I arrived late Friday night after a long bus journey from Galway to West Cork. Mark picked me up at the bus stop, which was completely pitch black dark and seemingly in the middle of absolutely nowhere. After a short drive to the farm, I was introduced to my new living situation, which was pretty much what I had expected: a trailer near the main farmhouse with absolutely nothing luxurious about it. There's a kitchen with a hotplate, sink, fridge, and microwave, a bathroom with a decent bathtub but very little hot water and a leaky toilet, two bedrooms, and a living room with nothing more than a couch and a table. Because it was late, I pretty much went to sleep right away on what is, I'm sure, the most uncomfortable, lumpy bed I'll ever sleep on. I woke up early and got a good look around my surroundings, which made up for the horrible bed and leaky toilet... kindof... In the listing for the farm it had said that it was located in Clonakilty and that it was a fifteen minute walk into town, which I figured ment a fifteen minute walk into Clonakilty, which I had read about and knew to be a cute town with lots of shops and places to see music at night. However, the reality of the situation is that it is a fifteen minute walk into the TINY village of Rathbarry, which is a sortof sub-village of Clonakilty. Clonakilty itself is more than a half hour by bicycle and probably an hour and a half by foot. Rathbarry itself is literally no more than a post office and a pub and nothing else. So much for thinking I'd be able to go out to see music after working for the day. Sooo.... that was a bit of a disapointment. It is a short walk from the beach, however, so at least I'll have that as a destination for the afternoons where I get off work and want to get away for a while.
The farm itself is rather lovely. It's atop a large hill with the ocean in the distance to one side and rolling hills covered in pastures of cows and sheep in every other direction. Ireland as I had imagined it, for sure. The farm house is rather modern in terms of Irish farmhouses. The owners, Mark and Deb, bought the house two years ago and renovated the place to their own liking, which is sortof an artsy, more alternative style than most of the homes surrounding. There's a polytunnel (plastic greenhouse) and they have one enormous goat named Alexandra, who lives right outside my bedroom window, which was a suprise when I woke up and pulled the shades open to see her peering in. There's also ducks, an orchard, a field for straw, and lots of flowers everywhere. Mark and Deb are both quite nice, although I already see that they dont have any reservations about airing their marital disputes in front of anyone who might be there at the moment, which can be a bit awkward. They have two 8 month old twin boys who keep them busy along with all the work they put into their farm, which provides them with probably about 80 percent of the food they eat. It's most certainly not an easy lifestyle that they live and I respect them for the fact that they persue it to the extent they do. I dont think I could live in such isolation myself though. Deb is English and has a sortof vivacious, bubbly personality and Mark is a proud Dutchman who speaks with a Dutch/English/Irish hybrid accent. He's rather intense and opinionated and definetly lets you know if you're doing something in a way that he would not advise. I think I'll get along with them fine though. I'm glad to at least have some space of my own to get away for a while in the evening. I'd feel a little like I was walking on shells if I were to have to share their living space with them.
Yesterday was my first full day of work. I was assigned to weed around all the trees in the orchard and spent a full 7 hours doing so. Oi vey. I tried to enjoy it as much as possible but periodically questioned why I wasn't at home pulling weeds for mom and sleeping in my much much more comfortable bed. I'm over thinking like that, though, and I remind myself that my comfortable bed and Shelburne, and the people I love most will all be there when I return, and this will be an experience that not many people get to have and so I should maximize it. It's not all bad, anyway. We take a "coffee" break around noon (I put coffee in parentheses because their coffee is powdered and not nearly to the standard of American coffee, but I try to enjoy it as much as possible. At least it's warm.) There's also a dinner break around 3:00, which is the main meal of the day. I enjoyed this very much yesterday, considering that I've been eating canned soup and jelly sandwiches almost exclusively during my hostel days, in order to save money. Mark is a good cook and made a delicious veggie dish with all things grown on the farm, and a mushroom soup and some pasta. These breaks make the monotony of weeding a little less severe, and besides, I'm promised that I will not be weeding every day and that there will be more stimulating projects coming in the future.
Today a new girl is coming out from Germany, who will also be living in the trailer. I prey that she's cool and that we get along well. I'm actually excited to meet her and I hope that she'll be a good commerade who will go out to the pub with me once in a while, and who I can play chess with in the evenings, or at least talk to during our work.
Today is Sunday and I rode Marks bike into town. The ride was absolutely beautiful, past farm after farm after farm, with lots of pastures of cows in between. This area is known as a dairy center for Ireland and during the day farmers come yipping down the street after their herds, moving them from pasture to the milking parlors and then back out to pasture. Tomorrow its back to work (it was good planning on my part to start on a Saturday so that I had the next day off!). The work schedule is 7 hours a day, 6 days a week, which I think is a bit severe, but I'm just going to roll with it and make the best of the situation. I'm constantly reminding myself of the future and of the fact that in a litte over a month, I'll be relaxing in Italy with my wonderful Mother, and then I'll be going to see Simon and Susie, and that I only have to be a "farmer" for one month and then I'll go back to my much more comfortable existance. I'm starting to miss things about home, like my mother, my bed, Pippin the dog, my car, etc, etc... but I guess this experience will make me appreciate all those things more when I get back. I'll write again in a week, after I've had a true week of work. Maybe I'll be a bit more pessimistic then. Really, though, especially you, Dom, dont worry about me! Besides the mini hardships, I'm delighted to be living and working in Ireland and all I have to do is take a look around me to remind myself of that. It's lovely here and I'm getting just what I want from this: Experience! Lots of love to you all!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Erin - I think you're right - it's only a month and anyone can do almost anything if they know it will be over at some point. As Dom always says, "This too shall pass." And this will be an interesting memory soon - lumpy bed and all - and memories are what life is all about in the end. As long as the people are good and you are fed and kept out of the rain, I won't worry too much. It all sounds like what I pictured - farms and countryside everywhere. I do feel badly that the town is so very little and any human contact is so far in the distance. Are there any busses from the little town to the bigger one? That's a long bike ride. Hang in there and I'll keep my fingers crossed that your trailer mate will be a nice person. oxox Becky
Post a Comment