Dear family and friends!

I've always wanted a job that pays me to travel. And long and behold, the first real one I got out of college does just that once in a while. Since, I've been to NYC, the OC and most recently, the windy city in Chicago, where I confirmed that my love for thin-crust Neapolitan style pizza far outweighs the Chicago deep dish, and that I have the good fortune of visiting new places in beautiful, blue sky weather.

Although my pictures might suggest otherwise, helpXing at La Casa del Viento has been a lot of hard work..  Getting up at 7:30 in the morning (on a good day; usually it's just around 7:45) to start my 8am watering, gardening and pool cleaning duties before the sun does its torture, followed by a coffee break and then other jobs that need to be done for the afternoon. On Thursday, after typical morning responsibilities, Ann gave me the day off, and relaxing was it not--rather I took a roundtrip sick-to-my-stomach bus ride through the Andalucían mountains to the "white villages" and with an old travel guide hiked from one village to another, Pampanería to Búbion.
What was supposed to be a twenty minute walk ended up in an hour of isolation, steep trek full of hills, weeds, rocks and unpredicted rattling. There were occasions when I thought to myself, if I got hurt or collapsed, no one would hear me, and who knows what would happen, and oh.. Generally, I don't like to have such troubling thoughts, and so I remained optimistic--thinking to myself, this is all part of the character building process of traveling, and through the backroads mountainous forests, made it to my destination sweaty, scratched and sunburnt (not to mention, bug bitten). Then I started chatting up a fellow Spanish traveler, who gave me a ride back to town so that I could catch the bus in time for dinner in Lanjarón, and that car ride was only five-minutes, just around the time I spent in my much sought after destination of Búbion. The things we do for adventure.

 In the distance you can see Pampanerîa, the village I had hiked from to the point of where I took the picture. I know, I can't even believe it. AND I wasn't even close to my end destination. That's why I was still happy and taking photos.

It's now Saturday and I've still got the blisters to remind me of what a trek that was.

In any case, today was just as eventful--with lots of cooking, all day really! Ann's daughter and son-in-law are here for their first anniversary, and I had the pleasurable honor to cook the family a Spanish dinner inspired my employment at Jaleo, Jose Andrés' tapas restaurant in DC. And just thinking about my mom, I am reminded that cooking is labor intensive, and yet a simple pleasure in life. Oh, and what a feast it is to share!

for starters, Don something's bottled sangria..yes, bottled. cheap and convenient, and oh, so tasty. (note: artistan jug not included)

and that is it for the night. according to my spanish time, it is now my best friend from high school, fiona's birthday! happy birthday fe!

buenas noches, amores!

At La Casa del Viento, my appreciation for food deepens with each and every meal. Last night's warm, subtly sweet and savory almond soup attributes to that as Orfhlaith and I hand picked the almonds, cracked, dehusked and devoured them all!

As soon as I stepped out of the bus and into the sweltering mountainous village of Lanjarón, I heard my name being called, "Connie, Connie!" in an upbeat British accent. Surely, enough, this must be Ann, I thought. She pulled up in her speedy little motor of a car, I hopped in, and off we were to La Casa del Viento, House of the Wind, my home, workplace and unexpectedly, a tucked away paradise in southern Spain.
First, I want to tell you more about Ann and La Casa del Viento. House of the wind, as is the English translation, is Ann's home and work, which she's created with the help of HelpX-ers over the past nine years and counting. It's stunning and so obvious that so much work and love has gone behind it. Ann is about sixty or so, but with her energy, physique and charm, you'd think she was much, much younger. She's one to welcome with open arms, is so sweet, full of life, great recipes and plenty of stories. The kind of woman I aspire to be.
As a HelpXer, I've been nurturing the plant life here. And on this massive land, there's plenty of sweat and love to go around. It's only been two days, but a lot of hard, rewarding and humbling work. There are trees, and trees galore of olives, almonds, figs, lemons, avocados, apples, pears, grapes, blackberries, cranberries, pomegranates, oh I can go on and then there are tomatoes, squash, greenbeans, cuccumbers, aubergine (eggplant) and (and that's just what's in season now!) -- and there's mint, thyme, rosemary, and my favorite, oh so favorite, jasmine, the scent just takes me this place of wonder-- all of this growing for our pleasurable consumption.
What I love about being here, among many things, is being able to cook with the very own foods grown right in my eyesight. Above is what an almond tree looks like, who would've thunk? Yesterday, I dehusked a bucket of almonds and lost my nutroast virginity.
Below was my first dinner--oven-roasted spaghetti squash with stuffed vegetables in a tomatoe sauce, potatoes roasted to a golden crisp and my very own nut roasted (I even hand-blended the almonds and fresh bread rolls myself!), complimented with a light Spanish white wine. A deliciuosly wholesome experience.
I met Orfhlaith (the f and t are silent, pronounced Orla), such a sweet and open-minded recent high school grad from Dublin, Ireland. I fancy working with her. We've been pruning grapes, and might I say, they are quite the sticky mess. As they hang from their vines, some of them, when they're really ripe, drip and ooze this syrup that's sticky like sap. And nonetheless, they are ever so gorgeous. I've frozen a bunch just like at home when my sibs and I would freeze grapes during the summer and snack on them like candy by the pool.
After a morning's work from 8am to 2pm with a coffee break at 11am and a scrumptious lunch made of various seasoned salads and cheeses, swimming and siestaing usually ensue.
Yesterday, Orfhlaith and I headed into town for some tinto de verano and vermouth, popular Spanish summer drinks and of course, tapas. It was a hot and hilly trek full of rocks, but luckily, with the sweetness of picking fresh figs off the trees. I love the leathery texture of figs and their rich sweetness. They also remind me of two really dear friends. Tammy who's now studying and practicing yoga and learning Hindi in India, introduced me to fresh figs last year (fig newtons just don't count), and whenever I eat them, I think of her and of Natalie, where at her New Year's Eve Party made the most decadent goat-cheese and almond stuffed and baked figs. I attempted to replicate such an hor'dourve at lunch today, but it didn't come out quite as nice.
In the town of Lanjarón, shops close around typical American dinner time and later open for a night full of tapas and fiestas. After all, hard work comes with hard play, only after proper rest.
During closed hours, I noticed a fond separation of the sexes--old men sitting on benches while women sat in circles chatting. The old men and women, in their weathered looks of wisdom, quiet in passing and quite off-putting, are handsome and real in a beautiful way.

 With the breathtaking sights, fresh and mouthwatering foods and sweet Ann and Orfhlaith who are like family, I don't think I can ask for more. This is my first HelpX experience, and thus far, it has been specatcular. While I am so grateful to be here, I am constantly thinking and in the little-ist things, am reminded of home, my loving family and friends, the food, comfort and warmth-- to balance it all and keep perspective is such a blessing.

¡ciao!

it's official--i'm going to south america! i'll be flying into ecuador and hopefully making my way throughout peru and bolivia. and the amazing thing is my friend from new hampshire, michelle, who i'll be backpacking with will be on the same plane. both of us have stops in houston and so we'll be on the same flight there on into guayaquil. oh, so exciting!

matt lauer has my dream job, or at least one of them.

insane weekend. activities included but not limited to: babysitting and getting locked in a room by a very sly 3 and a half year-old. not fun. luckily, i was able to take a half hour nap in justification for a need to rest and brainstorm ideas of how to pop open the lock. and so great of a nap that was as after i dozed, i felt energized and determined to twist the key knob with a book corner (very confusing) and the lock unsnapped. it was a great feeling. and later that night i went to a party. although my friend was celebrating his 24th, the festive event reminded me of a typical high school bash. the kind with bad music, lots of alcohol (though there was a great selection) and the needless drama of passouts and girlfriend-boyfriend fights. definitely not fun while sober.

today was much more relaxing. slept in, rested, watched a movie, and got a new pair of shoes. then spent several hours at a car dealership, which really felt like an eternity..perhaps the three most grueling hours of my life. just hearing my dad and jess talk drives me nuts. and this whole concept of caring so much about what car you drive and what it looks like and yaddi yadda is nonsense! it pains me to think of where so much of that money could have went, and for such better causes. ugh.

moving on. as an optimist i try to look towards the future. and that includes spring break which is coming up on the week of apr. 15th. i want to do something spontaneous. really, i just want to get out of this hole. i'm thinking about a road trip or buying a cheap plane ticket on jetblue and going to some place random and couch surfing throughout that area.

smell boston?