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Published: January 17th 2010
Colored Bottles
Katie painting with mineral pigmentSo I haven´t decided to become a full fledged granola eating hippie but I have discovered a new appreciation for drum circles and communal living. While I'm not ready to give up my morning rights to the bathroom, I did enjoyed working on the farm, Reko, and getting to know the energetic brothers behind the operation. Mike and I eagerly arrived to the farm which is located several km from the town of El Bolson. We were greeted by a distracted host and a small, dirty boy on all fours. Kisses were given in greeting as Gerardo's eldest boy barked and bit at our shins. How do you scold a child you just met, (in Spanish, none the less), I wondered as I tried to politely kick him away.
The brothers, Gabriel, Gerardo and Leo, are from Buenos Aires and are in the process of creating their utopia-a fully self sustained farm. They are still in the construction phase; only a small garden so far. We joined a fluxing group of volunteers for nearly 3 weeks and worked on natural construction projects. Reko hosts up to 12 volunteers and I enjoyed the array of nationalities, French, Canadian, German, Italian and
Outdoors Indoors
Jess paints grass blades in the boy's room American. There were three houses on the property and we stayed in the loft of the big house. Our schedule wasn't what I expected; forget waking at the cock's crow. We rose at the leisurely hour of 8:30 and began work around 9:30 after a simple breakfast and a few rounds of maté. I was usually starving by the time we ate a late lunch under a Ponderosa pine in the front yard. The first day Mike and I cleared our plates and started back to work when Leo tapped me on the shoulder and told me it was bad for my digestion to begin working so quickly after eating. "Rest, drink maté, enjoy yourself," he said. Never forget the importance of siesta in Latin America. The routine continued with work resuming around 4:00 and wrapping up in the evening. No 5 o'clock happy hour here! The volunteers would eat dinner alone and often very late...on more than one occasion the jovial Italians started a group cooking lesson at 12 am. Beyond lessons in delicious gnocchi and bland bean cakes, I learned how to make a simple flat bread and cook it on a huge cast iron pan for breakfast.
I worked on some of the finer points of construction while Mike slaved away digging; a serious amount of Patagonian soil was moved by those hands! I spent most hours plastering inner and outer walls of the second house. They utilize an earthen adobe technique that has three layers. The first is hay and a bit of mud stuffed tightly in between the boards of a wooden frame. The second is applied several times and is the most binding. It is a heavy mixture of straw and clay. I worked near the rafters on platforms made of boards, stumps and weakly nailed ladders-don't look down! This work is slow and tough on your hands. The final layer became my specialty. The finishing plaster is festering (the older the better, 6 months at least) horse manure and sand. The smell was acidic and would linger even after several hand washings. I applied it with a trowel and was always pleased with the smoothed grainy look of the finished wall. My most engrossing product was the room of Apollo, Lao and Rio (Gerardo's three boys). I worked with Leo and another volunteer Sonia to plaster the walls and affix river rocks,
gathered on the property, as a border at the base of the wall. Then we painted a garden scene (using natural mineral pigments) resplendent with a large sun in relief, sweeping grass blades and a few insects. I also enjoyed working in the green house attached to the big house. I applied green and blue mineral paint and then sealed it with beeswax from the combs of Leo's bees. The oily surface will repel the water used to irrigate the plants and the wax also adds vibrancy to the paint color.
Mike, being the social creature that he is, enjoyed hectic communal life a bit more than I did. He impressed the brothers with his hard hitting shovel techniques (no leaning for this guy) positive attitude and leadership skills. He worked with a group of guys to strip 15 pine saplings all 21 feet long. They cleared a site remote from the existing houses and dragged the poles to the would be teepee site. Gabriel is a spirited naturalist and decided nothing would suit his needs better than living in a teepee. All hands at the farm gathered on a Friday for the raising. Mike lead the group as
Kelly's Heroes
Donald Sutherland posing on the set we struggled to get the first three poles up. I was impressed with the way he organized a group of people of varying abilities and languages. Once the first three poles were up, the rest came easier. Gabriel climbed one of the poles like it was a palm tree. Once at the top he lashed the poles together as they were lifted and leaned towards the center. It was an exciting event to be part of and I relished the happy whoops of Gabriel as he surveyed the view and grinned down at us.
On the weekends we enjoyed the laid back charms of El Bolson. It is a progressive town with a large artist population. It is a nuclear free zone and just passed a public no smoking ordinance, which is a big deal because Argentinians love to smoke. There is a
Feria Regional on the weekends and there you can browse art and handi-work while sampling craft beer, fine cheese and my favorite, waffles topped with fruit. There is also great hiking in the surrounding hills and after we wrapped up at Reko we ventured out on a three day trek to Cajon de Azul.
Before
we began the hike we joined the brothers and their community group as the celebrated the Summer Solstice. On the longest day of the year we gathered in a camping area under Eucalyptus trees to eat, drink and drum. We were a little out of place (they were also holding discussions about plans to come) but drumming requires no speech. I smiled at those across the fire and beat my heart out on the drum between my knees. We stayed up late into the night, the thrumming of so many drums in my ears long after I retired. The next morning we broke camp and walked across a narrow swinging bridge to the trail head. The day was clear and blue and we were hot by the time we reached a rufugio closer than the one we had planned to camp at. La Playita was a serene picture on the bank of Rio Azul. Drawn to the water we decided to stay there and wearily approached the refugio. It was inhabited by an interesting Lithuanian hermit and he invited us in for matè. He found that living in the refugio allowed him to mediate most of the day and spend
the rest of his time playing guitar and sitting with his cat; he certainly had a nice place for reflection. I enjoyed napping on the pebble beach and later watching the stars from the same spot. Before leaving the next day he asked us to do him a favor in exchange for our camping fee. Skeptically I agreed but was delighted when he asked us to take a kitten up to the next refugio. The kitten had arrived unannounced the week before and he named him Sylvestrito. He said the refugio at the summit was in need of a feline and this one promised to develop strong mouse catching prowess.
He was such a furball and had enjoyed playing with him the day before, I was sure he would make a good trail partner. He complained mightily and did not stop his meowing until Mike put on his pack cover so he could have somewhere enclosed to hide. When he got bored he would scratch at Mike until he put Sylvestrito on the ground where he would walk along with us. As we climbed higher and the shadows of hunting hawks darkened the path we insisted he ride under
the pack cover. Finally we reached the top and released him to his new owner who was happy to have him. Rain fell on us that night and became a blizzard the next day. The peaks were shrouded and snow is better for hiking than rain, we reasoned. We cut our trek short, left our furry cargo and headed through the flurries back to El Bolson.
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Andrea
non-member comment
Envy is greener than summer in Argentina
I am so, so proud of you guys! It is such a pleasure to live vicariously through you while you trip across the continent on your adventures. The farm sounds like an incredible place; they are so lucky to have you!