On Dirt, Conferences, and Travel.

Forgive my absence as of late. There really is no excuse…exceeeeeept perhaps lack of material and creative inspiration in the writing realm, which I will go with.

Since I got back from the States, things have been….well, wet. The height of rainy season is upon us and in full force. With Hurricane Matthew affecting the coasts, the inner parts are not failing to see it's presence either, causing flooding and landslides all over the country. Luckily, the closest encounter I have had with either of those is some washed out trees, branches, bushes, etc. along the steep road to my community, and a constant thin layer of water in my front yard - not much, but just enough to slosh around in and make your shoes just a tad bit wetter than is comfortable when going out and about.

So I have ceased to go out and about. Hence, lack of writing material.

Okay, that's not entirely true. I DO leave my house. But these days it's far less often than during the months of November to May. With that being said, November is nearly upon us, and I'm looking forward to getting my garden up and running again. I just harvested the last crop of produce - some carrots, onions, lettuce and herbs - and begun to grow starter plants indoors so they will be ready in eight weeks for transplantation - arugula, artichoke, kale, eggplant, spinach, rainbow chard, and more.

A man in my town who produces charcoal to sell for biofuel (center)......

......has begun to mix it with his soil in which to grow his crops. Interested in this idea (a bit similar to the hydroponic method of growing in that they both incorporate charcoal in the process), he offered to give me some bags of this "biochar" as I found out it is called a few days later, for my garden. Those "few days later" was when I came across an article called 'The New Black Gold' in Ode magazine that discusses the advantages and disadvantages of this fairly new concept of biochar. Though, according to the article, evidence found by archaeologists show that in the late 1800s the discovery of deep, dark, nutrient rich soil with fertile microbial activity in the Amazon was not a fluke of nature, but rather evidence of a vibrant civilization that had discovered biochar many, many years earlier. So, it's not an entirely new concept. According to the article it's resurged, and farmers, soil scientists, biologists, and even regular ol' people are declaring its effects as a type of gold that can increase crop yields and fight climate change.

With that being said, once I get my sweet little garden going, not only with I be fighting climate change, but I will also hopefully have double the crop yields and be up to my ears in produce. Not totally likely, but hey, a Peace Corps volunteer's gotta dream.

And soooooooo I'm dreaming about my garden.

In other news, just got back from an All-Volunteer Conference, my second and final. Much like every other Peace Corps gathering, I think it's more of a time to give us a little dose of sanity so we remember what life outside of our sites and outside of our monk-esque lives is like. This time I remembered well.

People on computers. Yea.

The ambassador and Peace Corps country director. Talking about stuff.

After dancing.

People have talents. And it shows.

Free time during the conference.

And some of the time we actually work. There's a handful of what are called 'project fairs' where various volunteers present on some project so people can network, get ideas, etc. Sooooooo, I was asked to do a lil ol' presentation about kids' camps at the conference. Apparently, I'm an expert, since I've done………..ONE. If anything I hope I gave some folks some ideas for how to control and keep occupied 11 pre-pubescent rugrats for a weekend.

On the way home, the ride was longer than normal. A long, circuitous route due to landslides led my bus through back roads and vast rolling emerald hills shrouded in fog, mist, and dampness in the air. I didn't mind so much this longer route, as it gave me extra time to think with pristine beauty passing by just on the other side of the glass windows. Theres not a whole lot more wonderful than being able to sit without other obligations and just be as the beauty that we sometimes fail to notice passes by. There's something romantic in it - in bus travel, train travel, car travel, plane travel and just plain TRAVEL - seeing these moving landscapes. Always makes me want to go home and reread On the Road, The Motorcycle Diaries, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and Travels with Charlie. Though I got home a tiny bit later than excepted, I didn't mind this extra time to reflect.

The next three months until the end of the school-year on December 17th will be full - full of projects such as workshops, talks, murals, school gardens, art classes, volunteer coordination at the new community center, photo projects, cooking classes, etc, etc. With the arrival of Julia, Lynn, Matthew, Brendan, Kendra, Clayton, and Lindsay (friends from my Intercultural Youth and Family Development Masters program) for Christmas and New Years, and then a trip to Nicaragua in January, I know the time will fly by. After that, I'm down to a mere 4 1/2 months left.

I know this is something I have to savor.

So, until next time....

I'm off to savor!