Tropical Farmer

My first day was a tour around the entire hotel, which is a lot bigger than I expected. There's so many behind-the-scenes departments that are running this world-class resort, I can't even fit them all on this post. However my favorite department is Engineering, where there's a massive backup generator and a giant reverse osmosis tank for purifying water. Not only that but everything in need of fixing gets sent there, wether it's a broken water dispenser or a broken boat engine. 

Every day after the tour I've been working my first week. I've germinated and planted a little over 20 kinds of plants, at least two of each throughout all organic gardens. In the process I've gotten closer with the gardening staff, who are all very nice, diligent, and smile from ear to ear a split second after eye contact. I happened to spend some time planting with one gardener in particular, and he asked me in Indonesian if I am living here for long. I said "Ya, untuk enam bulan (Ya, for six months)". Lukas replied, "Saya senang (I'm happy)". I was touched by his kindness. Having recently moved and still adapting, these simple words were very comforting. 

​Over the next week or two I'll be working on three different projects for the gardens. First I'll be supervising the creation of a detachable rain roof for growing healthy tomatoes. They love the sun, but since it's rainy season the torrential rain will drown them overnight. The next project is a giant tumbling composter to speed up the process of decomposing organic material in order to conveniently supply fertilizer to all the gardens. I'll be in the Engineering department for this because I want to help build and integrate sustainable innovation to the design. Last but not least I'm hoping to make a diverse mushroom farm, where it will be enclosed in a shaded box full of old logs and coffee grinds. Mushrooms don't have seeds, they have microscopic spores, so I'm still in the process of figuring out how I'll acquire them and control its growth.

Since I consider these to be projects, my next few posts will be found within the PROJECT SUMBA link on the homepage, or right --> here <-- 
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Here's a couple of cool shots I took throughout the week, some while working, some while exploring: