Farm

So been on the farm for three weeks now. The work is knackering but am really enjoying it. Bit of an update on the spider bites, had to drain the venom out of them which hurt like a bastard! Seem to have healed now tho. Then when in the field the other day I pulled a muscle or something when trying to chop down stuff so have been taking it easy the last few days, everyone here has hurt themselves at somepoint, its physical work so have been lots of cuts grazes, strains and accidently walking into a cactus (yeh the last one was me, and yes it hurts!). Went to a rodeo the other weekend which was great, the whole town turned out for it and much tequila was passed round, because we were with Omero the farm foreman everyone insisted we dont pay for drinks which was great! Omero got absolutely whammoed and we had to guide him back to his house which was funny but then he demanded to drive us home. Eventually we convinced him otherwise and then had to walk the 3 ish miles back to the house in the pitch black! Got back with no problems tho, altho Amy telling about how she got robbed at gunpoint in Cambodia kinda set me on edge! Am planning to leave the farm on the 8th os Jan so about two and a half weeks. Im looking forward to christmas here as Lisa is a great cook and has promised a huge turkey, and new year should be fun aswell. When I leave im gonna try and head up to Morelia where there is a huge butterfly sanctuary, and then West to Guanajuato and guadalajara because everyone says its a great city. Have decided to travel overland to Guatemala aswell before going to Costa Rixa, as we had to wwoofers here who said Guat is incredible. Anywho have got the day off so gonna wander through the mercado and try not to make a dick of myself. bye.

Ok so been on the farm since the 28 th now so just over 2 weeks. Am really enjoying the work and am getting tanned being out in the fields. I have however been bitten by everything on the farm, including a particularly nasty spider bite on my back! Have to apply this stuff that hisses when you put it on. Fun times! It is quite weird being surrounded by so many animals, theres like 14 cats and dogs here, I always thought i was a cat person after being a paperboy and learning a mutual hatred of dogs, but the ones they have here are great! Theres one called Porque No (why not) who is half wolf half husky and when you walk into town with her by your side everyone kinda crosses the street, great stuff!
We get sundays off here so am in the local town of Patzcuarom just bought a jumper for like 3 quid, altho I did manage to get the first one I tried stuck over my head and had to struggle out of it revealing my less than toned torso to the Senorita and Senor running the store. Theres nothing like having a group of Mexicans pointing and laughing when all you can say is "haha lo siento, soy inglesse" (haha im sorry im english).
The kids here are really persistent for money and stuff which makes you feel kinda guilty, if you say no then they drop stuff in your bag/ pocket and demand money for it, also theres a lot of guys wondering round with huge bunches of knives, altho so far ive resisted buying one im very tempted to have one strapped to my leg when i walk trhrough the wildcat and wolf infested hills near the farm! Am off to a mexican rodeo tonight which should be god, went past before and they were setting up the bullring so shopuld be a good laugh! will write soon about what it was like.

Farm

Got to the bus station in Mexico City with the biggest bag in the history of the world on my back. Trying to queue up and still protect my stuff from what appeared to be a line of pickpockets and ne´erdowells was interesting!
Made a fool out of myself trying to get a ticket to Patz as the woman asked me what seat i wanted and i thought she said the computer was broken so after standing wating in silence for 5 minutes with a growing queue behind me she asked again and turned the monitor so i could see the bus layout with the seats available blinking green. Got confused and saaid the wrong number in a pnaic and ended up sitting right in front of the tv. They play films LOUD on buses in mexico! They showed lots of films, all of which starred Brian Donarghy, Charles Napier or Danny Aielo. Bus took about 7 hours. Ended up in Patz bus station, which is like a ghost town and has the worlds toilet it seems, stank of crap, a guy was puking his guts up in the toilet next to me. fun times.
The phone number for the farm didnt work and i didnt know how to get to the farm so i just kinda sat down and pondered what to do. The Bus station is also about 20 miles from the town centre so i was kinda knacked, felt the icy grip of fear start to settle in but figured sod it il just get a cab to the nearest town. The cab driver said he knew where the farm was. But as he started to ask more and more people i realised he didnt. Mexicans will never admit when they dont know something, provides mucho highjinks when someone who doesnt know where he is going but is pretending he does asks someone who doesnt know how to get there but will never admit it! ah jokes. Anyway after two and a half hours driving down every dirt track and swamp in Zirahuen, by sheer fluke we met a guy with a donkey who looked like he was straight out of a Visit Mexico Calender or something, and he actually knew where it was! Thank god as only when me and the cab driver were walking in the dark down tracks we could no longer drive along that i realised it was a very good place for a murder.
Anywho am now on the farm and its great, 5 dogs, 9 cats, pigss, ducks, geese and chickens. I have been bitten by every animal here so far. I fucking hate the geese. They are so vicious and hiss like snakes. Also the rooster jumps up to attack, which turns out is the perfect height to peck me square in the knackers. My new technique is to wait until he jumps up before panning him in the face with an empty can, seems to be working. Work starts with feeding the animals amd then opening greenhouses, planting, digging, building stuff. Knackering work but great fun. Everything i own is covered in dirt, you kinda lose the idea of keeping stuff pristine when you are up to your ankles in pig shit, and covered head to toe in mud and weeds. Had a full moon last night which was amazing, if we walk to the nearest town we have to go in twos and take sticks due to coyotes, wolves and bob cats in hills. yeesh! anyway we have internet in the farm now so will write again soon. jake x