Back to school - Blogabond

Yesterday, I started Spanish classes here in Quetzaltenango (also called Xela, pronounced "Shayla"), where I've been staying since Friday night. Learned that at least sometimes it's better not to plan ahead because I had registered online at one school that looked good online but was dissatisfied with it after visiting it in person. Also discovered that it was unnecessary to pay a registration fee, which I'm now trying to recover. Found another school that seems much better and costs less, so I registered at this one yesterday morning and had my first class there in the afternoon.

Also just received some great news from Yanapuma in their bi-monthly newsletter. Turns out that a couple of weeks ago they arranged a visit by a group of Tsa'chila from the Búa community to Finca Sarita, the organic agroforestry farm I visited in March (see blog entry on April 2). Apparently, the community members were very impressed, and as I had hoped this could lead to continued exchange of knowledge about more sustainable agricultural practices that could greatly benefit the Búa community and their land.

I had first learned about Finca Sarita from people I met at Rio Muchacho last November. Then after my visit in March and discussions there with Servio (the owner) about the needs of the Búa community, I met with people in Búa and Yanapuma staff in Quito to discuss how the farm could serve as an model and valuable source of agricultural and community development knowledge for the Tsa'chila communities, particularly Búa. My intention in all this was to bring Servio and the Sarampión community together with the Búa community through the assistance of Yanapuma. I believed, as did others at Yanapuma, that seeing a real-life example of a better alternative could be more helpful and motivating than hearing about one in a series of workshops.

written by

cjones on July 8, 2008 from Quetzaltenango, Guatemala

from the travel blog: so-journ

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