Final days of Arta Bio....

which will live im my memory forever. All said and done, Arta Bio was a great experience! While it might not have been ideal, it was certainly interesting!!

I have to admit that I became a bit disheartened while weeding kiwi's that admittedly had not been weeded yet this year....they just have too much to care for to do it right, and more than they could possibly use. If the aim is self-sufficiency, they'll need to scale back quite a bit! Aside from these moments of "why even bother?", I did end up enjoying the experience. I made a friend in Barbara, was called a "thinker" by Giorgos, and have been told that I am "allowed" to come back and volunteer again any time. LOL ;)

So let's see....where did we leave off...ahh, weeding. Yes, weeding....well that didn't change. We continued to weed, except when we planted spring onions - also called scallions where I'm from and I use them to cook, not plant - but it was good work. We moved on to weeding the Kiwi's, which turned out to be amusing....we played "find the kiwi plant" and took photos of our triumphs over the grasses which were taller than all of us. It also happened that Thali and Ludwig (the dogs) brought home another little pup that day. She was delicious! Adorable, soft, quiet, playful, mischevious...she followed us to the kiwi field and tried to eat the leaves of the plants, sat right where I was trying to weed, and would steal your glove as fast as you put it down....we named her Kiwi, and adopted her as our own. Unfortunately it only took a couple days for the fleas to find her and our hosts to put her on a leash (which she didn't like one bit!) but we still just loved her. Good grief - three dogs and two cats kept at a home that no one other than volunteers inhabit at this point....I only wish I could have taken them with me.

Anke's parents arrived a few days before we left. They came out to the Straw-bale house and we introduced ourselves. Anke's mom was the only one who spoke any english, but her granmother wanted to talk to us, so we smiled and nodded :) What was strange, and a little uncomfortable was that one of the first things Anke's mom said to us was that it was very difficult for them to visit her there on the farm. Her disapproval shining through, perhaps looking for validation from us. I, instead, focused on the beauty of the farm...the sunsets, the herb garden, how much Anke had accomplished in such a short time....it really made me appreciate (even more than I already do) how supportive my parents are of my decisions - even when they aren't the best decisions. Having them there made everything quite a production! Not only did they clean the house - it looked completely different than when we'd arrived - but Anke showered, wore clean clothes, and catered to them. We were invited for lunch on Monday (they arrived Sunday afternoon) and had a fabulous meal with wine and even homemade, vegan ice cream! Frozen bananas put through the juicer, covered in homemade cherry sauce (mom - I know you have a ton of bannanas in the freezer...now we know what to do with 'em), beyond delicious! The following day we made lunch for oursleves, which was actually pretty nice. I made curried pumpkin and chick peas with veggies....good stuff :) Made me excited to be able to cook while we're at Casas Karen.

Her family worked while at the farm...cleaning wheat, preparing corn kernals, cleaning pumpkin seeds....her father even helped us weed on the last day! I think he'd grown restless from all the sit-down work he'd been doing. I really enjoyed one of her grandmothers...even though I scarcely had any idea what she was saying, her good nature was infectious and I felt that she truly wanted to be happy for and supportive of Anke. It was nice to see....she loved her enough to put aside judgement and just find a way to be happy for her.

We were planning to go the Arta fair the afternoon of our last day of work (mostly just vendors selling their wares), but it rained so that didn't work out. We spent our last working hours dancing on chick peas (to get them out of their shells). It was probably the most fun we've had working :) The rain was incredible...it just didn't stop! It rained and rained and rained....the sound was fairly soothing on the tin roof and it meant that there was no loud music - not too shabby. It also meant our plans of fig and grape picking the afternoon or morning before we left was out of the question - which was too bad since we'd been eying those figs....but I figure we'd had plenty while we were there. What's funny is that I've never been a big fig fan...probably because I've only had the purple/black kind and I like the fresh green ones much better. You never really know if you like something until you've had it fresh, I suppose.

During our last days working, I wondered around humming the tune of "favorite things" from the Sound of Music, making up silly little versus that related to Arta Bio. Adam and Barbara chimed in after a while with a few lines of their own, and we decided to write our fearless hosts a funny little ditty that went like this: (If you don't know the tune, try looking it up online...it'll make reading the song make a bit more sense)

Ode to Arta Bio

Sunrises, sunsets and trips to the sea,
Lemon Verbena to put in our tea.
Blackberry picking and killing mosquitos,
olive bread, fresh figs, and yellow tomatoes.
Muesli and orange juice that Giorgos brings...these are a few of our favorite things.

When mosquitos bite, while I'm weeding,
when I'm feeling stiff and sore.
I think of a few of my favorite things,
and I couldn't ask for more!

Giorgos' joking and Anke's teaching,
exchange of knowledge without all the preaching. (a bit of a stretch :)
Pumkin and curry and ratatatoulli, (yes, it's mispelled on purpose so it fit)
banana ice cream with cherries all gooey.
Muesli and orange juice that Giorgos brings...these are a few of our favorite things.

When the bathroom leaks, when it's raining,
when I'm feeling cold and wet.
I think of a few of my favorite things,
that never make me fret!

Kiwi and Ludwig and Thali and geckos,
meals with Dimitri are always...(pause)...mmm, NOSTRIMOS!!!
The Sound of Music and other great classics
a sturdy straw-bale house, we've seen George's tactics.
Muesli and orange juice that Giorgos brings...these are a few of our favorite things.

When the disco beats, while we're sleeping,
when we're feeling tired and sad.
We think of a few of our favorite things,
Arta Bio ain't so bad!

It was a smashing success! They took a photo of us singing, laughed throughout the song and cheared when we'd finished. We gave them the song, written out on scrap paper we found at the house and signed by all of us. Anke said it was the nicest gift a volunteer had ever given them, and I believe her. They really seemed touched - evidenced by the fact that Giorgos didn't charge me for the fax I sent that night (he's always scheming for a way to make a buck!) Dimitry loved it too, and the next morning Grigorios asked us to sing it with him so he could get the tune right. Needless to say, we were glad we'd taken the time to write it, and that we weren't too bashful to perform ;)

The morning we left went much too quickly, but no one likes drawn out goodbyes anyway. Dimitry offered to drive us to the bus stop...said it was a pleasure and told us again how much he liked us, which meant a lot coming from him - he's genuine, gentle, bright and engaging....a true gentleman! After our quick hugs and words of well wishes we were told again that we were welcome back anytime. Who knows...maybe one day. I'd be curious to see what's become of the farm after a few years time.

I know our experience at Casas Karen will certainly be much different....but it's all about the experience. Currently, we're experiencing Italy. So far, so good. We've had both pizza and gelato (yes they make some without milk) already...tomorrow - limonchello ;) I'll keep you posted. Until then, lots of love and hugs!

Lor