Saturday Night Fever

It's just another week here on the Emerald Island. The weather is sporadic. It's sunny most of the day and turns into a monsoon at night. A great deal of trees have fallen on the property, both here and at the kiwi farm.

The cart in question

Speaking of the kiwi farm, Sayer, Jon and Attila finished the kiwi harvest! In just a little over 2 weeks they picked 337 crates, each an average of 25 kilograms (40-50 pounds, more or less). Jon said that last year's harvest took over a month with 4 people and a Kubota tractor. This year we pushed a rickety hand cart up and down the soggy hillside. Hmmm, what to do at the farm now...

Aldo has continued to work at the riding center. The instructors have been giving him riding and handling lessons during their spare time. They might even make a horse whisperer out of him.

Aldo working on long reining Isabella

On a sad note, Mrs. Steen lost the first Skyrian born under her watch this week. Silverstar passed away quickly and we believe she might have been poisoned. It took 6 of us to load her into the back of the van for burial. Aldo stayed up and helped tend to the ailing animal but she did not make it through the night. It is fortunate, however, that she passed during the night and not during a lesson or while the children were at the stables.

On Saturday night we had a big party down at Captain's to celebrate Mrs. Steen's newest accomplishment. For over 4 years she has tried to get approval to build a new, covered arena and riding center near the kiwi farm. After much fighting and campaigning, she was finally given permission! Construction should start within the next few days and contingent on the weather.

All of the instructors, employees and long-time riders that helped make this possible were in attendance. Even the mayor of Corfu joined the 40+ people. Early in the evening, Captain George pulled Sayer back into the kitchen to prepare the plates for our guests. After the meal, Mrs. Steen said a few words of thanks and sang "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean" in remembrance of Silverstar. After that, the party was in full swing with yet another round of karaoke. We will leave out the details, but the singing continued into the early morning hours and we closed down the house after the rest of the party left. Yet another great night in Corfu!

On Monday morning came clear and sunny skies. Jon loaded us up to go to the south of the island. The good weather was short lived, however, and the rest of the day was spent in the wind and rain. We passed through a few ghost towns including Kavos (due to the winter low-season) and knocked a few more geocaching spots off of our list.

Boom

Ruins of a monastery (we didn't find the cache)

Corfu Town from the observatory

This week we have some guests in the house and on the property. A news station from Athens is here to film a documentary on Mrs. Steen and her mission. They will interview a few of the instructors as well. Other than that, we are looking at another week of work and fellowship here at the Silva Project. Thanksgiving is coming up and perhaps we'll make some comfort food so as to not completely miss out on the tradition.

The days go by...

Whew, time flies here when you are picking up horse poop....

Last Monday we used our day off to go with Jon on a trek of the island. He drove us up to the northern climes and part of the way up Mount Pantokrator, the tallest peak here. We were privy to a lovely view of the island, the Greek mainland and Albania.

Along the route we stopped at a few locations to engage in some geocaching. Geocaching is a global online treasure hunt that utilizes GPS coordinates to hide-and-seek logs and collections of trinkets. There are a few on Corfu and we found most that we were looking for. Each cache is completely different and unique because of the people who find it and leave their mark. geocaching.com for more info...

After our first stop we headed to Old Pirithia, Corfu's oldest village. There are remains of centuries-old houses alongside a new tavern. The place would be picturesque if it were not for the electrical lines running every which way. It was cold, wet and foggy, so the ambiance in the town was nothing less than eerie. Like in one of those horror movies, we thought a troglodyte would come out with a chainsaw and feed us to his young. We stopped at the small islet of Agios Spiridon to find a cache in the old Byzantine monastery and one on the beach before calling it quits.

Old Pirithia

Jon and Aldo investigating the contents of the cache

The week was spent either at the horse center or kiwi farm. Nothing new to report there, other than we are at 250+ crates picked in just over a week. We had a mini-horse photo shoot for the new calendar on Sunday afternoon. Mrs. Steen wasn't too accepting of the idea for a "Men of Silva" calendar...

Poppy, one of the new foals

Kiwis...

This Monday we split ways and enjoyed an awesome day of sunshine. Sayer went with Attila to the apex of Mount Pantokrator by way of the motor bike. There is a nice monastery on the grounds, but it is ruined by the presence of a huge radio tower. Afterwards the pair continued once more to Old Pirithia and made a long, cold journey back to a warm meal.

Mount Pantokrator in the background

Monastery with its blemish

The moment has arrived!

The last two weeks have been fun but busy here on the farm. Jon left for a holiday so Aldo and I pulled double duty at the riding center and the kiwi farm (we just had to walk the dogs everyday). Both of us are becoming skilled horsemen and we have slipped quite nicely into a routine.

Sayer with a Skyrian

Attila constructing an oven made of clay and horse poop

Last Thursday, we had the day off for "Ochi day," one of Greece's national holidays (Ochi is the Greek way of saying no). During World War 2, Benito Mussolini demanded that Axis forces be allowed to enter Greece and fortify positions to aid them in the war. Greeks took to the streets and yelled "ochi" as a protest to the request. The Italians invaded anyways, but the day is commemorated all the same.

We headed down to Corfu Town to watch the festivities. For some reason, we were under the impression that there would be a huge parade and plenty of shenanigans to hold our attention. In reality, the entire celebration consisted of different groups of school children marching by in matching uniforms. After they passed, everyone left. With nothing else to see, we retreated to George's for lunch.

Our only other note-worthy adventure last week was Halloween! Jon got back on Saturday night and we each set aside clothes and ideas to be used. We talked George into letting us come to his restaurant for dinner and karaoke (oh, no....) and on Sunday night we stormed in and took over the place.

Some of the costumes: Aldo as a Scotsman, Sayer as Wolverine from X-men, Attila as Rambo, Jon as a Judo master, Sharon as a cat, Ann as Morticia, and Sophie as something. Captain George had on a fake nose, but the winner of the night was Mrs. Steen. She came down a few minutes after us and walked in with a mask and several shawls. No one could guess who would come dressed as a hag, and when she ripped off the mask we all laughed a great deal. What a great sense of humor!

The night was full of horrible renditions of the classics, great food, plenty of wine, and a good deal of fellowship. Our playlist included "Barbi Girl," "YMCA," and other hits by O-town, Boys 2 Men, Garth Brooks, and Joe Cocker. It was one of the best halloweens either of us could remember (now we want to forget it...).

Us with Captain George

Us with Attila and Jon after a hard night's rockin'

Monday we headed across the island to Pelekas beach and Kaiser's throne. From the vantage point we could see both sides of the island. We taught the guys how to play beteyah and spent an hour or so on the beach before coming back for dinner.

Kaiser's throne with Corfu Town in the background (We decided to shave and get haircuts!)

Life has resumed as normal this week, with the exception of one thing. (Drumroll). We started the kiwi harvest! The last two days have been spent picking the largest fruits from the tree and storing them in the shed. Our tractor broke so we are pulling carts by ourselves, but we are still making good time and bringing in a good haul.

The kiwi farm

The fruits of our labors

The picking should last about 4 weeks due to the inconsistency on each tree. We can't just go and grab every kiwi because some of them still need to mature. We make an initial pass for the big ones, then in a week or two we will double back and collect the rest. As it stands at the moment, none of the kiwi are ripe. We pick them when they are quite firm and they ripen after being separated from the tree (this makes it hard to snack during work).

On to Greece!

Well the journey to Greece was a long one that started with an early bus from Cadalso de los Vidrios to Madrid. That was followed up by a Metro train ride to Barajas Airport terminal 1 and a 3 hour and 45 minute plane ride to Athens, Greece. Our layover was short in comparison to that of Ft. Lauderdale to Santo Domingo earlier in this trip but, we soon we on a small jet en route to Corfo (Kerkyra). It was a one-hour flight and before we knew it we were in Corfu and looking around for our newest host.

Unbeknown to us, Aldo had been sitting next to Mrs. Sylvia Steen all along. She had been visiting her mother in Athens and was on the way back home to meet the "new American boys." She called out to us by the baggage claim and said she identified us by either a "lost look" or our "large backpacks." After exchanging a few formalities we headed to her villa and our new "home" for the next six weeks.

1400 year-old Ficus tree

It was a short drive to the villa and we soon parked it in the driveway of a 200+ year-old house. Along the way, Mrs. Steen pointed out to us a 900 year-old Eucalyptus tree and a 1400 year-old Ficus tree that also call her villa home. It's one of the 3 oldest Ficus trees in the world. Unfortunately, the weather was nasty and certain astonishment had to wait until the morning.

Dinner was served and waiting for us along with 6 foreign faces that we of the other volunteers on the Silva Project. Our coordinator, Jon, is from Manchester, England and he gave us a tour of the house and grounds. Other volunteers are Ann from Canada, Sophie from France, Mark from Texas, and Attila from Hungary. We settled in and adjusted to the new sounds and comforts of our home. (The sounds were interesting, considering there are 15+ dogs on the farm as well as 20+ miniature horses and countless chickens and geese...)

