No Tension

And I’m on the move again!

I’ve left Niramayam Farm with a whole slew of crazy new ideas in my head and I’m off to learn some more. But before I scoot off to where ever I decide to go next, I’m bumming in McLeod Ganj for a while. It’s hard not to bum around considering there are more cafes than dogs in this town (and there are plenty of dogs). And all the cafes have… coffee! and wifi! and carrot cake! Not joking about the carrot cake. And it’s really really good, too. Oh, the above pic is the view from my hotel balcony. It's not so bad. (But you pay for added little benefits like a stunning view... my room is 110 rupees per night. Do the conversion. I dare you.)

So things to do in Mcleod Ganj. Volunteer. I’ve been helping with various English teaching related things with Tibetan refugees and I hear there’s a soup kitchen in town that I intend to check out. Yoga. I went to a yoga class which was very nice. Hikin. That’s been my primary activity. There are many villages and such to walk to around here where you can get some amazing mountain views and see some village life and if you hike high enough, you can even see some snow (I wanted to hike up that high a few days ago, but the weather was unpermitting… now I have to wait for some of the snow to melt because the path is pretty impassable at the moment). And eating! Heh.

Here you go. Enjoy some pictures.

Now look at this little gem I found in a bookshop here...

Oh, the title of this post refers to the most important lesson I learned on Niramayam Farm: No Tension. The workers had pretty limited English, but among their handful of awesome sayings (“Full Power!” “Chapatti Master!” “Night Duty”) was “No Tension.”

So don’t worry! Relax! No Tension!

Another boring post!

Same ole Same ol! And since (as you probably could have guessed) my Flickr account has falln by the wayside... here's some various "artsy fartsy" pics I've taken over the past few months. 

hugs and kisses!

Birds!

'Ello, 'ello! 

I have very little new things to report (my plants grow! the weather is getting colder! the food is still amazing!), so I shall share a few of the bird pictures I've managed to capture! I've snapped and identified over 40 species (BooYah!) but here are a few of my faves:

Blue Whistling Rock Thrush

Common Tailorbird

Great Barbet

Himalayan Bulbul

Long-eared Owl

Oriental White Eye

Tawny Eagle

White-throated Kingfisher

Yellow-billed Blue Magpie

Heh, boring post. Deal with it!

A day in the life...

Happy New Year! 

I'm back in town quickly and, hooray! the internet is working! So, FOR REAL THIS TIME, I present you with "Sarah's Life on Niramayam Farm."

I live here:

Hagrid's hut, anybody?

It's a small circular hut made of stones and clay that reminds me of my ger. Only it's bigger. And taller. And has running water. Like I mentioned before, I start my mornings at 7, when I begin my waking up rituals (drinking coffee) and reading a bit about Masanobu Fukuoka's farming philosophy. I will spare you all the hippie rant about eating locally grown food and blah blah blah, but the ideas are having a huge influence on my way of thinking and where I will choose to go next with my life. I highly suggest you all take a little readsie: The One Straw Revolution.

After I'm sufficiently caffeine-ed, I head out to the fields to do some work!

Suresh plowing fields the old-fashioned way

I have quite a few tasks that I have undertaken here at the farm. Ramesh, the owner of the farm, was interested in testing out a few new ways of farming and set the tasks to his WWOOFers. We built a few gardens using "the double dig" method, where, you guessed it, we turn the soil over twice. We've also built an herb spiral, started a few different types of compost piles, started a Fukuoka-inspired field, and built a pond! Ramesh has also assigned me the task of photographing and identifying the birds on his farm. Easily the most fun and frustrating task I've ever been handed. 

Compostin'. 1 part organic matter (leaves, kitchen scraps, etc...), 1 part cow shit.

After a day's work, we pass the time eating, drinking, and being merry in the good ole outdoors.

 

Silipy! Daughter of Bayla, the unphotographable.

Ze Mountains at Dusk

Desraj and Suresh, two of the farm's awesome workers.

 

Being silly by the fire

 And that's that! Life is good people! I hope you all the best for 2013! Who knows, maybe I'll even see you in person! Hugs, kisses, and champagne!

I leave you all with another installment of "How To..."

How To Make a Clay Pond Using Common House/Farmhold Ingredients

Step 1: Gather the ingredients:

Water

Soil

Hay

A volunteer. The more unwilling, the better.

The most important ingredient of all. Fresh dung.

Step 2: Tell your volunteer to mix the ingredients together. What? I certainly can't stick my hand in cow shit  and take pictures at the same time!

 Step 3: Once thoroughly mixed, wind up and SPLAT.

Step 4: Admire your handiwork and try not to breathe through your nose.

Niramayam Farm

Happy Belated Christmas, folks!

And Merry The-World-Did-Not-End!!

Hooookay, the farm. I've been here for a little about a month and a half now and, boy howdy, I just love it. Everyday I wake up, watch the birds, drink a bunch of coffee, work a little bit, eat some awesome food, watch more birds, work some more, eat more awesome food, sit near a fire, and then go to sleep. After 2 years in Mongolia and 4 months of travel, the farm is like one giant exhale. 

I know I promised pictures and stories and such, but once again, I LIED. I tried to upload pictures but after an hour, all that uploaded was this:

Meet Mastram, one of the workers on the farm (and Lionel, another WWOOFer in the corner)

Now, I'm running out of time because I have to catch the bus back to the farm and also I'm hungry. But I won't leave you completely in the dark! Here's the link to the farm's (outdated) website.

Sorry about the blog. Miss you all and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

INDIA!

Namaste everybody!

Sorry for the poor bloggin, but I have once again isolated myself from the outside world of news, cell phones, and internet.

Last you saw me, I was hangin in Bangkok, hating the noise and confusion and waiting for my Inidan visa. Since then, I have travelled to Phuket, where I met Woody Leonard, a friend of my mother's. I sat on the beach all day and ate delicious food by night. More on that later. Maybe.

Then I went back to Bangkok, got my visa, flew to Delhi, met an M-7 (!!!) (More on THAT later), got on an overnight bus (can't get enough), rode to Dharamsala and have been living the simple life ever since.

Oh, by the way, I'm WWOOFING in the foothills of the Himalayas.

Sorry, this is so quick and scattered, but I haven't the time (nor the pictures) to do this post justice. Someday, I promise, I"ll have some great stories for y'all. Until then, it'll be like i'm in Mongolia again. 1 post per 2 months.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!