Advertisement
Published: April 16th 2010
Edit Blog Post
I've just spent almost the last month in a town called Puerto Morelos right south of Cancun, north of Playa del Carmen (which happen to be the 2 fastest growing cities in the world). Puerto Morelos is the oldest town on the shore and still retains its small-town vibe. I WWOOFed on a farm in the Zona Urbana which is actually the opposite of what it sounds, in the rural jungle/bush-mosquito-ridden area of town. The community is great with lots of kids and more hippies. I spent my time working in the gardens, helping to build a wood-fired brick oven, taking care of the animals, and going to the beach a few times a week - also to get fish tacos and a paleta while in town 😊
The highlights:
We had a chocolate factory going, meaning that we bought chocolate seeds, roasted , peeled, roasted, ground, and then made chocolate balls with chili and ginger to sell. We did pretty well and it subsidized our cost of food so I ended up living on about $2-3 dollars a day which saved me a lot of money. Mmmmmm...fresh homemade chocolate....
The owner, Renato, is a didjeridoo player and
Renato (the owner) is a sculptor
and does massive works like this, pretty impressive got me into it. He said it took him 6 months to learn circular breathing, but I practiced for hours a day and got it in 2 weeks yahoooo it feels good to play an instrument again!! He made one for me out of PVC, twisted with heat and covered in sand to take home with me.
It seems that I find circus stuff wherever I go. There was a friend in the community who teaches classes to kids so she lent me a hula hoop and during our equinox party we taught kids trapeze and silk.
I started to read for fun again, I finished 3 books on this trip. Fun to explore the book world again!
We had a temazcal on-site, which is the Mexican version of a sweat-lodge. And how I LOVE sweating!!! Bring on the heat!! It's a process to build a fire and heat the volcanic rocks for 2-3 hours, then do a ceremony and bring the rocks inside and pour scented water (we had tons of lemongrass so we prepared buckets of lemongrass tea before-hand) over the rocks inside. Ahhhh, glorious!
I became a cat AND dog lover. There is
The cenote
that we jumped in everyday with the dogs this pit bull on the farm that becomes your best friend in a second and is really loveable. I mean, he just has this killer-dog instinct and also likes to chase the front bumpers of cars. But other than that, I fell in love. It seems the animals I've met on this trip have had a large impact on me.
AND now I'm back in California at Clara's house, the house I departed from. I'm definitely in culture shock from all the cars and people and consumerism and capitalism after living in the bush for a month not having a clock or watches and just following the rhythm of the sun and our stomachs. I'm not sure if I'll entirely adjust back to this reality. But for now I'm quite enjoying all the food variety (as always) California provides. And now it's time to get a job and save up for the next trip! Hasta la proxima!
Mon
Advertisement
Tot: 0.084s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 12; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0434s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb