Working the fields/ Olive picking

I have something new to put on my resume:
OLIVE PICKING

One of my best friends in Malaga asked me if I wanted to have lunch with her and her family at their country house, "sure" I said, "what time should I come?" "Well, we'll be olive picking all morning, soo around---" "WHAT??? I WANT TO PICK OLIVES TOO (like a lil girl!!)!"

So the next day off I went, with my army of foreign friends in stow of course (we all wanted to experience this). We got there around 11am and worked in the fields scraping off olives from around 15 trees for about 5 hours with a 2 hour break in between to have lunch and jump on the trampoline (my dream come true, it was one of the best experiences of my life).

My friends family told us we can pick olives to take home and marinate ourselves, so that we did. We learned how to not only pick olives, but also marinate them in preparation to eat. It was surprisingly simple, we filled up a bucket with water and put 2 eggs in it, we added salt until the eggs started floating (that means there is enough salt in the water). Then, we chopped up garlic and red peppers and marinated all the olives in this mix for 10-12 days (we are only on day 6 today, 6 more days to go!). Amazing-- I felt so lucky to learn this from someone that grew up in a field of olive trees-- an olive expert-- my friends uncle!

This was such a unique experience for me. Coming from a huge city, I never thought I would ever work the fields, let alone learn how to make my own olives! We also went around the farm picking mandarins, tomatoes, avocados, eggplants, peppers, and lemons! I've never felt so connected to food and the earth in my life! Food home grown and prepared has an undeniable energy that feeds the soul!

Cleaning and preparing the olives before we took them home:
Los aceitunas colgando del arbol:
The olives in the net after we combed them off the tree:
The fields:
Taking a break to play with my friend, haha:
My BFF in Malaga and Daniel picking them out!
The cutest baby in the world playing with the olives we just picked, adorable!

This was an unbelievable sensation that I can't describe. I felt like I was so liberated and free. It was my first time jumping on a trampoline and the environment I was in added to the amazing sensation, PURE BLISS!
Tracy, the trampoline jumping champion, xo:

The olives in our kitchen marinating, and all the fruits and veggies that we picked fresh:It was an amazing, unforgettable day, I enjoyed every single second of the experiences, every single second!

This weekend, olive party at my house!