Day 3.... not feeling so sunny.

How is it that one week can last so long? Is this really making me stronger? Is my character growing?

Upon waking this morning I was reminded of a childhood memory. In the 7th grade I was pantsed during recess (of course I was wearing elastic shorts, HEY it was the late 80's!) in front of all of my peers. I ran crying to the bathroom and was promptly taken to the principles office where I was extremely upset. The boy who pantsed me was suspended for two days and I vividly remember the principal who was a strong intimidating woman telling me "It may not feel like it now, but you will laugh about this one day." I thought that was so messed up at the time, but truth be told I do have a bit of a chuckle at the memory.

Is that how I will feel about this farm experience? For example last night Sonny boiled potatoes for him & I. Upon straining them he poured them right onto the table. Thank goodness I had wiped it down 5 minutes before. After that Sonny got a bit thirsty and helped himself to my water. He then proceeded to tell me about his neighbors who are so filthy. Apparently Mary and he were at their house one time walking through their garden. Mary complemented them on their lettuce and they offered her a head of it. She accepted and the woman of the house began looking around for something to put it in. She promptly took off her wellington boot and was wearing a plastic bag on it to keep it dry. She took it off her foot and promptly put the lettuce in it. GROSS! Mary & Sonny threw it away upon arriving home. See it really could be worse!

Today was spent taking the recycling to the center in the morning. On the way home from the recycling center Sonny asked me to go into the market and buy white bread. I went in, picked out a loaf (that looked really good btw) and bought it. Upon exit from the store Sonny said it wasn't white bread and to take it back. I then went back in & the cashier who was the cutest little old Irish woman named Mary said she would help me find a white loaf. With white loaf in hand I exited the store. Nope wrong again. This time Sonny went in and got it himself. Apparently his best friends wife has a bakery and sells to that store but there is a bit of a rivalry between them so he refuses to buy her bread on principle. Both of the loaves that I exited the store with were hers, thus he went with the processed loaf from a large manufacturer. I think the whole thing is a bit silly but I guess that is how things go here.

Post bread/recycling adventure it was off to hoeing. Sonny really likes to hoe dirt with minimal weeds. It has not rained in a couple of days thus the ground is really dry. Basically I spent 5 hours hacking at dirt today. Sonny corrected my technique throughout as well as redoing large portions of my sections. I think this is just what he does, i.e. not personal.

At lunch he began his diatribe with "Now I am not going to go into a big lecture but..." and then proceeded to ask me if I thought brothers and sisters, sons & mothers, and fathers and daughters should get married. He was obviously trying to provide fuel for his gay marriage beliefs. I replied that as long as people were consenting adults it doesn't affect me who marries whom. He was not satisfied with that and repeatedly asked me if I was president would I say that was okay? Once again I said as long as people were consenting adults their marriage does not affect me.

He followed up with the fact that the Catholic church does everything for a reason, and those are god's reasons. He stated that god gave women a certain amount of eggs and it is an offense to god to take contraception to prevent one of those eggs from being made into a baby. He then explained that overpopulation is a myth as Holland has the most people per capita and they are able to produce extraordinary amounts of food. He stated that if you took all of the people that populate the world and placed them in the United States you would have the same amount of people per capita that England does and the English are not running out of food are they?

I was exhausted after lunch. I think he just likes to play the devils advocate to try to get a rise out of me and I am not taking the bait. I am just keeping my mouth shut because I do not enjoy arguing or debating. After lunch it was time for more hoeing and we worked until about 6. He then went out and I am here blogging.

I finally broke down tonight and made the $20 phone call to Grammy. I am just not sure what to do. Saturday is market day and his wife returns that evening so I know saturday will be mildly entertaining. It is more that I need to get through the next two days. I am just not a quitter, and I feel like I would be letting him down by leaving now. I know I do not owe him anything, but I made a commitment and I feel like he is not a bad person; he just likes to say contrary things to get a rise out of people.

My next WWoofing assignment is in the same town and I emailed them this evening to double check that it was still on. I know I will be staying with a family there so it has to be better than this. Also it is at a castle.

I don't know what to do but I know I am feeling very alone in the middle of one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Am I crazy?