Las Canoas Altas

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  Erongaricuaro, Mexico
Saturday, March 8, 2008

After many a bus, and many a bed, the time comes when every weary traveler needs to hang his hat in a new home for more than a day or two.   As weary as I was, I was rejuvenated by the welcoming warmth of Vicente and Marta at the Rancho- Las Canoas Altas.   Welcomed immediately into the daily rhythm of their lives, some of my(along with other wwoofers)  responsibilities were-
feeding the guajalotes (turkeys)
Learning to speak guajalote
Tending the mare
Cleaning the Stable
Watering the fields
Chasing the mare
Tending the bees
Eating the honey
Making Adobes (mud/straw bricks used in alternative building)
Plastering over Adobes with a mud/sand/manure mixture
Cutting fire lines around the farm for protection from the rampant fires
Stealing old railroad ties discarded by the railroad company for use as fence posts...

Chocolate de erongaricuaro

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Making bread, pizzas, pies, and cakes...and eating them with more honey.
And last but not least, I felt responsible to sneak away nights and sing to the guacalotes. In many a song, I never failed to get an enthusiastic gobble or two from his majesty the guajalote....

Naturally, it soon became obvious that life on the farm included never ending possibilities for work, which is nice, because it´s exactly opposite the lazy life of a traveler.  In a daring move, I slept every night on a terrace, outside,  where I was able to re-adapt my ways to that of the sun and moon, sleeping until the sun rose over the lake in front of me.  As the first light invaded, it slowly blotted out the lights of the villages surrounding the lake, until with the disappearance of the last star, so faded the lights of civilization.  I hope you agree with me that this is a superior alarm to  the usual BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ that is so common these days.  You will also find a photo of the total eclipse of the moon that occurred a few weeks ago.
I suppose some of my highest complements of Las Canoas Altas goes to the food, I love Mexican food, but the food on the farm was a nice break from the high cholesterol inundation that is comida Mexicana

connected to the earth

.  Eating the honey and trying the mead made with that same honey convinced me that if ever I have a farm of my own, I´ll be having bees.  I was well known for my honey consumption abilities, and so was very excited to work with the bees, learning a little about apiculture.  Vicente Keeps some 65 hives, and we visited them all eventually.  I only got stung once, which seemed excellent at the time, but now I could go for about 25 stings to create a decent story, eh?  Life on the farm was full of a rich vibrancy, very interesante, rico, saludable, and often even a little chistoso...
Here is a poem that nicely represents the prevailing sentiments at LAs Canoas Altas
El Labrador lo sembró
El Sol lo maduró
El Campesino lo segó
El Molinero lo molió
Nosotros lo preperamos y
Antes de empezar a comer
A todos lo hemos de agradacer

My rough translation:
The farmer planted it
The sun ripened it
The Countryman harvested it
we prepared it,
and before we begin to eat
to all we are very thankful.

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Eclipse	En Mal Pais con Vicente y todo	From left: Me, Laura, Kevin, Mark	Laura from Germany
Marta	Me working with Mark of the USA	mmm,.... honey	Old man with BMW de campesino
Susanna preparing our food	Vicente Preparing wax for the bees	Vicente with his mare

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