WWOOF Host no.2

Hello everybody! Friends, family. How are you all doing? I am doing great. Living life by the minute!

As some of you may know I am doing some WWOOF:ing now. "And what is WWOOF?" you may ask yourselves.. Well WWOOF stands for "Willing Workers On Organic Farms" - so it's an organization that provides volunteer work for anybody. And by volunteer I mean absolutely no pay, but they do provide with free food (3meals x 7days a week) and free accommodation. And to be a member of WWOOF you have to pay a 70AUD one-off fee for a whole year. So it's pretty good if you're a backpacker. And it's even better when the Australian government makes an offer to backpackers with a Working Holiday Visa (such as the one I have) where you can get a SECOND Working Holiday Visa if you complete 88days of Farm work (paid or unpaid doesn't matter). I think it's a pretty good deal, and since doing volunteer work has been on my bucket list for years, I finally get to tick that box :) So far I have completed 16 days of my Farm Work. 

Yesterday I traveled ≈5 hours south from the first location, to the location where I am now. I have been here for a bit less than 24 hours now and MY OH MY such incredible first impressions already. 

So. Let me rewind a little bit. 

WWOOF works in such way that you have a WWOOF book with hundreds of different Hosts around Australia that you can read about their farms and chose to stay with whoever you like (of course as long as they agree to have you as well). And you can also look for hosts in their website if you have a membership and log-in account (which I have). 

So... I agreed to stay in the first farm for two weeks and then I would find something else in the meantime (just because I am a gypsy and I like to change a lot and move around experiencing new stuff - my brother knows what I'm talking about). And when I was looking for a new Host online, I came across this lady who's name is Saranya. And this was (copy & paste) word for word her profile description on the website:

"Property located in Eungella. We live in our own house in the midst of a 35 year old 800 acre Hare Krishna farming community. We have taken responsibility for gardening 1 acre immediately surrounding our house. We grow vegies, herbs, fruit & fragrant flowers. Work includes planting, propagation, plant care, pruning, spraying vegan B-d sprays, collecting & spreading cow dung, harvesting, whippersnipping, chipping weeds. Accom for 1-6 people in our home, in BYO & in converted container. Children b.a. Strictly vegetarian meals, shared with Hosts or with wider community. Non-smokers only. Negotiable stays after first few days."

Now, I don't know what I was thinking about when I read this, and looking back it seems pretty obvious in the text, but somehow I got the idea that this farm was sort of a spiritual place where they did meditation and stuff. And community to me sounds like a few hippies all living in the same place and sharing stuff and being creative. 

Well, I was quite wrong...

So. Fast forwarding again to the moment after I agreed to stay at this lady's house and work on her farm (we had not year negotiated how many days) I got a weird feeling in my gut, but I still trust the situation enough so I continue. Yesterday I took the bus from Gympie (my last farm) to Brisbane and then from Brisbane to Murwillumbah, where this lady would pick me up. 

First of all, I had not talked to this lady on the phone (for some reason). So I took the bus and everything was fine on the way here. So when the bus finally arrives to Murwillumbah (and I had no idea what this lady looks like - I was expecting a short ≈45 year old indian woman), I look around and there's absolutely no one there. So I call the mobile number she had given me. And the phone-operator tells me "the number you have dialed is incomplete or incorrect" so I try again. Same thing. I doubble-check the number and the amount of numbers. Same thing, it's incorrect... "Ok... What the heck do I do now?... Oh! Ok I call her home..." she doesn't answer at home either. That weird feeling in my gut is back. I wait for 5-10 minutes and then she arrives on her car. But wait... is it really her?* I looked in the car and there was an old white lady in her 70's. She smiles and waves at me. I go closer and she comes out of the car. "Are you Elsa?" she asks at the same time I ask "are you Saranya?"... Yes yes, all is good but obviously she is not Indian, but Australian and around ≈70 years old. 

So we get in the car and start driving. On the way I ask her questions about the farm. She tells me it's a Krishna community. "Ok, so what does that stand for?" I ask. "Krishna is God" she replies simply... *Holy s*it* I think, only imagining what will come next... Then she starts talking to me about this Krishna a little bit and I understand it's a Hindu-God. For some reason I though Krishna was something spiritual and something that had to do with meditation.

Anyway...

Then we drive in and the first thing I see is a massive sign that said "Krishna Community".. and I think to myself "this is no small community..." -No sir. We start driving through a huge land area where there's many houses. She starts explaining to me: "This is the yoga house, here lives a family, here are the other 30+ WWOOFers of the community staying - but you will be staying at my house..." And suddenly she sais "Up there (she points at a hill maybe 500 meters away) is where the Single Men live"; "What do you mean Single?" I ask (thinking it can't be that obvious). "Yes, the single men, with no partners" she sais. "So do they not have a girlfriend?"... "No, they live in CELIBAT" she sais... (Holy F*ck!*) "...and here is where the single women live"... "Anyway, this is our Temple" she sais...............

Can you imagine all this from my perspective? You may be smarter than me and understand all of this only by reading her profile description but I didn't, so all of this was a surprise to me.

And it get's worse...

We finally arrive to her home. As soon as we walk in I feel the smell of incense sticks all over the house, and there's a sound in the background of a tape where there's a man praying and saying a Mantra in Hindu over and over again. 

She walks me over to the living room. Guess what I find there? a STAGE that she has decorated with three almost human-size statues of some indian God, and then like 10 other smaller statues. All decorated with typical indian decorations and flowers (only cheap and ugly). And around the stage there's a rug to sit and pray.

Anyway, she walks me outside and shows me the veggie garden that I will be taking care of... In the meantime I ask her more about the Krishna religion. And she answers but really doesn't tell me anything cause every second word is a word in Hindu that I do not understand. So she tells me, I have a few books to read would you like to read them? -"Maybe" I reply "...What do you got?". She walks me back inside to the living room and shows me a bookshelf FULL of Encyclopedia-sized books. Not what I had in mind*. She ends up getting me two pocket-sized "easy" books to read IN CASE I AM INTERESTED...

Next thing she shows me where I will be sleeping... The room is nice, but when we walk inside the bathroom she starts explaining to me how I have to scrub and bleach the sink, toilet and shower after every time I use them... (:-O?!) and then she changes the conversation and starts telling me how in India they just made this law where they are not allowed to kill cows otherwise they will go to jail (before it was an UNwritten law), and also about another law they just made where you're not allowed to chop down trees (Where is she going with this?* I think to myself). Then she sais: "...yeah and since they made that law about the trees and I agree, we (her son and her) have agreed to NOT USE TOILETPAPER in the house. So I had these little water-taps installed at the side of the toilet seat and you can use this bucket to clean your bum"

OH MY FUCKING GOD! ARE. YOU. SERIOUS?! 

I am completely sure my face turned white and I tried SO HARD not to laugh in her face out of despair (Rather laugh than cry, right?).

Anyway... I will leave you with this CHOCK and continue more another day, cause now I am going to a Yoga Class in the Community with some of the other WWOOFers I've met here.

...TO BE CONTINUED...

Kisses to everybody!
/Elsa