Raw, vegan, organic (crack)

Its our penultimate day of WWOOFing in Cork! And actually we're not even working (yet). Still at the cottage because its a rainy miserable day and according to Pat he looked out the window this morning and said "whats the point?" but neglected to tell us this, so we've been up waiting to go since 9:15 which is when we usually leave for the city.

Its mostly been the same stuff day to day, wake up, go to the shop, make falafel, soup, and salad, drink tea, organize some shelves, clean, drink tea, etc. Pat has given up sprouting and going to markets for a while since he just opened the store so there really isnt enough for the 4 of us wwoofers to do. And also therefore we havent touched a single sprouting apparatus so our dream of becoming sprouting queens has been dashed.

We have had some excitement in the shop, the other day we had a visit from one of the friendly nieghbourhood crackheads. A dodgy dude stormed into the shop and frantically asked to use the bathroom. He was in there for a while, and about 10 minutes later he emerged much calmer, leaving behind a cloud of strange smelling smoke. Not very good for our chi energy thank you very much. The Very Healthy Food shop has quickly become a den of iniquity. Not really. Nothing a little shot of wheatgrass can't fix.

The other day we went to Blarney Castle to kiss the famous blarney stone, which is supposed to bestow the 'gift of the irish gab'. Bunch of crap. It was kind of ridiculous and absolutely terrifying and I am not any more eloquent or even any more talkative than before. And the stone wasn't even special, could have been any stone in the castle but of course it had to be located in a place where you make an utter fool of yourself trying to kiss it (pictures to come). But whatever, supposedly the most visited place in Ireland, so we had to go.

I am looking forward to our next wwoofing placement which is an actual farm. We did not bring nice enough clothes for being in the city every day. We have come to embrace the tourist/hippie bum style though, new look for fall yeah? Also as I have whined about before, we did not bring enough warm stuff. But we have discovered a solution for that. We call it the wiskey blanket. After applying our sleep outfits which consist of 5 shirts, 2 pants, and 2 thick pairs of socks, we make some hot tea and add a generous splash of jameson. After that we are toasty enough to fall asleep. Probs not the best habit to get into...

 Anway seems like we're good to go now so we'll post some pics later.

Week 1

A beautiful 35 degree day in sunny Ireland! We lounged on the beach and  drank margaritas. OH WAIT, no, i was just daydreaming. I'm so cold. Rainy and chilly today, but even more so it seems. Did some cleaning and took a giant load of recycling to the depot. Yesterday, however, was quite beautiful. We had a day off and went down Kinsale, a harbour town about 20 minutes away. We hitchhiked and met some great people. It really was quite sunny, no tan but i have about a million more freckles. Its been just about a week now and i have learned a few things:

1) A summer weight sleeping bag is not sufficient for summer in Ireland

1a) We may have to go south for a bit at the end of our trip in order to have any real summer
2) Irish people are really friendly and Its quite fun to wave or say hi to everyone you meet. If i tried this in Canada people would probably find me a bit nutty.

2a) According to Pat, Irish people are only like that because they're all a bit nutty

3) Guiness does taste better in Ireland. But i actually like Irish cider better.

4) I could easily develop OCD. I spent about 2 hours one day in the shop making sure everything on the shelves was perfectly lined up.

5) All houses should be painted bright colours. Its so cheerful.

6) Hitchhiking is fun (Mom i know you will not be too happy about that, dont worry we wont do it too much)

7) When the sun doesnt set until 11, it feels like its constantly dinner time.

8) I am really bad at choosing pubs. They are either empty, packed, or only old people. I guess i should have expected as much since I know i'm bad at choosing restaurants.

9) Baby wipes can make a sastistfactory shower.

10) A hair dryer would not have been a luxury, had i brought it along, it is a necessity. My hair wont fully dry for over 24 hours (because i do actually take real showers as well)

 

Heading back to the city now for a night or two. Maybe going to Blarney castle tomorrow or the next day.

Wwoofin fo realzies

Sarah already posted today (well i guess technically yesterday) but i thought i would add some pictures before going to bed.

 Buddhafly Deli: Our place of work, where we make yummy soups, salads, and falafels, and drink lots of tea.

