It is 4:30 p.m....And I am home! I haven't seen my house in the 4:30 p.m. light in ages! It looks quite quaint. So yes, I was given a break today because I had to be there at 6 this morning to help the manager set up. So I had gotten up at 4:30 a.m. this morning and showed up at the FARM at 5:45. However, I had to sit and wait for fifteen minutes for the manger to get there who pulled up in her truck brushing her teeth. Cool. And then she called me Jen the rest of the day...So yes. The miracle is that I only had to work a ten hour day today. Praise the lucky heavens.
And then there are my new friends. See--at the FARM, much of the work requires standing and folding boxes or picking berries off of the inspection line, so to keep yourself sane, you talk to the person next to you. By the end of these 6 weeks, we pretty much know every worker's entire lifestory. And because of this, you find good friends at the FARM. Once incident was particluarly funny. A girl was working with me on the packaging line and she said, "Don't you play volleyball for RHS?" And I said that I had, yes. So we started talking volleyball and then she mentioned that she played on a club team that went to Reno last summer, and I was like, "Wow! So did I!" And then she stopped---"Did you stay at the Reno Hilton?" she asked me. "Yeah," I replied, pondering the significance of the question. ANd then it was like it hit both of us instantaneously. We had run into eachother at TCBY in the Reno Hilton! It was crazy. We both just started cracking up. We had been in the ice cream parlor and I was standing in line by her. She asked where I was from and then I told her where I was from and it turned out that we lived in the same area. She just lived 20 minutes north of me, but played for a coast team. So we talked for a little bit---a brief little bit---until we got our ice cream, and then we wished eachother luck in the tournament and went our seperate ways. Now we work together! What a small world, A? And then I made a friend in Yinsinia, a Hispanic girl who lives across the street from the FARM and whose dad helps manage the joint. She's my same age. She just graduated from high school. We literally talked for hours as we folded boxes and labeled containers and picked off bad berries from the belt. She's very interesting and I found out how to address Hispanic or Latino or Mexican---Here's the 411: Hispanic refers to everyone - Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, South American, Spanish, etc. Latino refers to Hispanics born in the U.S. but with like parents from Mexico. And, obviously, Mexican refers to, well, Mexicans. If you say someone is Spanish, you mean they are from Spain. So we had a long pleasent conversation. This is her sixth summer working on the FARM. I can see why she comes back each year though. She said she's getting $9.50 an hour. I would go to Hell each day for that too. So many kids have come to work and then never shown up again. It seems like every day we get like 6 new kids, and then the next day we lose 4. It's quite the weeding out process. To work at a Blueberry Farm, you must be tough and strong and stalwart. You must have courage and brains and the heart of a lion. You must have the mental capacity of, well, me. Ok. So never mind. Basically you just have to be willing to throw your life down into the blueberry processer for six weeks and pretend you are like the little people in China who work in the sweat shops. It's quite fun, actually. I will quote the great Liz Richardson who works beside me, "Now I know what the people in China feel like."
So there you have it, Children. My life up to this date thus far. I'm really excited that I finally got time to post! Although, yesterday I could have but I just didn't have anything interesting to write about. But I did watch the championship bull riding on TV. Oddly enough, I get some sort of sick enjoyment in watching the sport. Especially the segment entitled: "Wrecks and Rides." The wreck part being emphasized. What is it with the human mind and watching fellow beings get hurt. It's like an odd obsession....Anyway, I'm off to "Bewitched." I'll let everyone know how it was. Maybe I'll do a Movie LIst of "Go See" movies and "Stay Away" movies. Because basically I go and see like every one in theatres....
Ok. These goldfish crackers are really good and I am so outa here, swimmin' like a villin' to Yogurt Country.
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