¨This too shall pass¨- a not so fun Illness in the most beautiful place I´ve ever seen

I spent the last week on an organic farm outside of Canoa, Ecuador, called Rio Muchacho. It reminded me of the ranch I go to in New Mexico, Ghost Ranch, but just plopped in the middle of a jungle instead of the desert. Every morning we woke up to do farm chores around six and I luckily was assigned to kitchen duty rather than pig pen cleaning duty. We´d then eat breakfast- usually just simple grains with fresh fruit and some sort of pastry type thing that the senoritas in the kitchen made, then have a morning activity learning about how to run an organic farm. After lunch which was usually soup, rice, and veggies, we´d head out for farm chores like picking veggies for dinner or mixing cow poop and water and fertilizing the corn rows (my personal favorite.... not) or sometimes we´d make rings out of nut shells we found in the area that the farm then sells to tourists in Canoa. Dario and Nikola, the couple that runs the farm, were so dedicated to the cause it was inspiring. We used Composting bathrooms which didn´t smell as bad as you´d think, all extra food went to the pigs, they don´t create any trash, use methods to minimize water waste, and overall dedicate themselves to the organic cause. It was also really cool to meet the volunteers from all over the world who were dedicating their time at Rio Muchacho. The Ecuadorian guys who lived and worked on the farm thought I was hilarious because of my poor Spanish skills and my lack of farm skills, but I was willing to be the butt of the joke.
The farm itself was beautiful. Everything was green and wet all the time, seeing as we were in the rainforest, but we had these awesome cabins that were colorful and made with thatched roofs from tree leaves grown on the farm. There were hammocks everywhere to just relax in, and I loved just staring at the sky during our free time in the afternoons. It was very zen.
While I loved being on the farm, the group as a whole had a horrible bout of illness, which was both terrible to experience and totally bonded the group. Everyone had some form of illness coming out of one end or the other... I personally got to puke my guts out into a bucket that formally had housed pig poop for a whole night... but once it was out of my system I felt a whole lot better, only a bit lightheaded and weak. But I´m well on my way to a full recovery. It was bound to happen sooner or later! My groupmates that were not sick (those lucky 4) were super helpful bringing me tea and juice, so I was being babied just enough to not lose my cool and go home (just kidding... kind of).
Overall I´m loving my time here so far and I´m really excited, although a bit nervous, for our first homestay in Banos, Ecuador while we´re studying at a Spanish school there for two weeks. I can´t wait to become more fluent, although I´ve been surprised by how well I can get around just by my small knowledge of the language and hand gestures.
Off to the beach for now, we´re spending the day in Canoa!