Sarah working the counter

Kelly selling sprouts and other super foods at the Cork city market

Our first morning - the view from our window

Kelly's tacky tourist/fancy farmer outfit

The cottage on the hill

camping

Sup

Hello! Its not Kelly ( surprised?)
We just got back to the cottage after a few days of camping! (...in Pat's Tai Chi studio in Cork City). We pitched a tent in his stuido and created a cozy fort, inducing a warm slumber (very unsual for Ireland). Pat's actual house is about 45 minutes away from the city, so a bit of a commute.
Kelly and I went to go see Bob Dylan on Thurs, which was awesome. It was a really good show followed up by some bar hopping in the city through which we made some interesting friends (mostly 60 plus year old men). On Friday we spent the day at Pat's new vegan/organic restaurant and shop where we have been primarily working so far. We got to make our own soup, salad and falafel to sell. Pat has been leaving the shop completely to us which has been really fun; sprouting queens running the show! Friday night we attempted to hit the town again, this time aided by a baby-wipe shower, some blush and mascara.
So far we love Ireland. The people are so friendly, treating everyone as close friends. Pat is a really great host. He is a crazy, eccentric, intelligent world traveller who is fed up with "this FOCKIN' rat race called life". He settled back down in Cork 4 years ago to start his own sprouting endeavour and now a new shop. He is really fun to be around and we felt comfortable and at ease immediately upon our arrival. The work is very laid back and even though we work most of the day we do get time off to explore the city, and he's kindly offered us 2 days off per week but for us that seems overly generous.
It is almost bed time now and we are about the put on our 12 layers of clothing and wrap 2 sleeping bags around us so that we can get a good night sleep. Tomorrow is our day off and we are going to go to Kinsale, which is supposed to be a nice little coastal town only about 20 mins away from the house. We are going to hitchhike there and hopefully go whale watching....Kelly really wanted me to add a whale pun but I cant think of one.
Miss you all!!!!! <3

Super Duper Sprouts!

Helloooo Ireland we have arrived. I am writing from a little cottage on a hill overlooking Clonakilty bay in Cork county. Sooo lovely. We had a fairly uneventful journey, flew to dublin then 4 hour bus to Cork City. Met some other wwoofers at the bus station, two american girls, and followed them back to our HQ for the next two weeks, Buddhafly Deli in Cork City. Our host, Pat, has recently opened this little vegan cafe and store, and this is where we will be working most of the time, or else sprouting back at the cottage, which is about 45 minutes outside of Cork city. We are sliding into our hippie alter-egos pretty quickly.
Not much to say because i'm actually really tired (yes i know we're not exactly doing backbreaking labour but come on i'm still jetlagged). Probably won't write anything tomorrow because we are going to see Bob Dylan in Cork (Pat had extra tickets!) and we will spend the night at his tai chi studio but more news and some photos later.

Aloha and Welcome

I am blogging. Wow. Never thought this would happen, but honestly it seems like the best way keep in touch with people while we're away, not to mention a more respectable route to internet celebrité (Sarah's dream in life).

If you are on this blog you probably already know us and know what we're about, but i'll do a little introduction anyway.

In the last semester of our undergraduate degree at McGill University, Sarah and I figured we needed a solid break from the papers and the books and the bags under our eyes and decided to make plans for backpacks and boots and dirt under our fingernails. So, we began planning a trip to Ireland, WWOOFing our way around the country. WWOOF stands for "Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms" and its a great way to travel to less touristy places, meet great people, and learn about sustainable lifestyles.

Now, to some of our friends this was a pretty rogue decision. I mean, I majored in Urban Studies, and Sarah has never been on a farm before. Yeah we supported the farmers market (delicious sweet potato bread) and experimented with sprouting, but we weren't really the green thumb types. Our friends were amused but generally supportive (one person said they could see me doing manual labour, not sure what that's supposed to mean, but I'm sure their intentions were good).

Are we ready for it? I guess we'll find out. Watch this space.

As I have learned from my more hip friends, a respectable blog needs a good concept. Preferably an ironic one. Maybe the whole idea of us going farming is sufficiently ironic, i don't know. But with a title like 'Certified Rogue' I hope to share some farming fun, wayward wanderings, hippie happenings, and overall awesome adventures (and i promise not to many cheesy alliterations).

A preview:

Our first placement: http://www.supersprouts.org

Supposedly selling sprouted goodness at this festival: http://www.bodyandsoul.ie

Our second placement: http://www.moyleabbey.ie

And, much later, wrapping up with the EPIC http://www.creamfields.com/

Thats about all we know for sure right now.

This blog is just for us. And you. And for Sarah to achieve internet fame.