Our Villa

Saturday we had the day off to settle in and explore Corfu Town with Jon. Corfu is the name of the island and also the name of the capitol city. The city has English, Italian and Venetian influence that is evident in the layout of the small streets and tall buildings. Corfu is the northernmost Greek island on the west coast, just across from Albania. Our villa is situated on a small peninsula just by the airport. From our porch we can see across to the Greek mainland. Some stunning views await those who walk just a few yards from the house.

One view from the property (Greece is in the distance)

Another view across the sea. Legend claims that the small island is the boat of Odysseus, who washed up onto Corfu's shore in Homer's Odyssey

  

The private beach we share with the resort

Saturday evening Mrs. Steen treated us to a traditional Greek dinner in a small town outside of Corfu. We sat apart from the locals and clearly stuck out as foreigners. The waiter brought out plates of sausage, meatballs, salad, bread, yogurt sauce, potatoes, cheese, and bottles of local wine. We stuffed ourselves full before learning that this was only the first course of the meal. It took a lot of strength to force down the second course of pasta, lamb, and veal. Dessert was traditional Greek yogurt with honey or candied fruits. We mingled for a bit and enjoyed the live performance of musicians and dancers.

Sunset from the front porch

On Sunday we took a short drive out to the kiwi farm to get oriented with our new profession. There are 12 rows of trees brimming with kiwis that will be ready to pick by next week. We took yet another set of dogs for a walk before calling it a day and stopping at a pub on the way home.

That night we went out for drinks and karaoke, and we quickly cleared the place out. The selection was pretty slim but we had a good time anyways. 3 a.m. rolled around and the restaurant owner's eyes were pleading with us to leave. Aldo paid tribute to Frank Sinatra with his version of "My Way." Songs were coming on randomly, and Sayer stunned the crowd when he belted out Andrea Bocelli's "Time To Say Goodbye" in Italian, word for word. Oh, what a night!

Monday is the volunteer's day off and we spent it around the villa and at our new favorite hangout, Captain George's. George is a local that opened a bar and restaurant next to our farm so we stop in for good drinks and food everyday. He welcomed us as "The Texas Mafia" and always takes time to sit and visit. He can't pronounce the name "Sayer," so Sayer is now known as "Spyros."

Aldus Maximus

  

A gyro, one of Greece's better-known culinary delights

  

Mini-horses

The rest of our week was spent working on the equestrian center and kiwi farm. We were separated in order to learn each job and it was nice to be apart for a few hours each day (our longest break from each other since before leaving for this trip). At the kiwi farm, we each walked the dogs, cleaned and organized the crates to prepare for the harvest. Back at the equestrian center we were put to work shoveling horse poop into sacks (mucking) and grooming and feeding the horses before each lesson.

There are several trainers that instruct youngsters to ride horses. Our job is to groom and saddle the horses and lead them around the arena during lessons. The work is simple and fun and we meet plenty of new people each day. Also included in our work week is one free riding lesson apiece. Horse riding is something we naturally should have learned in Texas, but we will take life as it comes!

Irakles (Hercules), the horse that Sayer rode. Sharon, pictured, is an instructor and the horse's owner

Evenings are spent reading or visiting with the other volunteers over delicious homemade dinners. There is a 5-star hotel directly next door that offers casino raffles 3 nights a week, so we head over and cross our fingers for the 500 Euro prize. We have yet to win, but there is still a good month left to try our luck.

Today was another day off but rain dominated any plans we would have made. Instinctively, we just went down to George's for lunch and an afternoon of conversation. This place is very unique and very welcoming. We are excited to be here and even more excited to keep everyone involved with our progress!

Adios España!

On our last weekend in Spain, we ended up staying put and reluctantly passed up the chance to travel to Portugal (The trains were full). Instead, we spent part of Saturday in Madrid then went back to Houston's finca. It rained a lot, so we were cooped up inside. On Sunday we took a brisk, 5 kilometer walk to Cadalso do los Vidrios and caught some glimpses of the small town. Because it was Sunday; everything was closed except for a small pub called La Parada (Oh no, how dreadful!) Of course, we stopped in and honored the shopkeeper with a few purchases and had some wonderful tapas to eat.

We did some more walking and took in the entire town in about 15 minutes. The average age of the population here is somewhere in the neighborhood of 114 years but we aren't archaeologists.

