14 May 2015

14 May 2015 - Thursday

(Note: I've decided to just title my posts by the day they were written. Simpler and more true to the spirit in which they are written.)

The last few days have been nice. After a couple days of traveling and teaching in hot weather, we have been able to recover a little in the Alta Montaña and in Sincelejo. I had a really nice conversation with a Mennonite friend who is here visiting a college friend, an employee of SembrandoPaz, discussing religion and Brandon Sanderson and college and much more. I also had a nice long talk with Ricardo Esquivia, the director of SembrandoPaz. He was a little curious about Mormons, so we traded stories about our religions and then moved into international development, political philosophy, and other related topics. He is a wise man who has found a corner in life where he is both effective and happy. He has done such good things for the Montes de María region, a series of dozens of town on the Colombian coast which were heavily affected by the armed conflict. In addition, he lives just out of town on a farm and has time to work in the garden, direct the planting of rare or historical plants, and sit on the porch with his wife (who works with the organization as well). It is a simple yet powerful life.

In fact, I had the fascinating opportunity to visit Ricardo's farm yesterday. The major thrust of the farm is to develop a self-sustaining agriculture, which Ricardo feels is lacking in the modern capitalistic system. He has all sorts of trees growing there: mangoes, plantains, limes, Haitian limes, oranges, coconuts, and several which I have never heard of but which apparently provide great nutrition with less intensive farming than plants which must be replanted each year. But he also grows herbs and more traditional crops: several strains of corn descended from old indigenous plants, tomatoes, and the like. The entire idea is fascinating. Oh, and since the farm manager climbed a coconut tree I decided to try it myself. I only got about 5 feet off the ground and paid for it with several small scrapes, a hearty laugh from the manager, and a sheepish grin. Totally worth it.

Ricardo's farm, with some yuca plants growing. They are a root, and one
of the most common foods eaten on the coast.