Ahhhh two full days of relaxation! No wifi, no phones, no tv... Only nature, friends, volley ball, shit head, and good times!
For two days we stayed in a ranch a couple of hours away from Montevideo! It felt so good to relax and have a good time!
We started our stay at Estancia La Sirena by having a great meal prepared by Alma, or mama Alma as Kris calls her!
We then had the afternoon off to explore, play volley ball, catch up on writing, or play shit head!
Most of the group played a match of volley ball (i didn't) and then joined the few of us who were playing cards.
Then we went in groups of four for a horse back ride!
My horse was a little funny! He did not like to be left behind so every time we were almost the last one he went faster to catch up with the one in the front.
One of the horses had massive explosive diarrhea so we were very careful not to be behind that one in order to avoid any accidents.
I went for the ride along with Kate, Nico, and Bianca. Nico got on the poopy horse and right after we started our ride his horse went through a tree and Nico had to jump off the horse!!!! I was right next to him and it scared me because I thought he got hurt but he quickly got back on the horse!
For dinner mama Alma had made a delicious vegetable soup and a cake for Amrisha's birthday!
The funniest thing was that Kris very discretely left the dinning room to go get the cake, he came in and we started singing but after the first "happy birthday" we realized that Amrisha had just left to go to the bathroom!! Hahaha once she came back we sang but she had already heard us singing! :-(
After dinner we played one or two rounds of shit head and then changed the game. The whole group sat in a circle, we each wrote a cartoon name and stuck it on the head of the person to our left. One by one we asked yes or no questions to guess who was our cartoon character. We had an amazingly fun time playing it, some of the character were Mickey Mouse, Pluto, sponge bob square pants, hello kitty, shaggy from scooby doo, nemo, etc. We played two rounds and then moved on and played charades which was equally funny but a little more difficult.
I thoroughly enjoyed the night bonding the group and having a great time!
The next day we woke up in total serenity! We could actually hear all the birds chirping and the dogs barking! It reminded me a lot of home in El Salvador where a particular bird sings every morning and wakes me up.
The day started by Alma giving us a lesson on how to make bread (although there was no recipe so none of us would ever be able to reproduce! Haha) she mixed all the ingredients without measuring and then we started kneading the bread. A couple of people from the group decided to knead and then the dough was distributed between all of us and we each made our own piece of art out of dough and Alma put it in the oven.
The bread lesson was followed by a mate lesson by Kris. He explained how mate is drank in Uruguay (more social, people pass it around and they all drink from the same cup) and how to prepare a good one (as if that is even possible! Haha)
We then walk down to the ranch to see the cattle get vaccinated and marked (with the hot iron)
I felt bad for all those poor bulls and cows! They were all in a big space and they had to walk into a little hall way where they were all squeezed together and vaccinated. Then, one by one they each got burned with the letter L on them!
I was heartbreaking to see the cattle fighting not to get into the little hallway; it was as if they knew what was going to happen and many of them turned around and tried to escape! :-(
After a while I left and didn't get to witness (because I didn't want to) how they cut the bull's balls! I think that would have been a little too much for me. On the other hand, Bianca stayed for the whole thing and even got sprayed with some "ball juice" when the bull was getting castrated! Yuk!
Later in the day we had the owner of La Sirena, Rodney, come and tell us a little of the history of la Sirena. I think we all immediately loved Rodney! He is such a kind and gentle man that one can't do nothing but fall in love with him! ( I even think he is Kris' man crush! Hahahaha but in all fairness Rodney is adorable!)
Rodney is "un hombre del campo" (a man from the country side?!?) and he reminded me SO MUCH of my grandfather! I grew up going to the ranch or the beach house with my grandpa and my cousins and listening to Rodney I couldn't help but get a little emotional about my memories as a child.
He talked very passionately about the history of la Sirena and about his family. He shared with us that his grandma was a famous piano player and that his grandpa purchased a piano for every single house they owned and there we had an antique piano at La Sirena that his grandma used to rehearse on... So special!
I'm really grateful that Kris is the kind of CEO that goes above and beyond his call of duty and wants us to get the real experience of La Sirena by listening to its history and getting to know Rodney better.
Rodney gave us an extended tour of la Sirena and took us to the second floor overlooking the property and there he shared with us details of his daughter's wedding at La Sirena. The wedding sounded just like a fairy tale and the his sense of pride and joy when telling the story was priceless! I absolutely loved being there in the moment listening to Rodney!
After the tour he went to the garage and got out his old Ford and let us take a look at it! Another very proud moment for him, I could see it in his eyes and his smile how much he enjoyed our appreciation not only for his car but for having the privilege of being there with him.
On the tire swing :-)
We had already had a busy day but we still had a lot more to come! Mid afternoon we went to milk the cow! We all took turns to get some milk out of the cow! Kris even brought a mug for those who wanted to try fresh milk... No milk for me, yuk! (The only milk I can manage is condensed milk! Haha)
Around 4pm we went on an hour walk to the river. Because it's winter the water is high but Rodney was telling us that during summer the water lowers down and it's becomes a beach and people do kayaking, water ski and all kinds of water sport.
Here is Rodney's old boat that was brought from where it was parked to la Sirena and when they put it down it broke!!! He was telling us that they will make different things (can't remember exactly what but I do remember it is something for his son) with its wood... How fun!
After dinner we gathered in the living room for a round of shit head and then outside where they had made a fire for us!
We had such a lovely evening around the fire singing to the beat of Talo's guitar and Michele's ukulele! I specially liked when Rodney and I sang "Cielito Lindo"... It was too beautiful!
I enjoyed the night very much, Rodney told more stories and emphasized the importance of enjoying each other's company around the fire, nature, the horses, the river, a nice sunset... The little things in life because with so much chaos in the world we sometimes forget to just enjoy nature and what surrounds us!
The next morning after breakfast we had to leave for Iguassu, we said goodbye to Rodney and the staff and mama Alba got teary and it! It broke my heart! :-(
... Hasta Luego
