PJs and No Job

Hey all,

To catch you up from since I last posted in early November...

My harvest job ended in Burgundy, France and I am back in Nevada City, California with my parents and Penny, the pole dancing cat. Not really sure how that name came about for her, but it seems fitting... Anways, the expensive and anticlimatic holidays have come and gone and the new year is upon us. I made no resolutions for this year, but I definitely see some major changes occuring in my life as this year goes on.

Next week I will be flying out to Cape Town, South Africa for a cellar hand position with Vrede en Lust Winery in Franschhoek. This will be my first travel to the country and I am getting very excited/ nervous at the same time. At some moments I question my sanity for taking on a harvest job in a far-off land I know so little about, but luckily those moments are fleeting and I look past them. I am very lucky to have this opportunity and I am looking forward to working with the VnL crew and getting to know the people, and learning about their culture and history. Susan, the winemaker, has been so helpful in planning my stay and has setup a cottage on the farm for myself and the two other interns during our stay.

After my short two month internship with VnL I will be flying directly to New Zealand in March and working another cellar hand position with Indevin in Marlborough. Here I will be one of eighty or so interns monitoring the crush of grapefruit and grassy Sauv Blanc and living in a make-shift dormitory. Crazy times are expected... and promised!

But for now I am enjoying the luxury of sitting in my PJs at 1pm in the afternoon, sipping coffee and feeling the warmth of Penny's rump on my shoulder.

Cheers to a seasonal internship!