Alfalfa Pineapple Cucumber Lime Juice

Reading: The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

When I was a junior in high school I had a short stint where I worked at one of those health-freak juice and smoothie shops. I only worked there for a month and a half before quitting – but not without learning two very important things before hand.

Seriously, green tastes good.

• Having a boss that you respect and respects you makes all the difference in a work environment. 
• Green tastes good.

(I left the job for a paid internship on the 2004 Bush campaign, where I learned my next important life lesson:

• I am not cut out for the GOP.

I quit that job three weeks later and decided I was better suited for working outdoors and with horses.)

Today, we’re focusing on point number two: green tastes good. Seriously. All those bottled fruit drinks that look like someone blended spinach and is now selling it at an absurdly high price – so deliciously worth it. Who is a sucker for wheat grass shots? This girl. In fact, I think they taste sweet and flavorful. I like salads without dressings and am not afraid of swiss chard in liquid form.

Fermenting Cow Poo: Lessons in Homebrew Biol, an Organic Liquid Fertilizer

Reading: A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

La Casa de Abonos

Seeing as I have been in Paccha for nearly six months now, I suppose that a few of my faithful readers are scratching their heads and asking, “what would ya say you do here?” A fair question, given that this blog leaves one to assume that I travel, go to rodeos, rant about women’s station in the world, provide a running social commentary on all things unimportant, listen to music, and photograph flowers – none of which resemble a Peace Corps project… sure I have left hints here and there of said project, but it has been pretty on the DL until now.

I will forewarn you, it’s going to get a little dirty…. it struck me yesterday while I was ankle deep in cow poop that the most satisfying jobs I have had in life have always involved me shoveling large amounts of poop. Not only could this be some sick metaphor for my life, but it reminded me of a recent Radiolab episode that described the afterlife as reliving “all your experience but this time with the events reshuffled into a new order… all the moments that share a quality are grouped together… for instance two years of boredom staring out a bus window, sitting in an airport.” In such a world, I wonder what my time count would be for shoveling poop or even just moving poop... but I digress.

My inflated LinkenIn profile states, “currently, I oversee an organic fertilizer project with a small group of sugar cane farmers. The goals of the project include improving individual annual harvests, as well as providing a secondary source of income. The project is heavily focused in agriculture sustainability.” Yes, I would really, really like a job or to go to grad school when I finish Peace Corps and am hawking myself on online résumé sites.

Soapbox for Chris Stevens

Reading: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins

Libyan child with a sign reading " Sorry People of America this
not the Behavior of our ISLAM and Profit"

The recent attacks on the American Consulate which resulted in the death of four American weighs heavy on the Peace Corps community. Not only does an attack on American citizens abroad strike a little too close to home, Ambassador Chris Stevens was as a returned Peace Corps volunteer who had served Morocco. But in light of all of that (and the sound bits, rumors, responses, etc.), it is important that we remember the difference between the actions of a few individuals and how we project our reaction to those onto an entire community. It would be unfair to judge the entire Christian community because of the recent shootings in Colorado and Wisconsin, assuming that is, that the culprits where Christian. (It is interesting to note that the religious practices on non-Muslim murderers is seldom mentioned in mainstream media these days.) Likewise, it would be unfair to presume the same for the greater Muslim community. That is how we end up in endless wars and unsolvable conflicts. It would seem that the citizens of Benghazi wanted to make that known as well.

And since I'm already standing on my soap box, I will leave you all with this -

Las Orquideas de los Andes

Reading: Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins

I know, not an orchid... but seriously? Awesome.

Okay, so it’s no secret that I have a small flower obsession, although small might be an understatement. I could easily bore you all with why this is… it has a lot to do with my awe of Nature and the fact that flowers are, in my opinion, the zenith of sexuality, beauty, and evolution all wrapped into this vibrant living thing, which has the sole purpose of reproduction. Seriously, what other living organism has done something as impressive as that? (Please let me enjoy this moment and spare me the endless examples of birds, insects, fish, etc.) So, basically being in Ecuador, the country that boastfully is home to more orchid species than anywhere else in the world, is like being in heaven. Piñas, one of the closest cities to me is know as the “Orquidea de los Andes,” or the “Orchid of the Andes.” Not a bad epithet if you ask me.

All of this has led me in a couple of directions... with lots of pictures.