CINCINNATI: HOME HOSPITALITY - WHAT A FARM!!

Day

Meeting 3: Great Dinner with The Clarks

We were organised in two groups one of 5 and the other of 10. I was in the largest one. We knew we were having dinner but we didn't know how warm kind and great people we were to meet.

Mike and Peggy Clark, our host family, live about one hour away from the city of Cincinnati in a farmhouse. When we arrived, our eyes couldn't believe how big the farm was and all the high-tech machinery the farm had.

Back yard of the house farm

Peggy welcomed us and saw us to the house. As we entered the place, the smell of fresh home made food made me feel back at home. Peggy introduced us to Teresa, a close friend of the family who has a catering business and who cooked the dinner for us; which by the way so far it is the best food we've had in US. Then, Mike came to the living room and took us all to the farm processing machines to tell us about his business. I'd say that he didn't talk about his business but his passion.

He was raised in a farm and started working the land at the age of 6, since then he's not stopped. He confessed proudly that he never went to college but the cutting edge technology he has in his farm is admired by engineers and techinicians in the world. Even the Chinese and Japanese come to his farm to learn more about it. His farm is 580 acres and only 5 people in total work in it!! Yes, 5! Amazing isn't it. In Peru we may need more than 50 people among drivers, cleaners, etc...

And guess what? His secret of success is that he renews his machines and trucks every year or every two years, that way he has the last high-tech toy for farming and doesn't worry about spare parts or fixing.

After about an hour Peggy called us for dinner saying firmly that if she didn't stop him, Mike'd spend the whole night talking. We went back to the house and the delicious meal was awaiting us. We sat in two large tables, one in the kitchen and one in the dining room. Peggy and Teresa were at the table where I sat. By coincidence we were all girls at this table and so we had to talk about girly things. Peggy tolds us how she met Mike. Here it is:

"It is not a romantic story, though. Mike is not that kind of man. We were aquaintances at school and all of a sudden one day he called me and asked me to go out for dinner because he had two tickets for free and added that if I couldn't go with him, it wouldn't matter. I, anyway, accepted and the day after when I saw my best friend, I told her I had met the man I want to spend the rest of my life with."

Dinner: Mince pie- corn - salad - vegetables

Unfortunately, the driver of the van that was to take us back to the hotel arrived and so we had to say good-bye. Some of us had taken small presents from our countries to give them away to people like Mike and Peggy who without knowing who we were opened the door of their homes and hearts. I have to confess that I was quite unsure if they may like the present I took. It was a tiny 'Retabalo Ayacuchano' (A nativity creek). 

 As in the US Religion is something not many want to talk about. I took the risk because we learnt that Cinccinati had a vast majority of Catholics and so I timidly gave it to Peggy. To my relief and luck, she said: "What a beautiful thing! How did you know I collect nativities from all around the world?" Aren't I lucky? I quickly told her about Ayacucho and what it means to Peruvians.

Just before we left, Mike and Peggy asked us to pin a world map on the country we were from. That way they remember all the people they had in their home. I was the first Peruvian in it!

Heini from Venezuela

We all kissed and hugged and went back to the hotel with the feeling of home hospitality I'm sure we all want to replicate when having guests at our very own homes.