The story, as of now, told backwards.

¨As for those who so exalt incorruptibility, inalterability, I believe they are brought to say these things through their great desire to live a long time and through the terror they have of death. And not considering that, if men were immortal, these men would not have had an opportunity to come into the world. They would deserve to encounter a Medusa´s head, which would transform them into statues of jasper or of diamond, to make them more perfect than they are... And there is not the slightest doubt that the Earth is far more perfect, being, as it is, alterable, changeable, than is it were a mass of stone, even if it were a whole diamond, hard and impenetrable.¨
Galileo Galilei, Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi

Andrea and I are back inVilcabamba for the weekend in order to use the internet and purchase some necessities to take back to Neverland Farm. It´s a sleepy town sunk deep in a crevice of an expansive mountain range (part of the southern Ecuadorian Andes). We´re deep south- close to Peru. (I can smell the guinea pigs already, haha.) Vilcabamba is known as the town where everyone grows young but their fountain of youth secret remains safely treasured in the soul of this valley. This is the cultural center of Ecuador. This, the Loja Valley, is where poets and writers and artisans of all crafts find their muse, their ambition, their energy.

Tomorrow morning we will bus back down to Tumianuma (un pueblito home to no more than 100 people) and, from Tumianuma, hike through mountain trails for about 45 minutes to reach our farm.
Maybe you would like to know a bit about this ¨Neverland¨farm...
First thing every morning when I wake up, I take a quick bath- feels more like a baptism with how shocking the cold water is to my nerves- in the river that runs alongside the farm. Sometimes I gather the passion fruit which has fallen off the trees overnight. It´s become my new favorite snack. The volunteers make breakfast together. Sometimes we milk the cow and we always have to collect the eggs from the chicken coop (though so far the hens have been very lazy with their production). Lunch is prepared for us (by Sylvia who is mentioned just below) and is ALWAYS fantastic. Afternoons are ours to relax and explore the land. There are hiking trails, swimming holes, and Andrea and I have learned to saddle and ride a horse on our own!
We work in the morning with an Ecuadorian couple who is tending the land while the farm´s owner, Tina, is visiting the states. Honestly, we´re only had one real work day because the past week everyting was in transition- all the old volunteers left and a new bunch (including Andrea and I) arrived. My family is going to make fun of me but so far, we´ve just cleared huisache (they call it fica) from a cow pasture. Yes, I´m rolling my eyes with you.
We´ve been collecting alot of produce from all around the farm- tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, avodados, onion, sweet limes, cilantro, basil, wild blackberries, and pinapple to name a few. I´m learning about farm life around here from Andres.
*phew* I could say so much more but I´m already rambling.

We will be here for about 3 more weeks and then Andrea and I are relocating to a cacao farm much closer to Guayaquil. There we will be tending the banana plantations and learning how to make artesanal chocolate.

I already have a new amazing bread recipe.

My mind still feels flooded by this experience. I´m not entirely convinced that these memories later on in life will ever seem anything other than a dream. I am learning things bit by bit. You can try to change the world or you can let the world try to change you but to demand perfection, in either regard, would be to completely miss the point.

Hasta luego, mis queridos. I miss you all and love you dearly.