Un dia a la Mayeteria

Un dia a la Mayeteria. I really should Wikipedia Mayeteria to see exactly what it has to say about what it is. From what I understood, (the day/tour was completely in spanish!) it is a traditional Rota Farm from the olden days. Farms have grown and expanded, but we were able to see how it was done way back when!
My spanish partner, Rocio, works at the Rota office of tourism and on Fridays she takes groups to the Mayeteria. She invited me to come along and see this important part of Rotan Culture. Why not?! So, she informed me that we would be taking "el tren" to the farm. A train? Okay, clearly something was getting lost in translation, because there are no train tracks in Rota. I figured it was her way of saying bus or something. So we were waiting for this "tren" when look what rounded the corner! I started dying laughing! I had no expectations of what this day would be like, but it was already off to a good start!
The ride to the Mayeteria was super! We drove through the town with the wind blowing in our hair. The conducter was NOT afraid to lay on the whistle or bells for kids standing along the side of the street, and of course we were expected to wave! :) Here's us getting outside the town to the fields. It was about a 10 minute train ride there. Superb!

As I said before, I had NO idea what a Mayeteria was before telling Rocio I'd join her at work for the day. I am still not exactly sure, but... I will tell you... it was a fun time! Seeing the countryside for the first time (other than driving through with a car) was great, and seeing how the Spanish farm was very interesting. I took lots of photos, so that Rocio could snag some and so that my other friends of the base with kids can see if it's something they'd be up for doing. Personally, I thought it was a great little morning trip and well worth it!

Moscatel grapes. Plucked one of these suckers right off the vine and ate it. Delicious. I've always wanted to do that!


Rocio starting the tour at the old building dedicated to the cameleon, a rare and endangered species here. There were no live cameleons in there, but lots of great information.


Sorry, being a wino I just LOVED the grapes!


Discovered these little guys hiding in the shade up under the thatch (thatch... is that the right word?) of the roofs. There were HUNDREDs of them. They will be delicious next Spring when the caracoles are served again. ;)


Old tools


The only "fence" for this bull pen was this little gate in front. The rest of the "fence" was a ginormous cactus ring. SO neat to see that the Spanish used/use nature as a natural fence!


Hey big boy...


Introducing... my boyfriend. Haha no but really, when I showed Matt this picture, he laughed and was like... it looks like Sultan's long lost brother. Same googly-eyed confused expression and everything!


Did you know that the vines of squash were strong enough to hang them?!


mmmmmmm SO pretty!


Tintilla grapes. A varietal that is ONLY grown and made into Tintilla wine here in Rota. I've tried it and it's pretty darn tasty! (A sweet sherry-like wine)


A delicious ending to the morning. Beer, a tintilla wine tasting, and fresh homemade aranque. A delicious dip made out of various crushed veggies and bread. It's a dish you can only find here in Rota!