¨BoB¨

I decided that EcoTruly Park is more like camp. We have activites to keep us busy during the day, good food, good people, and even a bonfire on Wednesday night. At the bonfire, we were told to bring an object and give it a personality with a backstory of where it came from. This was an activity we did earlier in the day at the theatre workshop. (like i said,camp!) I was walking on the beach, and sat down at alittle table to write in myjournal, and there on the table was a corn seed. Instantly,I knew this was my object and I named it Bob!. Here is Bob´s story.

Meet Bob. Bob is 30 years old. His parents were tall, green, beautiful corn stalks which are now long gone,he only knew them for one summer. Bob has many siblings but hasn´t seen them since they all had a huge party with his other relatives he grew up with,at the end of summer. At the party they were all mixed together and taken to different places. He would meet new people and then get split up into smaller groups until finally, Bob was on his own. Bob has been traveling for many years. He knows someday he will grow to be big and tall into a corn stalk and have many children himself, like his parents. Although, he doesnt know when this will happen. Within, Bobs travels, he has meet other seeds. From them he learned of another way of life. Instead of turing into a plant, the seed gets really hot, and `pop´ turn into a white fluffy object. Bob is curious about this and wonders which life he would end up following. Either way, Bob knows he is a delicous seed and someday will give nutrients and pleasure to a higher object and would be happy with either path. For now, Bob is a happy seed just traveling along.

For some reason this story just came to me as i was sitting there. I told it around the bonfire, and after saying it out loud, I realized how true the story really is in mylife. Also, other people at the bonfire commented on how true is was for them as well, and really enjoyed it. Another girl, Sylvia from Poland also told a story that related to life about not getting your expectations set up to high on the big things and sometimes the smaller things in life are more enjoyable. True True.

On Friday, I was able to help out on the farm and learned about biofarming. The farmer who started working at EcoTruly back in the 1980s explained how they turned the sand into plantable soil. It took manyyears, of compost and cow poop do to it. He would take his learnings and go to the University he used to work at and show them about the positives from growing with out chemicals and they thought he was loco(crazy). of course. Even the farmers around Ecotruly all use chemicals and wonder why their crops are not as healthy or productive as ecotruly´s. We were able to plant a few different seeds, something similar to rhubarb, radish, and a summer squach. He talked alot about compost and how pig poop was bad, it only brings worms. And how cow not bull poop is the best. The female cow is better because it has less hormones, and as a mother it relates better to mother earth. Also, he talked about using not only the lunar moon cycles to plant, but also the stars as well. I guess when the stars in some alignment, they send a certain energy to the plants and helps them grow, then we are able to absorb that energy. He didnt go into much detail on this, and said there are websites that explain more about the biodynamical agriculture.

I also came to the realization that i can not study Hare Krishna religion. I may have said this before, but my main reason that i can not, is because you can not taste the food you cook until after you present it to Krishna. When i cook, i sample everything and love lots of seasonings and flavor. And if you cant taste it while cooking, then generally it doesnt taste that well. Something as simple as that, has made up my mind. I am grateful that EcoTruly Park was open to sharing their belief and culture with me, and i can take what i learned there with me. I just know now, that it is not for me.

I am in Lima right now staying at one of the girls house that I met at EcoTruly. From here I am catching an 18-24 hour bus to Cuzco on Sunday with 2 other people from EcoTruly. In Cuzco I hope to stay for a month and possibly work doing Rolfing,or whatever else I find. Also from here, I will visit MAchu Pichu. Can´t wait!