Le Mas Perdu - Day One

I signed up last month with Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF). It’s really a fantastic program, where volunteers sign up to work on a farm in return for room and board. It connects like-minded people across cultures, and helps to transmit agricultural knowledge - but it’s also a bit of a gamble, because as a volunteer you're committing a significant amount of time and there isn’t a lot to go on when you sign up. This was especially true for me, since I signed up during high season and at the last minute: I was grateful when one of the dozen farms I reached out to, "Le Mas Perdu," said they had a place for me. The pictures looked lovely, and most of the reviews were glowing, so I decided to give WWOOFing a try and signed up for a week.

Things didn't start off very well: when I got to the train station in Ales, no one was there to meet me. I eventually realized I’d screwed up the time because of France's 24-hour time convention (I'd told them I was arriving at 16:42 instead of at 6:42pm) - but I had given them the correct train number, and my phone number, and no one had contacted me. They hadn't given me their cel number, even though I'd asked for it. I was stranded.

After 30 minutes waiting in front of the station, I moved across the street to the local bar, where I found some wifi and began frantically texting with Nik (who did an admirable job calming me down and reassuring me I’d figure something out). I sent several unanswered messages to the farm via the WWOOFing site and tried unsuccessfully to get through to their landline. An hour in, I started researching local hotels and alternative options for the week. Then, after an hour and a half, I finally got through to the farm (what a relief!), and Gilles, the farm hand, came to pick me up.

I got to see an exquisite sunset on our drive to the farm, where I met Monique, the owner, and several others at a long table outside the main farmhouse. They’d kept a plate of food for me, but no one apologized or even acknowledged that I’d been sitting at the train station for an hour and a half! It was disorienting.

After dinner, Christophe, the other farm hand, gave me a brief overview of the property; the bathroom was in a different building, and I managed to get lost in the dark, forgetting my phone and finding myself outside after sunset in the pitch black. Unsure of how to get back to my room (I have a genuinely terrible sense of direction), I was close to tears -- until, like a miracle, someone turned on a light in a window, which cast enough light for me to find my way back to the barn. All in all, it was not an auspicious start. And the next day was my birthday, to boot!

I had to get up early -- Monique told me we needed to start work before the heat got to be too intense. Despite the early morning, and the shock of my botched arrival, it was good to be in the peaceful countryside, and I got to meet the other WWOOFers and guests, who were friendly.

After breakfast (there was no coffee, only tea and chicory), I joined Monique and the WWOOFers for what I thought was going to be an ag lesson, but it turned out to be a bible study(!) The other WWOOFers looked as nonplussed and confused as I was. Afterwards, I told them it was my birthday, and they all sang me a French happy birthday song; then we got to work harvesting a field of winter squash before a giant rain storm forced us back inside.

Monique directed us on the correct way to identify squash ready to be picked: the leaves need to be dead, not green.

Once the rain started, Monique moved us into the kitchen to chop squash for puree, and apples to make a compote.

Monique and Christophe with Dario, a fellow WWOOFer from Spain; some of the squash had 'exploded' because of a strong rainstorm the week before, and couldn't be sold, so we turned it into puree.

Dario and I listened to music and chopped apples - he played us "Boogie Woogie" (blues) on his smart phone (which had way better service than mine). That task done, we ate lunch, and then we had the afternoon free. I cooled off in the swimming pool, which was a truly glorious place to spend my birthday!