hola mis amigos!!!
so, i hope everyone had a nice christmas or hannukah or winter break, whatever you had. and i hope everyone is planning wonderful new year's parties! and wishing i was there....sometimes i wish i was there, and other times i wish all you people were here, and mostly i'm just having a really good time.
now, i'm in Sella, which is about 10 minutes inland from La Villa Joyosa, which is about an hour north of Alicante, which is pretty far south on the eastern coast of Spain. So i've been here for about 2 weeks. This place is called La Huerta de Gloria. I am living with a family, on their farm. They grow olives, mostly, and other fruits, like oranges and avocados. They also have a guesthouse, hosting people who want to go climbing, sea kayaking, or hiking. We are in very beautiful mountains, not too high, but there are lots of high mountains around us. About a week ago, there was a big storm here, raining at the house, but it snowed up on the tops of the mountains. We drove up there, and played in the snow, throwing snowballs, and we made a snowman, until the snowplow came, and we had to save it as fast as we could by moving it to the other side of the road. There are 2 kids here, Dylan is 3, and Isabella is 5, and i spend a lot of time hanging out with them, when i am not helping with the guesthouse, cooking, cleaning, and serving meals.
When i first got here, they had already finished the olive harvest, which they told me was a good thing, because it was hard work. But i helped them finish the last of the filtering of the olives because there's a lot of leaves and branches and other stuff. They harvest olives by putting nets on the ground under the trees, and the wind knocks them all down, and whatever doesn't fall, they hit the branches with sticks, i think.
That was the first day, and the only day i've actually done any farm work. Except tomorrow, i think i will help sow some garlic with Violeta's father (the kids' grandfather).
A couple days after i arrived here, a group of 8 guys from England came to go climbing and kayaking. I got to go climbing twice, which was great, because i had never climbed before. And now i don't know why since i was in boulder for 3 years. But anyway, the first climb i did was a 5, and it was really hard but i did it. The next day, i tried a 5+, just to see if i could do it, but i couldn't. I kept falling and slamming against the rocks (for those of you who don't know anything about climbing, there were ropes and harnesses involved, don't worry) The guys told me they would have been really surprised if i had been able to do it on my second day climbing.
I didn't go kayaking because there weren't enough boats, but that's okay. Now, Johnny and Violetta are on a 3 day kayak trip up the coast with a group of people. So i'm helping the grandparents watch the kids, and getting the place ready for a big group that's coming on the 30th for the New Year.
My first time away from home on Christmas was actually really nice. Papa Noel came, and even i got a few presents. I helped the kids make presents for their parents and grandparents, and i made some toys for the kids too.
It is really beautiful here, and the weather is a lot better here than the last place. I am not speaking as much Spanish here because Johnny's from South Africa, and Violeta and the kids speak really good english, so we always speak english. Violeta's grandmother only speaks spanish, so i speak to her sometimes in spanish, and i practice my spanish sometimes with the kids as well, but they speak english to me.
I will be here for one more week, i think. And then i'm going to Ibiza for the rest of January. Ibiza is an island of the east coast of Spain. Anytime i tell people i'm going there, they ask, "to party?" because Ibiza is famous for raves and tons of all-night clubs and parties, but i think that's mostly in the summer. I'm going to a farm, with goats. i love goats. but maybe i will party one night or two. After Ibiza, i think i might go all the way to the canary islands, because i heard from a nice guy from holland with a backpack and speaking english, that there is a rainbow gathering there. i missed the one in colorado, so i think i'll try to go to this one. anyone wanna come?
So, Happy New Year everyone, i love and miss you all. i wish i could write e-mails to all of you or call you, but that is impossible. that is why i have this blog. but if you e-mail me, i promise i'll write back. hi-cee@wildmail.com
oh, and i learned how to juggle, but i need to practice. all we have to juggle are oranges, so i haven't practiced in while because i got tired of eating oranges after i dropped them too many times.
oh, and one day i promise i'll put so many pictures on this thing, but not this time.

