Working Farms

     This is the view I had one day leaving the Finca.  For a month I had seen men working in and out of the Palm Tree Farm. I lived inside this farm in one of the three villages. 
 The palms grow on for miles.  I would notice the gigantic machetes cutting off enormous groups of strange looking seeds.  The bunches would fall and sit at the base of the tree for a few days.  Then another guy would sack them up and walk them down the long row to the road.  At that point, the nuts were ready for pick up day.  The oxen are the best part of all this. Who expected oxen?  I mean, it totally makes sense but this is the kind of picture one expects their grandparents to have.  I think it's great.  I left the hustle and bustle of a big city for the slow and steady pace of some oxen.

I stopped my taxi on the way to school one morning to watch this.  With a gentle hand and a calming voice, these two guys loaded the pine nuts into the basket and moved the oxen down the road.  This nut becomes an oil, Palm Oil, that is used in many hair and beauty products. Apparently, it isn't much for cooking or food products.  But it sure is great for relaxing into a new country.
      Hats off to the people of the world who still do things the classic, original way.
Isn't it refreshing?