7/30/13

WWOOFING in San Cristobal!

 For my last two weeks of the four month Latin American adventure, I met up with my boyfriend Jay and we headed back to San Cristobal to WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) in exchange for room and board. Jay flew into Villahermosa, Tabasco because it was cheap and relatively convenient to San Cristobal. I arrived to Villa on the morning of June 8th and Jay came in late at night, so I hung out with our couchsurfing host Rosa all day. She was super nice and showed me around the city, had a delicious seafood lunch with her parents, bought her brother a birthday gift and ran other errands. We picked Jay up at the airport at night and it was so exciting to see him and so incredible that he was the only friend able to make it down to travel with me! Rosa and I treated him to some local treasures on the first night: Villahermosa's best horchata, fresh tropical fruit, plantain chips and the only real dark beers I'd ever seen in Mexico! It was quite the celebration, even though it was really hot in Rosa's apartment at night. We got up early the next morning and Rosa drove us to the bus station to catch a bus to Tuxtla Gutierrez, where we took a connection onto San Cristobal.


Jay's first night in Mexico, couchsurfing with Rosa in Villahermosa!

Once we finally arrived in San Cristobal around midday the following day, it was relieving to be back at about 6000 ft elevation because it was much cooler! We found La Casa del Pan, the restaurant with a dorm in the back, where we'd be staying. The dorm situation was a little awkward, but convenient to everything in town and about 45 minutes walk from the farm where we worked. That afternoon we met one farm-mate Cory from Minnesota, and the following day we met the rest of the crew of about 2-6 depending on the day, including people from Mexico, Spain and France.
For the next two weeks we enjoyed lots of sunshine and good weather while working at the farm in the morning. We mostly weeded, harvested produce for the Wednesday and Saturday markets, separated seeds from dried plants to give to other farmers and chatted in English and Spanish with our friends on the farm. The farm grew a variety of veggies and fruits to be sold at the market and used at the restaurant La Casa del Pan, including many types of greens, beets, tomatoes, strawberries, rhubarb, onions, etc.
In the afternoon we would walk back to La Casa del Pan for their big vegetarian lunch, and then relax or walk around town to visit markets and drink the most amazing hot chocolate ever! I showed Jay some of my favorite parts of the town that I'd seen in May, and the two weeks we spent in San Cristobal passed by very quickly and soon it was time to take the bus back towards Villahermosa. On our last night in San Cristobal, Jay, Cory and I went on a big shopping trip to the market together and cooked a stellar meal at her boyfriend Dan's apartment!



Big clouds coming out of the hills around San Cristobal


The rooftop garden above the restaurant where we stayed in San Cristobal



Last day on the farm with Cory





Goodbye dinner at Dan's apartment (chicken mole, pork with green chile, horchata, bread pudding...)


View of the town from Dan's deck

We said goodbye to San Cris the next day and took the bus to Palenque, and then rode out to El Pachan, a small group of hotels in the jungle just outside the entrance to Palenque National Park. We found a room for two nights and then went back into the town of Palenque to buy some supplies. The next day we took a van to the waterfalls of Misol Ha and Agua Azul, which I had been to before with my dad, but loved so much and was eager to go to again. The van had some other interesting travelers from England and Spain, and we all enjoyed swimming in the hot and humid jungle. That night we had dinner at a place in town where Jay loved the local food, especially because it included meat, which had been lacking at La Casa del Pan!



Misol Ha waterfall

On our last full day in Mexico, we visited the Palenque ruins, had lunch in the town of Palenque at a taco stand and then took a short bus ride back to Villahermosa. We met up with Rosa again, (she was The Best!) checked out some live music and an art gallery that was having a special event commemorating the city's birthday, and Rosa took us to a locally known food truck that had delicious typical food and lots of white plastic chairs! It was a very hot night, but not long, as we had to get up at about 4am to catch a taxi to the airport on June 26th and say "Adios Mexico"!


Last day at Palenque



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