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Firstly sorry it's taken so long to write this blog update. There's no excuse really and we'll try and do more regular updates in future. We'd like to say we've been rushed off our feet and haven't had any free time but in fact it's been the complete opposite. The next part of our adventure included volunteering at the Eco Yoga Park just outside of Buenos Aires. We both love Yoga and one of us loves gardening (guess who!!) so this was the perfect opportunity to mix the two.
The first challenge was the rules we had to adhere to. No caffeine, alcohol, meat and dairy. It took 5 days for the caffeine withdrawal headaches to go. Tim snuck of into town to have a sneaky beer with his new Aussie pal Felix (we felt a bit guilty but this just added to the pleasure!) , who had also managed to smuggle in some dried chillies.
Bee got to spend a day in the kitchen helping to create all the gorgeous vegan food (though Hare Krishna rules state no garlic, onion, ginger or chilli as these are too stimulating and are used only medicinally in small amounts) and we were 'allowed' to buy homemade yogurt from the farm next door for breakfast where we met the lovely cows that produced the milk.
The volunteering was a real change from the last week or so (not least having to start work at 6am), we watered all the trees in the park (by hand with buckets- we would have muscles like Popeye if we stayed any longer), picked tomatoes, aubergines, peppers, squash, pinched the flowers out of whole field of basil, dug trenches, hoed weeds, tied in plants, Tim helped build the path and revamped the website Eco Yoga Park.
The lazy afternoons were filled with yoga, card games and perpetually nodding off for naps after all the work. We met so many lovely people and made lot's of friends. Since some people only stayed for a couple of days things felt a bit transient but this meant there were always new people to chat to.
Everyone seemed to have a similar set of ideals because of the Yoga and the spiritual side of Hare Krishna. Neither of us are religious but we both came away with a better understanding of their beliefs. There's definitely more too it than the image they have back home. Although after getting up at 5am and chanting the mantra 108 times we felt we'd done enough! The informal chats with the Swami the head monk were really enlightening.
8 days was just about the right amount of time. We'd love to say that we've managed to stay vegetarians, keep on the wagon and live a caffeine free lifestyle, but this would be a massive lie which in itself would be against the Hare Krishna beliefs. At least we came away feeling positive of mind and body and ready for a week of intense Spanish School.
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