WWoofing is where you work for 5-6 hours a day and receive food and accommodation in return. It counts towards the 3 months regional work you need to complete in order to gain your second year working holiday visa.
Once my month WWoofing was finished and staff had suddenly departed i stepped into head housekeeping role for 2 months. I wrote this towards the end of my time there in Feb 2014...
Life at the resort isn't going to fast that i'm missing it and it's not dragging so i wish i could leave already. I'm really happy at how i have really been totally present in my experience here. It really is a world within a world that you have no choice but to be here. No phone signal and very limited wifi, we have walky talkies, our own tents, all meals are made for us and we all work with each other in the same spaces everyday. You are totally and utterly here, present in every sense.
For the most part i have loved it, no traffic to deal with, no supermarkets to go through, no being a slave to your i phone, no noise at night ( well apart from the bugs) it takes out so many of the little daily things we do in life that take so much of our time and for the best part you wish you were doing something else.
I like the feeling of being apart of something, all different types of people all pulling together to make something work.
I have had many moments of reflection here, driving around in my little buggy listening to the whistles of the sea whilst i hot step my way between cleaning villas. I wanted to share a few with you;
Firstly it reinstates that the more experience you have with different people in different places, organizations etc that most people are just winging it and really dont have much of an idea what they are doing in most areas.
We look at people, companies etc and think wow they must be so clever, so rich, so whatever... well no not really. Everyone is just plodding along learning as they go.. taking a little bit more on to see what they are capable of. They might be humble and admit it in which case we are usually inspired by there strength or they are screaming from the hilltops how great they are and look at what they do etc.. but when they close the door to that office they too sit there thinking holy s%! how did i or will i pull that off???
I would say to anyone no matter what age or situation to experience everything and everyone you can, nothing is above you and nothing should ever be below you. We can all bite off, flourish or just attempt a lot more then we currently chew, business or non business wise.
Secondly, learning to let go of problems that aren't yours. I think we do this alot, we worry when we are at work understaffed, that the workload is to much for one person, whether we did something wrong or right etc. If you did that here you would be terrorized in paradise because most things don't run to plan but why should i be worrying so much about it? it isn't my role to worry about things that aren't my responsibility. I don't own the worlds problems and in this case i certainly don't own the resorts. I appreciate this sounds like i don't work outside of my job spec, not at all, i am all for team work. Pulling together in times of need and helping anywhere and anyone i can but there is distinct difference in doing this and taking on stress that doesn't belong to you. Do what you can with what you have, then let go.
Let go.
I havent really looked in a mirror, put make up, deodorant on or picked an outfit to wear in a good 3 months. I have said it a million times but its so liberating! You are so cut off from the world, society isnt able to tell you how you should look or what you should feel because you dont have the access to read it.
You aren't sizing yourself up next to anybody else because you all wear the same clothes everyday with the same sweaty faces. Instead of watching people physically moving past me all day everyday i feel like i just see there hearts, there inner beings. I am so blessed to work with such gorgeous human beings, people i would want to be surrounded by regardless of being here. The fact that i am able to spend so much time with them is such a blessing and it is wonderful to cut the usual layer that you usually have to go through to get to know people. We are all open and vulnerable to each other which is just magical. I think to myself that if we practiced this method in everyday life we would be so much freer, so much less consumed by things that don't matter. I want to hold onto this perspective and keep it going long after i leave here..
Loving people for who they are not what they have and loving yourself not because the image in the mirror coming back at you is what you think 'looks good' but because you feel good from the inside and that in turn shines on your face from the outside.
I so thankful for all of this, for what this year has brought me and taught me. I always think that when you go through things, emotionally, different jobs, different living experiences it connects you to a whole new group of people. I understand how it feels to be lonely, depressed. I know what its like to clean poo off the toilet, i know how hard it is working in a manual job in the heat. To live with wild animals with no cold water in 40 degrees.
Some of these are menial some are impactful but nonetheless i understand what a whole new world of people go through everyday. It changes how i view people, how i treat them and the things i do everyday. That for me is the best feeling ever, i can connect with people that i couldnt before.
I can help them if they are going through any of it, i can make sure i strip that bed when i leave a hotel room ( and ill think yes housekeeping is going to love me when she comes in to find i made her day a whole load easier - i scream and hollar when guests do that for me) i can make someone feel better directly or indirectly through these experiences. That to me is everything.
Love and light.
Hells xo
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