I am doing WWOOF – a month-long programme where I am working on a French farm. I am writing a daily blog about my experiences. I will write in English and French. My French isn’t perfect and there will be mistakes. And I may use Frenglish. I welcome all corrections. I tend to transliterate more than translate, but I’m working to improve this. Considering this, the French sections of the blog won’t be exact word-for-word translations from the English. Firstly, the language doesn’t work like that and secondly I make jokes and references in the English that won’t translate over to the French.
Today was Nathaniel’s last day. He was returning home. This is a great shame. I will miss him – his patience, his friendliness with the farmwork and his help in translating. As today was the last day, we had the morning off. As a treat, Elisabeth drove us to the nearby coastal town of Veules-des-roses named after the river Veules.
It was a gorgeous little town. I brought my camera with me, but like an idiot, I left the charger at home and now my camera is out of battery. Luckily, I still have my phone. We walked along the river, went to the beach and brought some food from the market.
At 13hr, we returned to the farm for lunch. Included some of the food that we brought at the market. Some delicious pork and accra – fish cakes that are very popular in the French Caribbean.
My farm offers horse and cart rides for the general public. We have a very nice cart, which the two draught horses – Rose and Lily pull through the village. Mathias is the driver and Nathaniel is the groom – he opens and closes the gates, clears any blockages in the road and helps keep order in the back. But as he was leaving, this job would now fall to me.
At 15hr, our group arrived – a group of mentally handicapped people. They were taken all around the village and they loved it. I think it’s good how Mathias and Elisabeth offer this service. It’s similar to the what I do in my own work and it really makes a difference.
After returned to the farm, the group also fed the animals with some baguettes which they loved. They also loved Moya.
At 5, the group left. Mathias and I took Lily and Rose to a nearby grazing field. We also snacked on some wild blackberries. We cycled there. And after that, we had to go to another field to check on two Mathias’ ponies. One is quite nervous around humans and the other is generally good with people except today when she was a little wild. But Mathias told me that if a pony’s ears are pointing back, that means they’re angry.
After that we went to another field (I’ve lost track of all the different animals and fields) to check on the goat called Cannabis.
In the last blog, I discussed the 15yo goat who is very sick. She is still alive but is still weak. She now lives with us rather than with Cannabis. We were worried that Cannabis would be lonely without her so we went to check on him. At 18hr, we returned to the farm where had some tea on the terrace with Elisabeth and Nathaniel. It was great weather for sitting outside. And after the tea, Nathaniel left us. I will miss him.
At 20hr, we had dinner. I must confess that I was a little nervous about having dinner with jus Elisabeth and Mathias. I thought it would be awkward without Nathaniel. But things were good. My French is better at mealtimes, because I am more relaxed, and the vocabulary is more familiar. I can have longer, more complicated exchanges. For example, I talked at length about my family. I also learned that Elisabeth and Matthias have two daughters and hosted 6 or 7 WWOOFERS before Nathaniel and me. Speaking of WWOOFERS, I am now the sole WWOOFER on the farm. GULP. But that’s it for day 4. A day of pretty towns, horse and cart rides and saying goodbye to a friend I will miss.
French
Aujourd’hui était le dernier jour par Nathaniel. Il retournait chez lui. C’est dommage. Il me manque. Il était très sympa et patient particulièrement avec ses services des traductions. Parce qu’aujourd’hui était son dernier jour, Elisabeth treated us to a morning trip to the coastal town of Veules-des-roses, s’appelle après la rivière Veules.
C’était un très, très jolie town. J’appris ma caméra, mais comme une idiote, j’ai laissé le chargeur chez moi et maintenaient mon camera est sans la batterie. Bonne chance, j’ai encore mon téléphone. Alors on a marché sur la rivière, la cote et on a acheté la nourriture pour déjeuner a une petite marche.
A 13hr, on est retourné à la ferme et ont appris déjeuner – pork et accra – poissons lesquelles très populaire dans le French Caribbean.
Ma ferme offrir ‘chevaux et calage’ excursions. Les chevaux Rose et Lily pull une carte through the village. Mathias est le chauffeur et Nathaniel est le groom – il ouvre et ferme les portes et gardes le calme dans là-derrière. Mais parce qu’il est parti, la marche est mien. Alors à 15hr, notre group arrive – cinq personnes qui est malade des cérébraux. Mais ils adoraient l’excursion. J’aime que Mathias et Elisabeth offrir ces excursions. C’est similaire a ma travaille dans Londres et il faire une vrai différence. Apres ça, les gens donner un manger des animaux et Moya bien sûr.
A 17hr, ils sont partis. Mathias et moi appris Rose et Lily to a nearby grazing field. Apres ca, on est alles une autre field ou Mathias a deux ponies. Un est encore sauvage, mais l’autre est bien avec les personnes sauf aujourd’hui. Elle a peur. Mathias m’a dit que si l’oreilles du le pony are pointed backwards, they are angry. Finalement, on est alles, la fielde ou la chèvre s’appelle Cannabis vie. Hier, j’ai discuté la chèvre qu’est très malade et proche a mourir. Elle est encore vie mais elle vie avec nous maintenant. On était nerveuse qu’elle Cannabis est seule et triste sans elle.
Alors, on est retourné à la ferme at 18hr et ont appris du tea avec Elisabeth et Nathaniel. Après ça, Nathaniel est parti. On a pris notre diner à 20hr et j’étais nerveuse que le repas serait awkward sans Nathaniel, mais c’était bon. Mon Français est mieux pendant les repas parce que la vie est plus repose et le vocabulaire est plus familière pour moi. Par exemple, j’ai parlé ma famille et ma vie dans Londres. Et j’ai découvre que Mathias et Elisabeth a deux filles et avant moi, ils ont six ou sept WWOOFERS. Parle des WOOFERS, je suis du seule WWOOFER. Mais c’est tout pour jour quatrième – un jour des jolies villes, chevaux et calage et parle adieu à un ami qu’il me manque.
James Linton Writing 