My last week

For our 'weekend' Hannah and I went to Edinburgh! It was a crazy trip and there are good stories that go with these, but I got swamped with job applying and berry picking :) Anyway, I'm home now so I'll just tell you face-to-face. I've got crazy jet lag so if anyone wants to talk at 4 am, don't be shy. I'll be up.

Scott Monument, Edinburgh

Edinburgh Castle

Choych in Edinburgh.

Our hipster hostel was full of wall art, incense, and friendly little mice.

National Monument

King Arthur's Seat

Our street

We left Edinburgh, and Hannah went back to Maine :( I finished out the week on the funny farm and on my next day off I bucked up and biked the 24 miles (with unhappy thighs) to the village of Cheddar, birthplace of Cheddar Cheese!

All set, with a Bobbi Welzel braid and bugs on my face.

The ride was beautiful!

I forgot about lunch, so I ate massive amounts of these tasty gems.

Murphy's Law: If your camera has cool settings like Fisheye View, you will learn about a few days before you leave.

Imagine a village full of cheddar cheeses, chutneys, and wines.

Where the magic of Cheddar Cheese happens

Then we wwoofed on a funny farm.

"Right, and this little lamb is called Sarah. She thinks she's a dog. The other sheep ignore her and she is quite happy to ignore them as well. Oh, go ahead and give that food to the pigs. Let me just get them for you." 

Robert lets out a tiny smile, begins to yodel (a loud, melodic yodel, I'm telling you, I can't make this stuff up) and three of the ugliest pigs I've ever seen come galloping across the field, sending the sheep flying. I squint at the sheep and notice that some of them are actually ponies, adorable pocket-sized Shetland ponies who have busted out of their pen. As we watch ponies, pigs, sheep, and dogs greet each other in an open field, Robert makes a cheesy Dad joke about how all of his animals are extra free range and I know I'm going to love this place.

This was my first day on my last farm, a little 4 acre plot in England (not Wales, whoops!) with host Robert, and Italian wwoofers, Martha and Giovanni. Our first few days spent raking thistles are interrupted with tea time during which Robert is happy to ask all sorts of questions, like what languages do we think in, and what sustainable things do we do to avoid being affected by the global recession? When he finds out that I have Skype interviews coming up, he is so fascinated that my introduction to the family becomes "This is Elizabeth, and she interviews on SKYPE!!" We learn about his family of six, how he hopes to only eat meat from his own farm some day, and that his wife still doesn't know that the pet turtles he brought in the house will soon grow to 30 lbs each. An organic farm with a host who who works alongside us AND pranks people? Brilliant!

A few days later we were joined by my friend Hannah, veteran wwoofer, sailor, traveler, and one of my favorite people in the world. I had met so many great people traveling, but man was it good to see a familiar face. We shared ridiculous wwoofing stories, scrappy backpacking hygiene secrets (yeah, like I'm letting any of that out), and caught up on what each others lives have been like.

Robert in his backyard

Mart-ha and Giovanni

Hannah mouse!

WWOOF!

The ugliest, and funniest looking, composting machines around! I want one.

Sarah the dog

Okay, there isn't really anything interesting about these sheep. Moving on.

Little punk ponies! You can't tell, but I'm sitting on the ground. Stinkin cute!

Free range chickens wander in the backyard

This poor little guy thinks he's upside down so his head is always turned!

Compost is like gold around here.

Visitor :)

Cricket match! Confusing game that last so long, they take breaks for tea.

Cliffs of Moher and Galway

"Remember, you are representing Americans"

Me: I'm really glad we're having this talk. I actually had kind of a bad experience in England so I want to make sure that I'll be working 30 hours a week, like we agreed in the emails.
Sonny: Whoa whoa, that's a bad attitude! You shouldn't be asking what's the minimum you can work, you should be asking what's the MAXIMUM you can work. As in 'how many hours a day can I work for you, Sonny?' Remember, we took a chance on you, despite you being American. You ARE representing your country, you know.

I'm sitting at a kitchen table in Ireland, discussing expectations with my new hosts Sonny and Mary. 

Sonny: Also, we do have internet, but we don't like people to use it much in their free time. You know, blogging and that Twitter thing. It bugs us. So just don't do it.
 
I explain that I will need to email with my family and friends, as well as apply for jobs. They stare at me, and repeat that they don't like it when people use the internet a lot.

So when the next few days went by with no problems, I started to think they were all bark and no bite, or at least all bark and mild nibbling, until day three. I ask Mary if I can use the computer to get back to some companies about jobs, she peers at me over her tea and declares, "I think you've had enough time on the computer for the week." We went back and forth for a while, me offering money or more work in exchange for the internet, Mary insisting it wasn't about the money, she simply isn't convinced I need to use it. Images of staying on my parents couch without a job start floating through my mind as the conversation escalates into an argument. Finally Mary accuses me of knowing nothing about beekeeping (if I had a dollar for every time I've been accused of that...) and angrily goes into the living room to watch her soap opera.

In the end, Sonny talks to Mary and reports back that she won't be able to forgive me. I get in touch with friends of a friend who live in Dublin who agree to take me in and offer to pick me up that night. It was a good thing too, because at that point Mary isn't speaking to me and Sonny is explaining that since I'm young, I'm always wrong. Oh and now they really don't like Americans. (Sorry...everyone.)

Iris and Claas (German, so of course they rock) took me back to their beautiful flat in Dublin, overlooking the Liffey River. And I am once again, blown away by how many times good people have stepped up when I've been in a bind. I stayed with them for almost a week and they took me to beaches, pubs, coffee shops, and Google, where Iris works. Fun fact: Google believes that a person should never be more than 100 meters from chocolate and food. Thus, there are kitchens everywhere, full of FREE food and cooks to make your breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

The only picture I took of my WWOOFING hosts, but its a good one. Sonny offing some wasps.

Good Samaritans: the lovely Claas and Iris :)

At Claas and Iris' flat, the view outside my bedroom window.

Viking tours outside our windows!

Its Google tour time! Their breakrooms resemble pubs around Dublin.

Fresh squeezed orange juice, nbd.

Massage and relaxation area.

Free coffee with all the fixin's.

Ireland is beautiful.

Us tourists, we love to feed seals.

Oh hey there Scotland, I like ya mountains.

Excited and mapless, ready to hike Slioch

Slioch, on a day we should have climbed it

Waterfalls everywhere! Eventually we lost the trails and just hiked up creeks

Steep, so so steep

Kelly looking cute while we tried to figure out where Slioch went.

The path went straight up, it is at this point Kelly (she's super tiny, to the right of the path) probably saw the rain cloud that tried to ruin everything.

So we stayed in the cloud, crouched under a rock for an hour and a half, but it was worth it when we reached the summit! Beautiful five second views when the clouds parted :)

Baaa-aaa-aad ass

I'm already missin these

On my last day we went to a lighthouse!

We had been joined by Jes (left) the bubbliest, brightest ray of sunshine I've ever met!

What happiness looks like

Chinese lantern full of wishes for my birthday!

Why yes, he is wearing a kilt for my last night in Scotland