Livin la Vida Finca

The word ‘finca’ means ‘farm’ in Spanish, and I truly have been ‘living the farm life’ for the past week here at Eco Yoga Park (an Ashram about 2 hours outside of the city.) Nakita and I decided to check into an Ashram partly to experience this way of life, and partly to detox from the meat, party, shopping life that is Bs. As. So for one week my daily schedule was this: wake at 7:30, breakfast at 8:00, work in the garden from 8:30 until 1:30 (15 minute snack break at 11:30), lunch at 2:00, free time at 2:30 (we usually took a nap, read, or wrote in our journals) yoga and meditation at 4:00, snack at 6:00, dinner at 8:30, movie at 9:00, bed at 11:00...and repeat the next day. My work in the garden usually involved weeding (aka digging out snarly vines from the cabbage patch), watering (this usually turned into a water fight), tilling (aka breaking up big dirt clods into smaller dirt clods), and planting (make a little hole, place seed in the hole, cover, repeat). At first, I hated this work.- it made my back sore, my neck got sunburned, the weeds itched my arms, my shoes got muddy etc. etc. (all the typical city girl complaints). But after awhile, I didn’t mind the work. I even started to enjoy it. The simplicity of it was relaxing. The repetitiveness of it was soothing. And plus, it was really rewarding. Did I mention that all the food was vegan or vegetarian? And that most of it came straight from our garden? There something pretty cool about pulling carrots, beets, and lettuce in the morning, washing them in the afternoon, and eating them in a stew for dinner. And the yoga and meditation aspects have been very beneficial as well. I’ve always enjoyed these practices, but never had time to dedicate myself to them on a daily basis. I really enjoyed just having the time and space for personal reflection, and this new-found stillness has spilled over into my everyday life. For example, I noticed an ‘ant highway’ and followed it all the way across the farm. I napped in the sun on the grass. I practiced my balancing by ‘slacklining’ (tying a rope between two trees and walking across, like tight rope walking). This place has turned out to be more than just a ‘detox’ from the city. I’ve learned to appreciate the simplicity in life, and to always find time-even just a few minutes- to calm your mind and your spirit. I plan to carry these ideas with me for the rest of my travels. I know I will see and learn many things, but I will try to set aside time to just relax, reflect, and truly appreciate all that I experience.