I’ll admit it – I haven’t been on top of my WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) game. I left the ranch two weeks ago for backpacking adventures, and accompanied by the ranch caretaker and a dog, we set out and took in the highest waterfall in Mexico and hot springs, among other things. I spent a week in Mexico City and now I am at my newest WWOOFing venture in Malinalco, DF, a little southwest of Mexico City.

A skull that my host plans on cleaning and selling

It is as different as possible from where I volunteered in Chihuahua. Instead of a half hour walk to the nearest neighbors, I can instead wave across the courtyard at the children playing around the empty pool. The store is three blocks away instead of three hours and the only wild animals are the lizards that scurry up the walls, which, contrasted to the previous wildlife of coyotes that howled at all hours of the night, seems like a walk in the park.

I haven’t done a lot with actual farming – mainly just cleaning up and helping around the house. But my host has a large knowledge of the history of Mexico as well as a workshop full of instruments that he works on in between playing guitar and singing. It really is something different, more like a home stay, but over all it is just as interesting and fun as my last farm.