Summaire

The last three weeks before going home were the best since I'd left. I didn't engage in particularly exciting activities, but maybe that was the point. First I went to La Ferme Musicale. It was located in the village of Palau del Vidre, Catalan for "Glass Palace." On the farm, they grew mostly peaches and other fruits and vegetables and also made jams and chutneys, raised chickens, and taught percussion lessons. Here's a plan of the farm from their website. When you move the mouse over different areas, the box on the right tells you what grows there.



I am in love with Ursula and Vincent, the farmers I worked for. They were so darn nice and cool and interesting. They travelled the world for 18 months after they were married, and Vincent had spent even more time in Cuba, Africa, and South America before that. That's where he learned how to make and play traditional Latin and African instruments, which he continues to make every year out of dried gourds from the garden.

It was so nice to wake up early, eat fresh jam on toast, work a few hours in the fields, and have lunch and be done, spending the rest of the sweltering afternoon basking on a hammock or reading a book. They lent me a bike to ride to neighboring towns whenever I felt like it, and I even biked to a concert nearby of one of my favorite current musicians.
My usual assignments were picking courgettes (zucchinis), slicing peaches for jam, diggin potaters, and weeding. I also got to pick apricots while I was there, which was just as pleasant as it sounds.

About twice a week, groups of kids would arrive by bus to spend an afternoon on the farm. Ursula would show them the farm, then they would have a "goûter," or snack, consisting of zucchini quiche, peach tart, fresh jams, sliced peaches, and drinks made from the syrup of plants. They would end with a music lesson and a little parade around the front yard, blowing whistles and banging mallets.






My last few days I went to Barcelona, which I loved. Such a cool city. I mostly tagged along with my roommates from the youth hostel I stayed in, who were four goofy Dutch boys. Traveling by myself really helped me to be more self-sufficient and outgoing. I was surprised that I actually had fun and made friends. I would love to go back to Europe and travel more than I did this time around. Good stuff.