When traditional is sustainable...

My taxi driver on the way to the bus station out of Trujillo, Peru, attempted to make small talk with me by discussing how more advanced the United States is than Peru. After 2 days of visiting the Peruvian ruins of Chan Chan and Huaca de la luna y del sol I had a hard time agreeing with him, for societies have existed in Peru for hundreds of years longer than the United States could even imagine.

Chan Chan is the largest man made ruin in Peru and is the largest adobe city in the world. It was built around AD 1300 and covers 20sq km. It once housed approximately 60,000 inhabitants. It is the remnant of the Chimú empire, which existed well before the Incans.

Huacas de la luna y del sol sit further off the ocean and are 700 years older than Chan Chan. These two temples existed during the Moche period and the Huaca del Sol is the largest single pre-Colombian structure in Peru. The friezes on the walls of this massive temple are something to be admired, for they have endured over 1500 years. Between the 500m expanse of the two temples sits the city of the society that worshipped at these temples.

After visiting these two ruins it was hard to agree with a taxi driver claiming that the United States is one of the most advanced, for hundreds of years before us, complex societies were created merely with adobe and they ruled for hundreds of years. Even as I enter into the lives of traditional agriculture practices here in Peru it is impressive to note that the methods that these societies used before the conquest of the Spaniards, are still being used today, and it is methods like these that are being used in sustainable agriculture practices today.

Terraces in the Colca Canyon, Arequipa, Peru

It is from these societies from that we must learn.

Small town life

Maybe one of these days I will settle down and live in a community that I can call my own. And I hope that this community is something like Acworth, NH, where the wonderful Barb Neff-Davis lives. I just had the pleasure to spend the past week with Barb on her farm in Acworth, NH and it was a pleasure to share that week with her, as well as with her whole town. I lived life with Barb and met many of her friends and acquantainces as well.

What's so special about Acworth? Or more specifically Barb's farm? Well, about 30 years ago Barb and her former husband began to homestead some land. It started with a cabin without electricity and water and a small garden. The farm has grown since then into a main house and a few dwelling around the property. She continues to maintain a simple lifestyle. On cold days we build fires in her wood burning stove to heat our dwelling, to bathe with warm water also required firing up the stove, meaning on warmer days this was didn't occur as often.

But what is truly beautiful about Barb's life are the people that she shares it with and the way she chooses to pass the time. I met Jenny and Stan who have lived their whole married life without electricity or running water and grow Pansies for their income as well as prune and pick apple trees. We participated in a communal work day, helping a friend and his wife haul firewood from the forest he is clearing. We attended a fundraiser at the fire station for a firefighter that was in a car accident. We attended church yard sales, visited the town store, made meals together, attended church, watched community baseball, shared Paraguayan traditions with the high school, worked in the garden, pruned fruit trees...

Growing up in the suburbs this lifestyle that Barb has chosen to live, was not one I was as familiar with. Sure, small town life has its irritations. But there was a bond that was felt between Barb and her community. These people care about her and want to see her succeed, the same way she cares about them.

It was a great vacation in Acworth, NH. One that was much needed after four months of sitting and writing papers for graduate school. I hope that I can take some of what I lived and apply it to my own life, and maybe in 10 years when my life begins to settle down and Barb is tired of farm life I will inherit the farm and make that life my own. 

Getting Caught Up

Well followers, its been a while since I've posted on this page. After 2 years of posting on my blog "Becoming Paraguaya" and a year and a half break while I readjusted to the US and maintained a rigorous academic lifestyle, I have returned to the blogosphere of "Color Our World" to keep you posted on the comings and goings, and travels and reflections of my life.

So what have I been up to?

Upon completing my Peace Corps service I traveled the world. Literally. Over a period of two and a half months I had been on four continents and 8/9 countries (depending on how you classify Palestine). I have been very fortunate to be able to travel and those two and a half months I saw beauty and pain. Division and healing. History and change.

