Gracias a la vida...

Guajalote: A short colectivo ride took us much farther from the city than it appeared. We stuck our fingers deep into fluffy, black soil, the earth, and plucked small hierbas from the places where they were not wanted. This was how we spent our morning, by volunteering in an organic garden outside of San Cristobal, where we weeded marigold and pea patches (Pea plant leaves are so very soft), planting little onions, and spending an hour and a half cleaning soil by grabbing clumps and pulling slimy pink earth worms out. At one point, the garden owner showed up and told us about their fermenting fertilizer project. "Super mugra" or "shit tea", as they called it, consists of lots of fresh cow manure, milk, sugar, and trace minerals that are necessary for the soil but very difficult to obtain in organic form. Thanks to this recipe, invented by a Brazilian farmer, after a few months the farm will have enough to last all year.

Between our tasks, we sat and conversed with the garden attendants, Esteban and Salvador. We talked about what foods grow in Michigan, how the weather is, how much people are paid there and how much is the rent, the wall being built on the border between Mexico and the U.S., different types of life and work. We all decided that work is good.

Because God is great, our playing in the dirt and sitting around in a garden was rewarded with a complimentary feast. The garden belongs to a fancy vegetarian, mostly organic, restaurant in downtown San Cris, and for a few hours of work we were able to enjoy a grand buffet. With dirt under our fingernails and down our necks, we ate and thanked the universe for it.

Mira: Here are some of my pictures, updated as can be: http://picasaweb.google.com/andreanvogler