Welcome to Heifer

Hey y’all,

        Life here at the ranch is pretty nice (at least the past 24 hours have been). I’m living in a quaint little house with five other volunteers--Alex and Joshua from Germany, Olivia from Missouri, Rebecca from Texas (also my roommate) and last but not least Charles. He’s an elder man who’s worked here for eleven years. He seems like quite a character but so far he’s been pretty quiet--he reminds me a bit of the sleeping mouse at the Mad Hatter’s tea party in Alice in Wonderland.
        It’s been raining all day thanks to Gustav and will continue thanks to Hannah. We started orientation this morning and got to know each other a little. Everyone seems really friendly and the staff genuinely love what they do. Our lunch in the dining hall consisted of pork roast, mashed potatoes, zucchini, broccoli, etc all from the ranch. It’s such a good feeling to know exactly where your food is coming from. I had to stock up on groceries last night and was forced to a Wal-Mart Super Center. I’ve haven’t been that disgusted in awhile. It’s amazing what people are willing to sacrifice (quality, knowledge, service) for convenience.
        After lunch we took a hay-wagon tour of the rainy ranch. It’s quite a big place with animals grazing in various pastures. We passed by Raja and Gobi the camels huddled under their individual shelters. I’ll have to introduce myself and get a kiss from those big floppy lips! We also passed by the water buffalos (can’t remember their names) splashing wriggling in the water. They reminded me of Rusty rolling and itching on the carpet. Speaking of which I’m going to have a lot of surrogate Rustys here...surprise, surprise. Orientation will last at least ‘til the end of the week but maybe longer. We’ll be camping out in the Global Village Thursday night so hopefully the rain will have passed by then.
        Well that’s all I have for now but I’ll keep you all posted as ranch life progresses. Love to you all and wish you could all be here.

xoxoxo,
Em