The work week consisted of more brick laying and hauling of boulders. By now we are developing an inkling of muscles. We also completed a 3500 liter water storage tank and made significant progress on another.



Aldo assisting Houston with the water tank



Houston and Maria's house



Meals continue to be great and the conversations at night are very educational. Maria returned from her vacation on Thursday night in time for one last meal and we caught up on news from the outside world. We were glad to hear that all the Chilean miners were rescued safely.



The road leading to Houston's



Solar panel

Friday morning we said goodbye and headed back to Madrid to jump on the plane to Greece. The flight was easy and quick, and we met our newest host at the airport in Corfu last night. We will write another post soon after we get the lay of the land. This phase of our trip should be quite an adventure (as if the other parts have not already been...)

Working in the countryside...

Saturday we woke up and shook off the night before and jumped on a bus to our host's house in Cadalso de los Vidrios. The small town is about an hour and a half drive by bus West of Madrid. The drive was beautiful, lots of hills and agriculture flying by the window. This place reminds me a lot of the Texas Hill country (I said this several times and Aldo told me to stop because it was ruining the experience for him, hahaha).

We got off the bus and were instantly spotted by Maria, our host. We exchanged formalities and jumped in her car to head to the "finca," or farm house. On the way she talked about herself and listened to our stories from the D.R. She is originally from Finland and met her husband, Houston, while studying at Texas Tech.

We pulled up to the house and unloaded our backpacks. Houston came out and once again we exchanged our information. He is half-American but was born and raised in Spain. He and Maria built their house from scratch and the place is virtually self-sufficient. There is also another American, Emma, volunteering here with us over these two weeks.

Over a dinner of carrot soup and pork, we talked about the house and our expected duties. Houston installed solar panels and a wind generator to supply the house's electricity. The only living expenses they have besides food is 22 Euros a year on propane! They are looking to grow their own food, so soon their cost of living will be even less. The house is small but comfortable, and the meals are delicious.

Sunday through Thursday we put in hours of work on some projects that Houston needs accomplished. We split firewood, cleaned up around the house, demolished a concrete slab, dug into a greenhouse excavation, and mixed concrete. Yesterday, Houston let us try our hand at laying bricks for his new water storage tanks. We are learning a lot about sustainability and green living. The schedule is flexible and we can choose what work we want to do. After lunch we get to take a "siesta" then keep working until the sun goes down.

The independent feeling is very welcome. No ties to phones, computers, TVs, or anything else that most people value more than silence and nature. The food is awesome (for some reason I finally enjoy eating the foods that I pushed away as a kid, mainly vegetables), and the fellowship is even better.

Now we are in Madrid for the weekend, trying to find something unique to do until Sunday. The internet cafe won't let me upload pictures so they will wait for another day. Expect a post next weekend when we get to a city again. Until then, we will be enjoying our peace and feelings of accomplishment!

First impressions of España...

Sorry for the delay but we finally got to an internet cafe to catch up on our blog. Thanks to everyone for keeping up with our adventures.

Like we said, we arrived to Barajas Airport in Madrid on Friday morning and after a stop at customs and passport control we set eyes on the Metro. The Metro is an underground, light, passenger rail system that runs through the heart of the city and is virtually accessible from anywhere. It is an excellent and cheap way to travel. And since we are on a budget we figured what better way to travel.

Before we left, we sold our American Dollars for Euros with an exchange rate of $1.46 per €1.

We used Aldo's past experience in Madrid as a guide to get around the city but eventually had to get a map. We checked into our hostel and took a nap to offset the jet lag. After our snooze, we took a quick tour of the city. Among the places we visited were: Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor, Puerta de Toledo, Palacio Real, Capula de la Almudena, Catedral de San Isidro and a lot of little places along the way.

The final stop on our whirlwind tour was the Plaza de Toros. We arrived just after the bullfights had started but were able to swindle two tickets for the last 3 fights in the shaded area of the arena. Seeing the bullfight was definitely a new experience and regardless of your feelings toward it: It was something we had to see. The consensus was a positive one, if not awesome, and we even got to see a "matador" get tossed into the air by a powerful Toro de Osbourne. Our night ended there (not really) and we retired to our hostel for some rest.

Jose Maria Manzanares doing his thing

On Saturday, we returned to take in some more of the city and waited for the 18:00 bus to Cadalso de los Vidrios. We are anxious to meet up with our contact, Houston McCord and begin understudying.

Nos vemos, Vale.