How did I...

How did I end up bouncing deeper into remote and uninhabited parts of central Uruguay?  The long truck ride over progressively rougher roads with an occasional herd of cattle being chased by gauchos and dogs, stream crossings and flocks of rheas finally ended at a sustainable ranch.  The task at hand was to collect and preserve native biodiversity.  My part was to help look for legumes and associated rhizobium.  For the last 15 years I have read about researchers working on similar projects and always wondered "How do I get into that?"  Not sure how it all came together but here I am with a job I love.  The rancher, Edwardo, was well educated and a tremendous asset as we traveled around his vast acreage.  He would jump out of this truck and introduce something unique.  A late lunch prepared over a wood fire of hearty stew with fresh beef in lentils, potatoes and an occasional hunk of blood chorizo of pig and beef with a cube like bread that pulled apart in thick cracker like sections filled our bellies.  The chorizo was the best I have ever had.  Animals from his raising and land of course cut with spices and smoked in his shed.  The meal finished with dried pears and plums.  The meal was in his ranch home with animal skin rugs, native deer heads mounted on the wall and pictures romanticizing ranching.  I asked to be adopted with the promise to work hard.   Now I just need to figure out where and how to exactly get back there with Chula.  Ready Love?