Viven Voluntarios

The days and weeks just fly by here at the good old Eco Truly...everyday the same routine...yoga, breakfast, chores, lunch, free time (which always consists of a workout and some reading), afternoon workshop and then dinner. We actually quite like it. At times, it is a bit of a transient community, as volunteers come and go each day. Currently, we are a group of 9...me and Al, Kane and Becky, Justin, Vivi, and a few new editions with Becca a new girl from Colorado - she is a physical therapist and has the most perfect posture and eating habits ever, Hayley a girl from Australia who struggles with an addiction to food and was quite open and frank with us all from the beginning telling us about her daily OA (overeaters annonymous) meetings back home and all of her challeneges with food, and Kiki who is half Bolivian and half Italian and has totally taken to the Hare Krishna way of living and spiritual philosophies and wants to become a Hare Krishna. She called her boyfriend the other day to tell him the news...I think he is going to remain openminded and come to meet her here in a few weeks to see what he thinks.
Al and I have just enjoyed our time here and how structured our days are. Al has particularly taken to the compost toiletting duty and does it most days sans gloves. She is very hardcore. I, on the other hand, have not taken to it as whole heartedly. On my toilet duty days, I wear long leggings tucked into my socks with my stinky fungus-laden sneakers on to ensure that any splash back does not touch my actual flesh and then I wear the rubber gloves that have been purchased and are used for such tasks. The other day, the compost toilet was like a giant excrement slushy...can you imagine how much poop and piss build up over a 24 hour period with 9 volunteers?!? It is a lot...I cannot believe I actually pay for this priviledge. Minus that task, the Biohuerto (organic garden) has been the most frequented task over the past weeks. We have harvested beans, which was a bit annoying as they neglected to tell us that there were 2 different kinds of beans in the fields and that they needed to be separated until AFTER we dumped them all together on the burlap sacks in the sun...oh the joy of having to sit in the heat separating beans that looked almost identical. We have also cleared out strawberry fields and used a giant hoe to dig out papas (potatos) and cleared endless fields of land for new harvesting. Honestly, I now understand why they consider gardening a form of exercise.
The food has gotten a tiny bit old...the website talks endlessly about how delicious the food is...oh and to come to Eco Truly with a very open mind...but after 3 weeks of eating extremly carbohydrate enriched foods in such meals as rice, potatoes and creamy pink sauce or rice, potatoes with creamy white sauce, or rice, potaotes with genetically modified gluten, or rice, potatoes in a soup, or...well you get the picture...we are a bit over it. Everyday we tell each other that we are not going to eat any carbs that day, but honestly we would not eat anything. Instead, we just do our best to run along the beach everyday to balance out our diet. Al actually leads group workouts for about 3-6 volunters every day and she really enjoys this, as she is now a certified personal trainer. Yesterday, I was so full of potatos and rice that I seriously felt like I was lugging a baby elephant around my core while running. It doesn't help that the sand here does not get hard, even after being washed by the sea water so it feels like you are running on quicksand. It feels really good to get that fresh sea air in your lungs though...and there are hundreds and hundreds of different coloured sea birds that rest right at the edge where the ocean water crashes into the beach and wait for us to run by when they flap into the air and fly so close to us that it almost feels like we are part of the flock, flying amongst them all.
There are many animals that have made Eco Truly their home. Honestly, I think I would find my way here too if I were a street animal. The Hare Krishnas (minus two demon children that live on the compound) love all animals so much so that one of their 4 rules is do not eat meat. The animals do have to eat a vegetarian diet though, but they seem to enjoy it. Of all the dogs, cats, peacocks and horses there are two special stand alone dogs that have become the volunteers' mascots...Krisbeta and Lisa. Krisbeta is a mix between a giant chiuaua and a meerkat. She is the funniest looking dog we have ever seen. She gets so happy and excited to see us that she wiggles her whole body. She has just had puppies so she has those saggy doggy boobs, but that does not slow her down one bit. She comes running every sinlge day with us on the beach and hangs out with us all day and night...when we are eating, while we are doing our chores, everything. There are many stories about Lisa and how she came to be at Eco Truly and why she has such a traumatized personality...1) she used to be a police dog, 2) she was hit by a car, 3) she broke her back, 4) she was in the back of a truck and fell off it just goes on and on, but what we do know is that 1) she has fleas, 2) she does not like to be approached while laying down and she will bite you if you attempt to stroke her in this position, 3) she does not like it when other dogs get your attention and will budge in for a cuddle and 4) she never sits down...she only ever stands and leans against you or lays on the ground.
So all in all our structured days keep racing by and the impending return to London creeps ever closer...we are having mixed feelings about our return to the 'real world' as it were. We try not to dwell on the end of our trip that much and look forward to our remaining weeks with the Hare Krishnas and our visit with Wendy and exploring a few more countries before it is time to close the book on Mel and Al Travel the World...at least until we can save enough money to go away again...