xmas and more

Well, Ive been moving too much too update my journal..

WoW, Its been real busy, in fact Ive spent most of my time sleeping (not really) on antiquetated buses which like to speed through the mountains whose roads are constant switchbacks...
Before XMAS; I visited th Ishmus of Mexico where ACCI ORGANIC CAFE growers live and are working there buns off trying to pick this years bumper crop of coffee before it dries out and loses vitality....All the pastors and coffee growers seem to be doing good and most everyone is content... Very few of the people celebrate Xmas there because of the climate, work and there extreme poverty and lack of excess money...

After the Istmo for 3 days I was on the road to Oaxaca where I stayed for a few days and did a little work at CASA HOGAR, then I was staying at a real cheap Hostel and I put my clothes on my bed and the maid threw everything in the garbage... The workers would not help me until I got visibly upset and then they called the cleaning lady and she said it was in the garbage...After digging through the garbage I found my stenchy clothers in there, along with my money and everything, she didnt even look in my pockets which had 400 pesos in them.....Hopefully an honest mistake..
Then I hopped a 5am 3rd class bus in the oaxaca slums to get to the mtns. by XMAS eve.
It wa a slow scary ride at 9000 ft in the mnts. the buses brakes went out and we had to drive in 1st or 2nd gear the whole way to avoid the screeching metal of the brakes.. So I was thrilled when we got the the 4000 ft mark where my dirt road was to the finca..
XMAS, I planted some cedar trees in the farm and a local family came over fo our beans,wild nuts, and tortilla dinner with banana pie.. It was good pretty good with lots of stories for the returning illrgal immigrant and his stories of crossing the rio grande and paying smugglers to pay off policemen and protect all the crossing wetbacks.
I then spent a pleasant time hiking by waterfalls and through jungles by myself where. for a moment, I feel like Tarzan.

The next day we went to church in PLUMA HIDALGO, where I could see the beach 20 miles away perfectly and the beach towns, on a clear day it is a gorgeous mtn. view and the long Pacific Coastline....We had a great service and a kids program, then we had coffee and bread...
I was busy the whole time , so there was a little taste of the rough and tumble time I have here in the beautiful oaxaca weather....

11 days at coffee ranch

I've had a super time at Soconusco coffee farm the last 11 days!!!!! Here is a picture of what the farm looks like, its absolutely beautiful. I see God's incredibles handiwork everyone here with all kinds of specialized plants and animals especially suited for this lush, insect filled environment.

As you out the back yard to the South , all you see is mtns, then smaller ones, then hills, then the pacific ocean, 25 miles away, the horizon on a clear day.
On all the other sides are the lush South Sierra Madre, rising precipitously from the ocean..From 2000-6000 ft above sea, (Ranch is at 3-5000ft) it is primarily a Tropical Evergreen Forest, almost rainforest, but has a dry and rainy season, The Forested areas remain green all year, where as the deforested areas look the desert....
The ranch is completely forested in Big Trees, with lots of smaller coffee bushes in the shade which are getting overtaken by the jungle..
Silk-Cotton, aguatillo, cedar, maquil, and other preciouse tropical hardwood trees are in abundance.
Large overgrown fruit trees are everywhere within a stone's throw of the CASA, mango, tons and tons of different bananas, chestnuts, zapote, mamey, papaya, orange, lemon, passion fruit, chocolate trees, limes, macadamias, and more are attractive to me and the insects and birds, so it is a challenge to find the good fruit not yet eaten by someone or something else...
There is a river with many small waterfalls which flows down the mtns and many small ones when it rains...
I've spent most of my time with a machete cutting through bush and jungle to explore the former coffee farm which is getting overtaken by local vines, trees, and fast growing plants.
The other time is picking coffee or looking for chestnuts or bananas or some other food to eat for the day... The rest of my free time is spent bird-watching and reading, There is tons of awesome birds all over the house feating on the fruit.. Here is a small list of the birds I might see on a given day..
Blujays, orioles, lots of transparent hummingbirds and butterflys, many parakeets every morning, motmots, my favorite, the rare toucan or a larger parrot, eagles, partridge, and tons more, a true bird lovers paradise,
This ranch is safe place to nest since most of the birds are hunted by the locals, (whom are very nice, simple, and very hospitable people), They have little meat here so the love the opportunity to get one of these exotics dishes grilled to put put between a fresh corn tortilla......There life is hard, they live from day-to-day but most the mountains and the fresh air, and everyone is family. The ones who havent left looking for money somewhere else work on the coffee farms, picking and cleaning the once former golden coffee bean. Since prices dropped many locals have left for the North, looking for something better.
This is definetely a must see place, a place to see natural beaty, undeveloped by mans hands but cared for, in a sustainble way, leaving the forest intact.. Where there is no coffee, there are no trees, usually overused deforested corn patches, once a tropical paradise these deforested areas will be desertified if they cannot find other sustaible forest crops to grow...

Hope that gave you a good picture, cuz iv alwaz ben a bad righter

pluma hidalgo

Well, I m behind a little now...

It was a little rough getting to Pluma Hidalgo. I reserved a seat on a van going close to my destination...Well I arrived on time and found out to my utter dismay that they sold my ticket. I had no place to stay and needed to get on the rode in order to make it safely by late night... I eventually found a 2nd class bus going up and got a ticket, well it was 1.5 hrs late. Its now 4.00 and I have a 5-7 trip ahead of me...
The bus ride went fine until there was another broken down bus and we had to overload ours to help them out..That ended up being an extreme blessing. I was dropped in the middle of nowwhere,where there was a dirt road that I need to take. All vehicles had stopped for the night, my flashlight was stolen and It would have been a lonnngggg walk... After a quick prayer that I would get a partial ride I noticed to people over in the dark and went and talked to them...Joshua, who I didnt know was a member of the local church and had a ride coming so I gave em 10 pesos for a ride to the driveway, I know it would be dangerouse walking 2KM at night down a steep driveway which takes 40 minutes to walk.. Thanks God again, he loaned me his flashlight...So I lugged both my heavy packs down the driveway and listened to all the birds and bugs, when there I heard it, a large rustle right above me was walking through and following me and I was worried... I pulled out my knife for security and started running as fast as I could with my packs....
I made, with a loud whistle and there dog coming at me, I made it to my good friends, co-parents sometimes Frank and Mary Lous house in the jungle.

casa hogar

Week 1,

I have had a great week working at Casa Hogar, I had a really fun time at the nursery picking out awesome plants for dirt cheap. The sod was 3 times more than in the states.
So it took us about a week to get that done. Its starting to look nice with some newly planted vines, trees, shurbs, arborvitae and sod. Fran and Carols new house is looking GOOD and almost finished, just a little inside and more sod and it will be Beautiful, with a nice view of the hills from the window and yard.
I was helping out Dave, Paul, and Erin work on a nice new addition for guests on the old kitchen, they are the gringos around here now..
Carol and Pauls wife left for the states yesterday to registar a vehicle and get a knew one..

Ive been enjoying my time piddling around the zocalo, I visited a super nice catholic church with museum which is full over native artifacts for the last 1500 years.....

Im packing my bags and heading for the Sierra , the beatiful mountains, trees, and rivers await my delight at Frank and Mary Lous Ranch. I will be very excited to relax and pick some fresh coffee beans and fresh fruit there. There 200 acre Coffee ranch is resting due to low prices. I have received some new seeds from ECHO to experiment with some new fruit trees.
The difference of culture between the big city mexicans and pueblo indians is amazing and its awesome to look into the surrounding mountains and vallleys and see Gods handiwork everywhere and everything and see how everything compiments each other.....

Blessings, Jason