i'm really doing it

although i have delayed and they delayed it again, my departure date has been set. i'm flying out of o'hare on friday september the 5th, landing in dublin, and then hopping on another plane to my destination of madrid; arriving on september 6th.

the first farm i'm working on is in aranjuez, madrid, which is about 50 km south of the city of madrid. i don't know too much about the farm, other than that they have a big garden, use alternative energies, and have some livestock; mules, chickens, horses, pigs, and sheep specifically. currently they have 2 other wwoofer's that i'll be living with in a separate home/room detached from the main house. i say room b/c that's all it is it is. so i've committed to this place for the month of september, before heading south to the province of cadiz.

the farm in cadiz is 10 km from the neartest town, conil de la frontera, and about 3 km from the coast. i actually had this farm nailed down before the one is aranjuez, but they were booked with other wwoofers through september, and october was the first they accommodate me. ...the first farm was a fill-in of "this is close to a main airport" and "transportation from madrid to cadiz is available." on this farm i'll be helping with their orange harvest, as well as their personal garden. and apparently if they have guests at their house i may be asked to "help out around the house." as they mentioned it... other than working, i'll hopefully be able to pick up surfing during my time near the mediterranean. one of the daughter's of the family i'll be working for runs a surf school, and apparently as a wwoofer i get a discounted rate. hey! i can't work all the time!

so that's the rough plan for the first 2 months i'm in spain. i'm sure it won't go as planned, and i'm sure the farms won't be what i thought they were, but that's part of the fun. who knows what my access to the internet will be, so new blog posts will come whenever the opportunity is there.