The End

My last week on the farm started out fairly calmly; we didn't have any huespedes, so there were less people around. In addition to that, Candela left for her trip, and Esther left the next morning. It was really quiet and sad with nobody around :(

Lindsey and I went on a quest to find the conejos one day, since I was never able to find them. They were sequestered off in a tiny area behind a fence behind what looks like an old garden. We couldn't see much, but we saw them sitting in their little cages. They were really cute! We looked at them for a while, and then got ready to leave. As we were walking away, I saw an oddly dark patch of grass. When we looked closer, we saw that it was actually a patch of dried blood! And there were little tufts of hair nearby. It was really sad to see that.

A few days later, Lola finally took me in to see the bunnies! It was very exciting. Two of the bunnies (the largest male and a smaller male) had an ear fungus. We had to go in to give them fungicide to treat it. Lola went in to pick up the bigger male, and I stood ready with the fungicide spray. He was not happy about being picked up, and began flailing wildly and squealing. I didn't even know rabbits could make audible sounds, but apparently they can scream! She put him back down, and ended up just holding him in place so he would stay still enough for the medicine. It was really sad, but Lola said this fungus could kill the rabbits, so it was important to treat it now. We sprayed both of his ears, and then treated the next rabbit, who wasn't nearly as resistant. The fungicide spray was neon pink, which I enjoyed quite a bit.

Lindsey and I went for a walk a few evenings before I left, on a quest to see El Gordo, a big fat olive tree in Almajalejo. En fin, we weren't able to distinguish which tree was El Gordo, but the trip was still exciting - we ended up walking through Almajalejo, and saw some very interesting things. We stopped first at Isabel's (Lola's mother) house to see if she was home, but she didn't come out. We kept walking, and soon found a fenced in area of turkeys, chickens, and dogs. The chickens and dogs were cute and regular, but the turkeys were of a variety that I have not seen before.

These were the weirdest turkeys I have ever seen in my entire life. Their heads were wrinkled, bald, and BLUE. They had flaps of skin hanging over their beaks. And they were gigantic. We sat watching them for a few minutes, in complete awe at their appearance.

Then they started squawking. They flared up their big, black tail feathers and pranced around making odd guttural noises at each other. It was quite a spectacle.

After the turkeys, we went on to another fence, where we saw goats. I embarrassingly pointed out some chickens to Lindsey that were actually pigeons on the way. We quickly got over my failed animal identification though when the goat walked by, fully endowed with the largest udder I have ever seen. It was almost touching the ground, and looked like it was about to explode / part ways with the body of the goat any second.

Crazy, crazy animals they have there in Almajalejo...

We made more bread and bizcocho one morning. Lola has an horno de lena, so we cooked the foods outside. It was really incredible to watch: Isabel would fill the oven with little twigs and dried olive tree branches, and we waited for them to burn. When everything was burned out, the oven was swept and we were able to cook the bread and bizcocho. With no timer, no temperature monitor, nothing! The oven just functioned off of the lingering heat from the fire. It was amazing.

Exciting as the baking adventure was, I hadn't been feeling very well for a few days, and the day Esther left I got especially sick. For the next few days, I wasn't able to eat and had a very high fever and a lot of stomach pain. My stomach was gurgling and making lots of weird and loud noises. I couldn't work, and I spent all day and night in bed, either sleeping or trying to sleep or just being in pain. It was a really sad way to end the trip, but I guess it's good that I was able to get home to make sure I was okay.

Surprisingly enough, my trip home was far more successful than my trip over. I caught the bus on time, and was actually feeling a little better when I left the farm. The bus arrived, and though my bag was a little overweight, I was able to get on my flight without any problems or extra charges. It was sad to leave Huercal Overa and the farm, but it's great to be back home in New York!

Hasta luego Espana! Encantada.