So, here I am putting roofing on the earthen house. We decided to go with a material made from recycled TetraPacs. This is the stuff that juice boxes are made of and many thing here are packaged in it. It consists of metal, plastic, paper and wax all smashed together. This stuff is impossible to recycle in its individual catagories but they have found a way to reuse it by grinding it up and pressure forming it into corrigated roofing material that is insulated.

One of the ways we get into town on our day off is by Hitch hiking. Sometimes the bus doesn´t come on time or at all so you have to find other ways to get around. This ride was very nice becasue it was extremly hot and we were all very sweaty. A great way to air out so we dont offend the locals by our scent.

´MMmmm Pepino´s(cucumbers) what a nice trellice made of strips of Bamboo. were getting about 5 cuc´s a day now and it should continue for some time. we´re growing dill as well so soon I hope we will be Pickling. What a treat

here we have a gigantic catapillar with horns´. this isnt the best shot but you can see that it is longer and fatter than my finger. WOW

There are caterpillers everywear here some of which have a mean sting that can give you blisters and much discomfort. On the other hand we have thousands of butterflies everywear big, small, colorful, just white, just black, some nice, some mean. it is quite a sight to see hundreds of little yellow butterflies congregated around a poop pile or water puddle.

this is a make shift water wheel waterpump. Our nieghbor created this out of old jugs and what looks like an antique wagon wheel. This mechanism pumps water from a spring pushing it up nearly 70 meters over a distance of almost 400 meters to the house of the creator. The water is put into a reservour and use for drinking and all the other household needs including watering the garden.

A Bagonia growing off a rock next to the river. Sweet right!





Ashley is hard at work organizing the wood pile. This is going to be a big job because the pile is huge but everyone is helping out of appreciation. The pile is looking neater and more orderly by the day which is great because it was a bit of an Eye sore in an otherwise beautiful view of the gardens and the rest of the land.

MMmm meat with Ham and an Egg on a sandwich. I dont know what this deal is with this but I think I love it.

Here is Ashley Feeding a little pigglet, how cute. Im very thankful for all of the Incredible things that we are experiencing down here in good ol´Argentina. every day I feel a little more at home. We´re learning the language and a little culture and having just a sweet time.

Esta es el cataratas de Iguazu and they are breathtaking. This is only a small part oF an expansive system of falls

here is the Hotel we stayed in. it was very nice with A.C. and soft bed and Breakfest in the morning. we stayed here in Puerto Iguazu for two nights and it was great. For 35 pasos ($9 U.S.) it was hard to beat. there was a pool and it was oriented very close to the bus station to get the the actual park where the fall were. One night Ashley and I enjoyed some wine while seated here waiting for the others to come back with the key since there was only one.

This is another section of the fall. we spent about 6 hours walking around this park and only saw about 3/4 of it. the river was very high so we couldn´t go to the island and swim´. We were all a little sad about that because it was a blistering hot day. Along with the island there was a rafting tour and a high speed bout tour ( much like at Niagra) that we could have gone on but it was just to much stuff to do.

Allthough we could not go to the Island because of the water level it made for some very spectacular falls. This part is at the very top of the falls called the devils throat. We saved this for last and it was truely powerful and beautiful beyond words. As you look down over the falls everthing disappears in to a mist. Surging explosions of water soak the deck were you stand and the awe of the place is completely consuming.

Before going to the fall we went to some anchient ruins in San Ignacio. this is a shot of what once was the entrance of a towering church that stood about 30% higher than what you see. The floor was all engraved tile and at the far end stood a barely recognizable alter.

Some of us may recognize this plant from working at Esmans green house. This is growing out of one of the many delapadated walls that littered the grounds of what was once a thriving Jesueit Mission

Here is the cliff that over looks the campground that we stayed at the night after exploring the ruins of San Ignacio. We had to set up at night and the Mosquitos were horrible so we could not even hang out outside the safety of our tents.

The following morning we climbed the steps that lead to the top of the cliff and thier are our tents clustered in a safe circle near the rivers edge.

The Parana River which is fed by the giant falls of Iguazu is a place of great beuaty as well as commerce as you can see by the small ship in the distance.

And Finally we have Ashley delirious from the long and taxing yet awe inspiring journey through the provence of Misiones Argentina. We returned back to Mama Roja late wednesday night sweaty and tired but it was all worth while. The journey opened our eyes to an unknown world filled with power and history. We are both humbled at the diversity surrounding us and we even more excited to see what next is in store.

happy holloween!

Happy holloween! We had a sweet Fiesta with fajitas and Vino and Beer and the whole works.
Earlier in the day we took two of the Roosters for the fajita meat( it was kinda tough but seasoned very well). I got to take part in every part of the process. some of it was a bit grusome and I´ll just leave it at that. R.I.P Mario and other nameless rooster your contributions are appreciated.

pictured here is Ashley dressed as a mexican luchador Gringa muy Fruerte.







Here is Marcello dressed as a gringo tourist and Im in the back with the Pancho and the hat, cooking the meat. We also had in company Moses, and Jesus, A Mama roja Princess, a fourth grade crossing guard, a catapiller, a guarani mythical entity, and a mexican field worker. It was an awsome good time.











This is some of the framing work that we did for the earthen house that we will be creating. Yes that is me balancing on a steel drum with a chainsaw cutting the tops of the post to the right hight. All of the framing cuts we did with a chainsaw or a hand saw and fastened with big nails. The roof framming is now up and we will be making the wall out of a mud mixture.
The white bags are acting as the foundation, they are filled with earth and lime. I believe the lime is to stabalize the clay in the earth as well as act as a water barrier.

