
Journey into Arizona! Marlies and I caught a rideshare from LA with a super nice guy called PanPan. Very interesting and well traveled for an American (I find generalising saves time and effort). He did however, have a strange obsession with Disney songs – not really my deal but he and Marlies got on like a house on fire. So we get into Prescott, and the “Guns are why America is still free” sign is our welcoming party. Nice! PanPan rightly reminds us that we probably won’t have such a stellar opportunity to see the real America this close for a long time, so we decide to check out the gun store. It was exactly what I had imagined it to be – awe inspiring and scary as hell. We asked a lot of questions and got the very best of racism, fear and ignorance as appropriate answers. AMERICA! FUCK YEAH! So we started to think that maybe we had made a wrong decision in regards to Prescott, but as we passed through the downtown area, we saw a lot of uni students, people in the park playing guitar and art galleries, so we knew it wouldn’t be all bad. This town actually has an awesome vibe.
So, now we have had just over a week here. AMAZING! We arrived last Thursday at the Happy Oasis which is owned, conveniently, by Happy Oasis! Yes, that’s right she’s a real person – albeit a little crazy. But that’s what all the cool kids are! A little crazy! Marlies and I were skeptical about a raw vegan retreat initially – not the raw vegan part, but how much work would need to be done in someone’s house – but we trekked on anyway and arrived to this….
Needless to say that we were pretty stoked at our choice of WWOOFing destination at first glance! The photos don’t do it justice – it really is a little bubble of paradise in the middle of the desert. Unfortunately, I am so behind in my blog posts, due to 8 hour work days (what did I say about lack of work??!), obligatory pool dips every half an hour, amazing conversations with the many incredibly interesting roommates here and hitting up the raging nightlife of Prescott every few days, that I won’t be able to go into too much detail right now. But let me say this….it has definitely been an experience! I wouldn’t say that Marlies and I have learnt too much about organic farming from this place, but what I can say has been beneficial is my understanding of the differences of human relationships. I would like to think that I am pretty fine tuned anyway, when it comes to being empathetic to peoples situations, environments and tendencies, but there are so many people here that are both impressive and totally fucked up that I consider myself even more adaptable after being here. OH! And let’s talk about relationships with animals! GODDAM! Marlies and I have been living in the basement, which is actually the best room in the house, but as you can imagine in the desert in a room with not so much security….we have made a bunch of small and furry friends. The first night we were here we discovered a mouse trying to eat my (reserve) chocolate. Bastard! It actually got into the top clothes drawer and started going for gold with my Lindt bar. I decided that was war, so we promptly set up some mouse traps and have been finding an average of one every two nights frozen in motion. DIE SUCKERS! The other night I heard a cry of horror from Marlies, who had found a huge ass centipede on her shoe. I was all running around it, taking photos up close until Ted (wilderness man extraordinaire) came in and told us that we had to catch it because (a) they are quite deadly here and (b) they move like the wind. That shut me up and got my feet off the ground pretty quick. The same night I heard what sounded like a massive fat person coming down the deck stairs eating an apple and snorting at the same time. This actually turned out to be a family of wild pigs (Havalenas?) outside our window. A whole family of them! There is such an abundance of wild animals here it’s crazy – so on one hand, I have had almost no sleep for a week, but on the other hand, when will I get to be this close to Arizonian nature again?
Wilderness man extraordinaire Ted is one of the radical roommates that lives here. He goes to Prescott College and studies really cool shit like “wilderness therapy” and “hiking ridiculous mountains with very little equipment”. Ok, so I am sure they have a more higher education sounding name for those classes, but basically he could live in the wilderness by himself for the rest of his life and be fine. He is, however, a social butterfly and willingly took us out on the town a few times, as we had to make sure we saw what Prescott had to offer in the form of music, beer and locals. The best music was the Rockabilly band we saw last Friday night, the best beer was served at the Raven Cafe and the best local was the 65 year old cowboy who walked past, got a good look at my boobs and then said “Maam…that’s a pretty tattoo you got there”. It doesn’t get any better than that! Ted’s passion is rockclimbing – it’s definitely not mine. It was fun, but I much prefer the coming down part to the going up part. I might try absailing when I get home…..
So! All in all, a good time is being had by all. Not so much organic farming, but we have watered the garden, entirely reorganised the basement and painted an RV. Everyone knows how much I love spray paint, so this last chore was especially exciting for me! We are headed to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon for a couple of days…brace for photos and comments of awe and wonder!