A lot of people don't research our location, or where the island is in general, before their stay on our homestead. It astonishes me how many people think they can hop on a day ferry to Pico, walk to Faja Grande in less than an hour, and get from main cities in Europe to the island in less than a day. What people also might not know: Flores has an ageing population and hospital facilities that suit a population of less than 4000. If your pregnant, you have to fly to another island for check-ups. If you are really sick, you get flown to another island for a hospital stay. This is why we avoid getting sick, and we are taking self-isolating seriously. We have had years of practice - for us to get sick would be very ironic (and pretty damn annoying).
WWOOF Portugal have advised we accept no new volunteers, and deter existing volunteers from travelling on to other farms. This requires volunteers to be very adaptable to their current situation, and to be open with their hosts. Our recent volunteers couldn't adapt to the isolation, and wished to travel to another municipality for a while, where there are larger groups of people to socialise with. I understand being extroverted and unable to meet your social needs can be a headache, but it is very selfish in the current climate to want to travel for leisure purposes, when most are choosing not to for the sake of others. Just because you are a tourist, does not mean you shouldn't aide by Portuguese law. Being on a bio-reserve, where you have food, electricity, the supermarket is only a 40 minute walk, and you are surrounded by nature and no people, is probably the best place you could be in the world right now (unless you are an extrovert!)
Volunteers, I have stayed on some quirky farms and understand the importance of being adaptable. When you arrive on a homestead, be aware that the project is often very personal and private to the owner. They are opening up their project to you, to learn and lend a hand with whatever really needs to be done, and they can trust you to do safely without killing any plants (they also put up with whatever quirks you might have). Often, if they are experienced hosts, like Magnus, they have seen it all, told all their stories multiple times, and gotten used to the coming and going of volunteers. A recent WWOOF study showed more than half of the hosts open their home to volunteers in order to socialise and educate. We are in the other percentage that open their homes to volunteers to work and lend a hand, to help us be part of creating a food forest on Flores. Socialising for several hours in the day isn't in our daily plan, simply because we would never get anything done, and we don't feel the need to. For us, it can feel quite exhausting, especially when you have 2 boisterous boys. When we are doing a project, light conversation is fun for a little while until it gets to a point where you feel like you are talking about the weather, which is distracting and makes tasks take twice as long. We value silent moments with others, as for us it is a comfort that we are around people that don't feel the need to fill the silence with chatter, and instead want to listen to nature like us. We also value the exchange of ideas in brief, but an organised exchange of science and engineering ideas as they pertain to the ongoing permaculture project. Finding someone we have real banter with is few and far between. Being introverted and living isolated has its perks for us; we have more mental time for getting stuck into projects. We also expect volunteers to live frugally like us, and follow our guidelines that we have taken time to write in a handbook. If your host doesn't have a handbook, just ask them the rules and write them down yourself, so you don't forget the rules repeatedly (which can get very annoying for the host). Talk to and help look after their animals, just don't feed them unless you have already asked the host if this is okay. Most importantly, if a host says no to a request whilst you are living with them, don't freak out or take offence - there is often a very good reason as to why they said no, simply ask if you want to know why. If you don't like your living accommodation, this can sometimes be a little hard for the host to hear, because they have likely put a lot of their own resources into making accommodation comfortable for volunteers. Instead of complaining, try and think of ways you can make it more comfortable, and ask the host politely for permission and if they might be able to provide resources or lend a hand.
Unless you are going back to your home, you are likely in it for the long haul with your host. Don't consider travelling between municipalities, because every other person on Facebook right now is telling you it is a selfish move to do so (and, it is also against the law). It is best to consider a long term stay, and be open and adaptable to your surroundings.
STAY SAFE. X
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