is down below...about a 15 minute hike down a steep road..all of this is situated on a steep incline. We live in a cabin that is near the top, close to all the animals. There is a cow named Sabrina who sits at the top of the hill and moo's at us all the time to bring her hay...she is so precioso...

I pet her everyday around her horns and on her ears...she licks me like crazy with her long tongue...its really coarse and green from all the grass she eats. I love Sabrina and I never thought I'd love being licked by a cow so much. There is also a dog with a hurt leg that lives at our house named Charlie. She is so sweet, and very timid, but warming up to us slowly. I find it very comforting in the mornings and when we get back to house from working to meet Charlie with her tail wagging and head down...always afraid that we will scold her, but my touch is so gentle and she likes me. There are also sheep always grazing...when I look out of my window in the morning there are usually sheep right there! Black faces with thick white coats. Babies come in November...I might have to stay to see a birth!!

The electricity went out the other night, for no reason, which I think is a normal occurence...good thing I brought both headlamps...we went to bed early that night.

Working is a learning experience. We've silted compost, planted flower, lettuce and cabbage seeds, built a canal in a garden with a very steep incline, weeded rasberry bushies and just helped around with normal everyday chores. We've been working a lot in the greenhouse and the gardens. I'm learning so much!

A new person named Marlan from Australia gets here today...I have a feeling I will be a translator because he doesn't speak Spanish...so that should be fun.

We went on a hike today to the Rio Blanco and the Rio Azul...both live up to their names. There are also these tiny little wooden and wire suspensions bridges, big enough for one person, that cross the rivers...crazy, and scary!! The rivers are soooo clear and its water flowing down from the top of the mountains, so its all melted snow and glacier water. I found a place today that will be 'my place' that sits right on the river, with gorgeous blue water flowing over the smooth rocks, the mountains incline steeply from the banks and its a little hidden paradise. There is NO ONE up here...only one family with a farm next door and us..at night it is so quiet and dark; the stars are so bright...Totally different sky than I'm used to staring at.

Well, there will be photos added to this post soon. Probably tomorrow.

In the meantime, I'm going to make some dinner for the new arrival. I think there might be rain soon.

Lifted

woah...blown AWAY



Going up! Yesterday I walked for about 7 miles along the coast of the lake. The views have taken my breath and replaced it with the freshest mountain air, brisk and alive. It's incredible here...

I walked to another nearby village where there is a skylift up to the top of Cerro Campanaria...This mountain boasts the best views from all around, and I later learned was voted as one of the top 10 scenic views of the world by National Geographic...how did I end up here? God tell me...what did I do to deserve this?!!