SO...
oh, i feel like i have so much to say, but not much time...not enough time to really say everything that is happening here...well, i am still really loving wwoofing. everyday is different, and everyday, i can´t believe that i am here, living with this family in spain. okay. well, i´m not really in spain. people keep reminding me of that when they are speaking catalan, and i don´t understand. i tell them i speak a little spanish, and then they tell me, ¨but you are in Catalunya, not Spain¨ okay, well, then i am going to spain in a few days. but until then, i am soaking up as much as i can of catalunya, even though it is really starting to feel like winter is coming.
i have a little chant i sing at least a few times a day:
hace frio
hace frio
no me gusta
hace frio
(it´s cold
it´s cold
i don´t like it
ít´s cold) mas o menos

it is really laid-back here. i work a lot, but i like it because the family is really nice, and i´m having a great time. of course i want to give them something in return. it is an exchange. i laugh a lot here. there are parrots landing on our shoulders while we eat. they are eating octupus, snails, and rabbit, amongst other things. they took one of the other wwoofers and me to the olive museum which was fun. we got to see all different kinds of olive presses for making oil, and saw some really old olive trees, one (dead) was 2000 years old.
the other 2 wwoofers and i went to a movie a week or 2 ago, called The Take. It is a documentary done by a couple Canadians about the people who work in factories that get closed down or abandoned. They take over the factories to run them themselves, cooperatively. I was really inspired, and sometimes depressed by the way the goverment/police try to stop them from doing this. The people just want to work in good conditions. Anyway, you should see it if you can. It´s half in english, and half in Spanish with subtitles. of course, when i saw it, the subtitles were in spanish during the english part.
i think i mentioned before that i got to go to the circus, which i really liked, even though it was in Catalan. Usually it didn´t really matter what was being said.
On one of my days off, i went for a walk in the park which is basically right next to their house. There is a beautiful river, and ducks and egrets and other birds. Even though i don´t like the cold, i really love autumn, with all the different color leaves covering the ground. And Pusa (which means flea), one of the dogs, came with me for the whole walk.
I´m realizing that wwoofing in the fall and winter is not really the best idea, which is why i´m making my way south. But i do a lot of raking leaves, which is actually a nice break from this huge hole we´re digging (for the pyramid i told you about before). I have just found where i´m going next. It´s a place near Alicante and Valencia, an adventure center/guesthouse. I´ll be picking olives for a while, and helping with groups coming. And maybe, just maybe, i might get to go kayaking. we´ll see. and then i think i´m going to ibiza after that.
but it´s not time to go yet, and when i do go, i will miss el xop. hanging out in the kitchen, eating, or putting olives in jars with red wine vinegar for preserving, listening to Xavier´s favorite radio station, which luckily is classic rock/oldies. He was humming along to Cindy Lauper´s, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, and i told him what the words were. He said, sometimes it´s better not to know the words.
if you want to see some pictures, since i still don´t have any to share with you, you can go to the website, which is www.elxop.com (i think). it´s all in catalan, so even if you know spanish, good luck figuring out what it says. maybe if you know both spanish and french really well, you´ll be able to figure it out.
so, that´s all for now. i wish i could give you all big hugs. i hope everyone is doing well, and healthy, and happy...
hasta luego

hey people...
i don´t have much time at all really to write this. i have been busy looking for the next farm i´m going to. i like it here at el xop, but the other wwoofers have left and it´s getting cold again. i have begun to realize that i am allergic to cold. but it is still beautiful here, especially the sunsets, and i am learning so much spanish, even though i´m still not very good. and Nuri took me to the circus the other night which was awesome. i think maybe i should be in a circus. too bad i don´t have any circus skills.
well, i promise i´ll write a really long one soon, but i can´t do pictures until i find someone with an adapter so i can recharge my camera battery.
hasta luego