After two years spending most of the time sleeping in a tent, sometimes in a hostel or at strangers I got my own home for a while. On the citrus farm where I’m working again is an old bus that belongs to my supervisor Andy. Around Easter he offered me to move into the bus.

At first I couldn’t accecpt. But then I considered elsewise, it was too attractive to have an own shower and bed. Yes, things that for most of you are natural. Before I had shower with cold brown river water. Now I have a shower cabin with fresh hot water. I can go upright in the bus and don’t need to crawl into my tent anymore. I have my own space and it’s a lot of space. I got furniture. An comfy armchair, table, cupboards and queensize bed. Also a sink, stove and even a fridge is inside the bus. It’s like heaven.

To get to work I just to step out of the bus and walk over to the tractor and drive one kilometer to the field and start picking. In comparison when I had my office job in Berlin I cycled 21 km from East Berlin (Hellersdorf) to West Berlin (Charlottenburg), before I took public transport but it takes also one hour. The picking remains hard work. On my first day of this season it was very muggy and I got a heat stroke. I forgot to wear a hat, drunk apple juice instead of water and didn’t took a rest in the shade. I was short to collapse and vomit. But overnight I recovered and worked again on the next day. It was not easy for me in the first month, it was often too hot. I welcomed the winter when the temperature dosn’t climb over 25° C. Then I turned into a machine and picked everyday three to four bin of lemons.

The biggest disadvantage at this job is that you’re not using the brain much. Or you mind start circling around (to avoid this it helps to listen to music). After work I’m not motivated to learn something new, I just watch a movie and go early to bed. So I’m happy if  somebody challenge my brain. Like Andy and Alan who gave me their computers to fix. I should make more effort to improve my French with the Frenchies who working here. I really like this language. At the moment my girlfriend from Taiwan is here and brings me distraction.

However I like this place and the people I’m working with. I’m happy to got the opportunity to work here again and getting an comfortable home. Probably I stay here till end of the year.