Here is me and Gustavo mixing the earth with clay and sand and aged manure and alot of water. as explained before we will also be adding cactus and pee and then fermenting it for two weeks. this part was alot of fun. Playing / working in the mud. when it was done the mud was almost as deep as Ashley´s waist. Mud fights and wreslting insued.

Bottleing the beer. This is a very dark beer brewed with Malta and a plant called Carcaja. Carcaja is a very bitter sweet plant that I used in place of hops. this should work very nicely. it also has some medicinal uses but Im not sure what they are. The whole process has been a bit trying givin that I have very little to work with but I think it will be a success in the end.

This coming week is our week off and we have all sorts of fun things planned. today we are headed to Posadas the capital city of Misiones. Im not sure what we´ll do but it will be nice to sleep on a bed and hopefull take a hot shower. Although bathing in the river is actually very nice and probably more refreshing than one may think.

Stay tuned

Peace and love

Un dia en la vida

Life is going well here in good ol´ Argentina. We´re more ajusted to sleeping on the hard earth so that good and we´re having all sorts of fun digging holes and starting structures. As you can see here im working very hard at trying to get in a good siesta.

Karen and Kim are wielding mecheties to get down the path wear we harvested the grasses to mix with earth and pee and sand in a giant hole that we all dug. These things will have to ferment for two weeks before we can use the substance for creating the earthen structure.

Amanita el gato

here is Ashley hacking away with a dull machete trying to harvest the dryed grasses

Our home away from home

Most of the group at the top of the ridge overlooking the valley of Mama Roja

The yoga Shalette is a great structure. many of us practice here in the mornings and last sunday Kim lead and awesome session of Ashtanga yoga. This place also serves as a library and occational retreat from the rains. we have discussions here as well. there is a great veiw faceing north towards a very high ridge on the other side of the river.

our cooking stove. very old but it works great. you consatly have to feed the fire or it will take forever to anything. this is were all the awsome food is prepared.

Building a fence around the garden out of woven strips of Bamboo

Here is Ashley enjoying some Mate at the group watering hole durring the heat of the day. This spot is also were we bath. Ashley built a sweet shelf that we can set all of our stuff on ( Towels, soap, Mate etc.)

This is a shot of me and Adam at the other watering hole which is a bar at the top of the hill. It takes about 35 sweaty minutes to walk here and when you get there you have to clap ( argetine´s way of knocking ) and the husband will open the bar. That first sip of ice cold Quilmes makes the hike seem all worth while

Food and fun

this is the first meal I had in Obera the night befor we went to the farm. underneath the egg is cheese then ham then a battered and fried piece of beef. MMmmmm very good it was even better sence we had been eating airline and bus food for the past 2 and a half days.

Food at the farm on the other hand is very very different. everthing is bought locally or grown on the property primarily vegitarian. Everything is So muy muy delisioso we have some great cooks in our group and the food taste soo good and fresh. I sort of though that we would be a little hungry every so often because it all vegi´s and what not, but we are getting fed very well. there is no chance of mal nutrition. we have learned to make our own chese from Peloma´s milk , as well as yogart and dolce de leche which is kinda like caramel sauce but made from boiling milk untill it carmelizes. we also eat plenty of eggs from the chicken. On a side note Ashley has not yet warmed up to the Rooster which keeps trying to attack her hehehe!

Here is Mario whom is the bain of Ashley´s existance at this point. yesterday we recieved 12 more hen´s and 3 more roosters so hopefully these ones will be a little nicer to her.

this is a shot of Ashley & Gustavo (from Paraguay) being taught By kim how to make cheese.!

Hopefully this saturday, which is personal project day, Im going to teach the clan how to make Beer.. This should be interesting sence I´ll have to substatute both ingredients and equipment with what we have avialible here. Stay tunned for the results.

very close to nature

hello every one

so at the farm we are experiencing all kinds of great things. I dont know how to upload pics very well and shrink them and all that stuff so they look right but I have a couple up I think. anyway we have plated crops and learned about composting our poop and we have done alot of exploring of the property. The 1st night at the farm it rained like freakin crazy and everything got wet. The river swelled up to 3 times its regular size which was awsome. Mostly we are living very simply and learning how to maintain a natural system as we live in it. there are 2 dogs a cow a calf a cat 10 or so chickens. The property is about 80 acres with two rivers flowing through it. there are all kinds of crops. We tried Yerba Mate for the first time ( its just like a tea) and we poop in a bucket in the tool shed and then cover it with saw dusts. sweet right! also earlyer today we found the waterfall on the property .. mama roja falls estas muy muy belisma. standing under it is like a religous experience. we are kinda learning some espanol but every one speaks Engles here so it makes it harder to learn. there are 6 other interns from all over the world and Kim and Marcelo are super awsome people with a wealth of knowledge on permiculture and much more.

hopefully I will figure out how to post more pictures in a different format or something but untill then I guess I have to discribe every thing. O and we saw a Coral snake in one of the fields it was awsome. I wish you all could be here with me to experience that is this place

much love from jake and ashley

departure

hey ya'll Ashley and I are just about to embark on our journey south we will miss everyone but we are also very excited. thanx for all your support and love. keep it real and may the gods be with us all

peace and love
jake and ashley