an orange winter

As a native Midwesterner, it seems impossible to me that here in Carmen Pampa we are nearly one week away from the official beginning of winter.  Yes, it's "cold"--at least by Yungeño standards (which I've now adapted to be my own).  But as soon as I catch myself complaining of "freezing" temperatures here, I can't help but think that this would still be considered shorts and sandals weather in Minnesota. 

One of many bags of oranges and mandarines that can be found in the volunteer house. While a glass of fresh squeezed juice in the U.S. might cost $2-3 a glass, here at home it costs us just the physical labor of squeezing.

It's also bizarre to me that as the temps drop the amount of fresh citrus in our house has spiked.  Within the past four days we've had a couple local community members bring giant bags of oranges and mandarines, picked fresh from their trees, right to our door. You just can't beat free, front-door service!

In the U.S. I rarely buy oranges--fearful of biting into a dry, tasteless fruit, I prefer not to take the risk (or pay the price!).  But here, while the citrus sometimes doesn't look all that great on the outside, the inside is almost guaranteed perfection--juicy and sweet!  In one sitting, we can easily eat 2 -3 oranges as dessert or a snack.

Which, considering the multiple pounds of citrus that we now have in our house, that's a good thing.  We shouldn't have any problem eating our way through the mountain of fruit--especially considering Andy's "mandatory quota" that each person in the Volunteer House must eat "at least ten oranges per day." By my calculations, considering the that there are five of us in the house and assuming no more people come bearing bags full of fruit, we should be out of oranges by the first part of July!

Winter, it seems, is a lot more tolerable with the presence of unlimited access to Vitamin C!