¡Hola Mexico!

Yay, I'm in Mexico! I headed straight to the farm the day I arrived, because I had no idea what else I was going to do (being without a guide book and all that!). The farm (Rancho el Amate) is almost 2 and a half hours away from Mexico City. I don't have mobile reception at the farm itself, but there was reception in the little town about 5 minutes drive away. Go figure. Currently, my plan is to stay 2 or 3 weeks. I haven't decided exactly how long, and my plans will probably change depending on circumstances. But right now I have no plans, so am just going to play by ear.

The farm is cool. It's located at the foothills of very picturesque cliffs, so I have a good view when I'm gardening! They grow all sorts of stuff here, from ornamental plants like birds of paradise to edibles. The main production here is jams though. They make all kinds of fruit jams and preserves, which they sell at the organic market along with some other seasonal produce. Yesterday, I harvested carrots and weeded the garden bed, and today, I did more weeding and planted kale. It's amazing how long such a simple task takes. It took me the entire morning to weed and plant the entire bed, and by morning I mean until lunch time, which incidentally was at 2.30pm. Apparently people here eat very late lunches, at 2 or 3pm, like they do in Spain. Then they have a light supper at 9 or 10pm. I'm slowly accommodating by eating a late breakfast. It's quite an adjustment seeing as at the farm in Costa Rica, we'd have breakfast at 6.30am and lunch at 12pm, hours I'm more accustomed to. Speaking of accommodating, my body received a shock when I arrived on Monday. I was totally not used to winter weather, nor did I expect it, having just arrived from the Caribbean coast where it was too hot to even think about taking a warm shower! It is absolutely freezing here in the mornings and nights, I can see my breath in the morning, it's that cold! At night, I sleep in my sleeping bag along with 3 layers of blankets on top. But I prefer this than being perpetually dripping in sweat. The noon hours are very warm though. It's a bit like Brisbane's winter actually. I guess it makes sense, seeing as it's autumn here now. Has it been correspondingly hot in Brisbane?

The food here is awesome! I'm totally in my element. The first day I arrived, I had some grain bread and beans. I thought I'd be sick of beans after Costa Rica, but after eating it, I realised I couldn't stay mad at beans for a long period of time! I love them! They are the most amazing food! Also, Mexico is chilli central!!! I've been having my fill of spicy chillies here, and they are awesome, after being totally deprived of them in Costa Rica. The chillies here that I've been having are hotter than the ones in Ecuador! Oh what fun I shall have! The tortillas here are also really good. They're so different from the shitty Old el Paso ones (or whatever the brand name is) that you get from the supermarket. I can actually taste the corn in these ones, which is the best part. I kind of learnt how to make tortillas in the farm in Costa Rica, so I will attempt it when I get home and you can all be amazed by it. Oh, and I ate cactus today! Who knew you could eat cactus! I've forgotten its name though, despite being told several times. I really should write it down. And another thing, I've fallen in love with agave! It's an amazing syrup, and I had it for breakfast today with bread, it's so tremendously yummy! It's going to be my honey replacement. I'm going to see if I can buy a whole heap before I return to Australia, seeing as it is very rare and very expensive there. I think they have shitloads of agave in Mexico, they even make a kind of tequila out of it! Awesome huh!