Final farewells in Paraguay

Wine Tasting in Mendoza, Argentina

Relaxing and exploring the colorful town of Valparaiso, Chile

Climbing historical ruins in Jordan

Walking the ancient streets of Petra, Jordan

"Best Day Ever!" Camel Trek in Wadi Rum, Jordan

Seeing the reality of injustice and the struggle for reconciliation in Bethlehem, Palestine

 Discovering the streets of the Holy City of Jerusalem

Crossing the Sea of Galilee, Israel

Food, Wine, Cafés, and Eiffel Towers in Paris, France

Celebrating Carnaval in Venice, Italy

In February 2013 I decided to return to my birth country to transition into something new. I spent six months working in the service industry at Dunn Bros. Coffee, getting reacquainted with family and friends, training for and running 2 half marathons, volunteering in my community, visiting Peace Corps friends, and readjusting to speaking English and everything else that comes with moving back to your hometown after seven years away.

Baseball games with my other half

Readjusting to the frozen tundra

Enjoying the company of Peace Corps friends in Acworth, NH

In August 2013 I started another journey. I began a graduate program in Social Work at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St Louis. Attending one of the top schools of social work in the country is a great honor and challenge. I have had the chance to learn from some of the top scholars and have access to some of the best resources, but what I think the best part of this education is bringing together my previous education, experience, and interests to discover what I am passionate about and capable of accomplishing.

I have been able to connect my interest in community development during undergrad, my experience in community organizing at the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, and my work in participatory development in the Peace Corps, with my work on an organic vegetable CSA, agriculture extension role in the Peace Corps, and growing knowledge and understanding of food deserts and the global food market to understand my role in an unjust food and agriculture system that is leaving us all poorer and sicker.

I am concentrating my studies, therefore, on social and economic development. But more specifically I am looking at Participatory methods for collective community action as it relates to food security and agriculture. Where this may take me, I am unsure. I hope that it allows me to work with farmers in developing countries whose livelihoods are unable to compete in the global market, or alongside peasants who have been displaced by unequal land distribution protesting and organizing for change, or alongside migrant farmers in the United States, or with users of SNAP benefits, or with community gardeners and dietitians.

But where is this taking me next week? That is what I hope to share with you over the next three months. I will be departing for Peru, to work with an organization called Fundación Runa. I will be completing an Participatory Community Development Planning internship, working alongside farmers and families to identify how their knowledge of local plant medicine can be cultivated and created into an income generating business. Stay tuned as I share how this internship contributes to my increased understanding of food justice, community development, and environmental sustainability. 

Neighborhood Potluck

The sky was cloudy as we set out the wide variety of dishes for our neighborhood potluck but it didn't keep the people away. This annual event is one that I remember going to since I moved with my family to this street when I was only 6 years old. Back then it was a place to meet the neighbors around me. This time I was catching up with people who I haven't seen in years, but have always been a part of my life. Whether it was taking care of their cats when they went out of town, babysitting their kids, weeding their gardens, singing carols on Christmas eve, or simply hanging out, I know these people. These people care about me. They were interested to hear what I have been up to and what is next.

I also met people and conversed with people who I don't know, or only know just a bit. The bond became stronger as we found things in common, and as we understood our differences in regards to the context that we come from.

When the rain started to come down nobody moved. Everybody was content to continue in their conversations. We wanted to be together and enjoy being in the presence of one another. The children, of all ages, continued to play together in the surrounding yards. We laughed, we joked, we listend, we spoke. We even mourned together the loss of loved ones over the past year. The mosquitos and another pocket of rain finally chased us indoors and some continued to socialize into the nights at one neighbors' house.

Amongst hearing so much criticism these past few years about the suburbs, I couldn't help but recognize that this isn't one of "those" suburbs. We aren't disconnected people sharing a space. We are a community that cares for one another.

Going to Paraguay!

The Peace Corps invited me to serve in Paraguay as a crop extensionist! Halleluya! I leave September 28th. I started a separate blog for my experience in Paraguay. http://maddieinparaguay.blogspot.com. Follow my adventures there!