We have found ourselves doing some ‘eco-volunteering’ at the Eco Yoga Park, near the town of General Rodriguez, about an hour away from Buenos Aires.
We weren’t too sure what to expect, since it’s a Hari Krishna community, but we were prepared to be vegetarian for the next two weeks and we were also prepared do get dirty. We’ve mainly been tending to the beautiful garden or pruning/maintaining the grounds. So, our typical schedule looks a little like this:
6am – 8am: Get up and work in the garden
8am – 8:30am: Breakfast
8:30am – 10:30am: Various chores (i.e. garden, sanding, pruning trees, picking fruit)
1:30pm: Lunch
4:30pm: Yoga
6pm: Snack
6:30pm – 8:30pm: Movie (mostly intellectual films that get you thinking)
8:30pm: Dinner
We’re off after 10:30am to chill and relax. Since the internet isn’t too reliable here, we’ve mostly been taking naps during the heat of the day, reading our novels or writing in our journals.
At first I was a little nervous about so much free time, but it was easy to get into the laid back lifestyle. We’ve also been doing yoga everyday in the temple, which was a bit challenging at first (since it was all in Spanish), and are led by the various mothers of the ashram, but now we’ve gotten the hang of the language – at least enough know when to raise our pie derecho or pie izquierdo.
We’ve made friends with the other volunteers who’ve come from all parts of the world: USA, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa and Brazil. There are about twenty of us at the moment and it’s great to hang out with all kinds of people. One of the volunteers (Fergus) took the time to teach a few of us caporeira one day, while another (Ben) offered alternative medicine/healing for those under the weather.
We also had Vanessa, a girl from Australia who brought along a ukelele that she had bought from Bolivia and we were entertained around a bonfire during one unseasonaly cold night. Good thing I didn’t get rid of my warm clothes from Germany! We even have a juggler in the crowd, PJ from New Mexico. In addition to the volunteers, we’ve made friends with the park’s dogs, Rocky, Sanka and Trixie. They’re well behaved – except for Sanka, who’s an especially mischievous one first thing in the morning. There was one day where he started digging up the lettuce patch and also ran off with my gardening glove, in which I had to chase him into a field full of weeds waist high. The dogs have been great to have around though and are always an added entertainment throughout the day. We’ve also used the free time to do laundry and work through our bible study (we’ve been reading 1 Corinthians).
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We also had the opportunity to visit the nearby town of General Rodriguez, which was a special field trip, since it’s about a 15 minute cab ride or 30 minute bus ride. It was especially rewarding, because we were able to take a break from the strict diet back at the ashram and we splurged on some fantastic ice cream and shared a bottle of coke.
The ‘mothers’ and ‘monks’ of the ashram prepare all vegan meals, which means that if we want to partake in any dairy products, we normally jump the fence and buy organic yogurt, chocolate milk and cheese from the neighbouring dairy farm. That’s not to say that the food isn’t great. In fact, the vegan meals here are absolutely fantastic and I’m amazed at all the various dishes one could make. What makes it gratifying even more is when we see the vegetables that we work from the garden on our plates.
One thing that we weren’t sure what to expect was how the lifestyle and moreso, the spritual elements would be presented to us. They have been very open to answer any questions that we had, and not once did we feel pressured to join them or ‘see it their way’. Dan and I had discussed how great the community was and how they were welcoming to anyone and everyone.
As we end near the end of our first week, we’ve defintely gotten into a rhythm here and are actually taken aback at how quickly the time has passed. We’ve had opportunities to learn some gardening techniques, to meet a plethora of interesting people, and to have candid conversations with the hari krishnas without worry about offending anyone.
Sounds amazing gardeing, Yoga, sunshine, and healthy eating! I would love it Jan would want to die! (only cause of the lack of steak) Ha Ha! As always thanks for posting your trip highlights! Soke up some sun for me Im back to Vitimin D for the next 7 monthes.
Jenny
Hey cousin Jen,
We’ll definitely soak in as much Vitamin D as we can. It’s pretty hard to avoid being in the garden all the time. It DOES feel good to eat healthy, exercise and just completely relax. And to think, even though this is temporary for us, this lifestyle is a reality to the hari krishnas. There’s something to be said in living the simple life and having a nearly self-sustaining community.
I dunno… I would die without meat, or poultry or dairy in a couple of days! Do they let you join the chanting, too?
At least it a change of pace and accommodations and meal are cheap!
Dad, you’d be surprised as to how good the vegetarian food is here. As far as the chanting is concerned, they actually encourage it, but it didn’t feel appropriate for me. I do participate in the ‘Ohm’ chants, but none of the prayers and ‘Hari Krisha, Hari Rama’ chants.
Are you to have matte with me when you get back?
Most definitely!
That’s the beauty and challenge of travelling~ seeing how other people experience the art of living. When you join others in working and eating you share that experience!