Loading...
Maps
People
Photos
My Stuff
cjones
83 Blog Entries
1 Trip
309 Photos
Send email to cjones
add cjones to my buddy list
Trips:
so-journ
Shorthand link:
http://blogabond.com/cjones
Buddy List
Anthony
Challenge to science
Bahia de Caraquez
,
Ecuador
Last week I checked out a book from the library at Rio Muchacho titled "Life is a Miracle: An Essay Against Modern Superstition," written by Wendell Berry in 2000. This book has a lot of significance for me, as it challenges not only many commonly accepted beliefs of our society in general, but especially those advocated and taught in the universities - even more specifically within the field of population biology, which was my area of concentration in college. It is essentially a review and critique of ideas presented in another book called "Consilience" by E.O. Wilson. Although I haven't read this book, Wilson wrote the textbooks for 2 of my courses in college and from other articles I've read I think he well represents the perspectives of my biology professors.
I had the good fortune to hear Wendell Berry speak about a year ago at the Prairefest conference on sustainability organized by the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas. This is the first book I've read by him but I doubt it will be the last. There's so much depth in his writing that for me it has to be taken in small doses and reread several times. I could probably write an entire book myself on thoughts that have been unleashed by reading this review of another book.
WB refers to the dominant modern wordview as "science-technology-and-industry" and he opposes the obsession with or being first or original in human endeavors, the preference for novelty vs. timeless truths, as well as the view that knowledge is always good and that accumulation of knowledge and communication of scientific or literary information should be unrestricted. When it comes to scientific knowledge, certain technologies such as nuclear engineering, agricultural biotech and cloning may be better left unexplored. Knowledge and "solutions" do not necessarily result in a net gain to the world after considering the destruction and new unsolved problems created by them. In literature and the arts (including popular media) the artist or author as a member of society and party to personal relationships bears responsibility for betrayal of confidence and for influencing other members of society. In regard to conservation, WB sees more potential in people who have come to know and love a place and its individual living inhabitants, and in those inspired by God's love for creation, than in a scientific reduction to abstract concepts such as species, ecosystems and biodiversity to be managed with technology as if parts of a machine.
On the farm, we get up before 6 AM to do chores before breakfast, then have classroom instruction and practice in the field both morning and afternoon. On many nights after dinner, we've watched videos on food, agriculture, conservation and development-related topics. On other nights we learned to make products from food grown on the farm like chocolate, coffee, cheese and marmalades. Also had Spanish classes for a couple of hours a day this past week. Saw a toucan in the wild for the first time and up close - feeding on a fruit of a papaya tree.
The main house at Rio Muchacho
La huerta (vegetable garden)
written by
cjones
on November 17, 2007
from
Bahia de Caraquez
,
Ecuador
from the travel blog:
so-journ
Send a Compliment
comment on this...
Rio Muchacho
Canoa
,
Ecuador
Arrived yesterday at the Rio Muchacho organic farm - about 30 minutes drive inland from Canoa.
Thursday, I met with the staff of Yanapuma at their office in
Quito
to discuss a sustainable development internship the first 3 months of next year and also to share in the traditional celebration of Dia de los Muertos by preparing then drinking a purple juice called "colada morada" along with bread in the shape of dolls called "guaguas de pan." Afterwards, we went for dinner, live jazz and good conversation at a nearby restaurant.
Friday and yesterday I traveled with the other students from
Quito
to the farm where we'll be taking an organic agriculture course for 4 weeks. Today we had a short introductory class, then the rest of the day off at the beach in Canoa, where there's internet access. Strange that we're at the equator at sea level and the temperature is still cool.
written by
cjones
on November 4, 2007
from
Canoa
,
Ecuador
from the travel blog:
so-journ
Send a Compliment
comment on this...
Spirit of sustainability
Quito
,
Ecuador
On the bus to Quito, I finished a book called Tropical Forests and the Human Spirit, which describes the contemporary trend in forest conservation toward local community management of forest resources. The book refers to the concept in economics called the "tragedy of the commons" which maintains that given the freedom to do so, individuals will pursue their self interest in exploiting common resources, which ultimately leads to their destruction. The unanswered question in the book is how the "tragedy of the commons" can be averted.
Traditionally, forest peoples have often sustainably managed their lands and resources when their societies have been united by common spiritual beliefs and prohibitions against destructive practices. But what is to prevent self-interested exploitation when communities have recently settled their lands, communities are fragmented and have lost a cohesive value system, or modern values have encroached upon and replaced traditional ones? Isn't an inner transformation necessary for a truly sustainable and just way of life?
Unfortunately, Christianity has developed a bad image for itself in the eyes of many compassionate advocates for conservation and social justice. I think part of the image problem could be justified given the actions of some missionaries in the past, but the rest could be attempts by the System, what the Bible calls "the world," to discredit a way of life that threatens the selfish ambition and materialism it promotes. However, taken to heart I know of no better guide to a spirit of sustainable development that can heal and save commmunities and the natural world. I think the church needs conservation and conservation needs the church.
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy.
Proverbs 31:8 & 9
That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil - this is the gift of God.
Ecclesiastes 3:13
written by
cjones
on November 1, 2007
from
Quito
,
Ecuador
from the travel blog:
so-journ
Send a Compliment
1 comment...
Pasto
Pasto
,
Colombia
Now in
Pasto
in southern
Colombia
, after spending most of the last 4 days with Emilio - Sunday at an amazing private nature reserve called Nirvana run by the family of a friend of his, then the last 2 days traveling with him from Cali. He had to go to work in the forest just east of here (with indigenous communities in the Putumayo) and offered a ride in his car. Many interesting sights along the way, including many army or police checkpoints, especially between Cali and Popayan, which is in an area of much guerrilla activity in recent years. We were stopped a couple of times and searched once. Drove through some very diverse and beautiful terrain.
Pasto
seems like a nice town but I'm not going to have much time to look around since I need to be in
Quito
tomorrow. It's much cooler here in the mountains and has been raining much of the time.
written by
cjones
on October 30, 2007
from
Pasto
,
Colombia
from the travel blog:
so-journ
Send a Compliment
comment on this...
Emilio's farm
Cali
,
Colombia
The fish pond
Experimental tanks & Emilio's new breed "jaguar fish"
Today I met a friend of my friend Naresuan who lives here in Cali, and is a consultant for the World Wildlife Fund working on conservation, sustainable development and land use planning in the Putumayo department to the southeast. This was completely unplanned before yesterday and an incredible opportunity for me to learn more about
Colombia
and many of the things I'm most interested in learning about on this journey!
In addition to his consulting work, Emilio has a farm about a hour's drive from Cali, near Dagua, where he grows coffee as well as many experimental crops for income including flowers, ornamental plants, giant bamboo, tropical hardwoods such as mahogany, butterflies and aquarium fish. In addition he grows a variety of food for his family and is planning to open an ecotourism center. At breakfast, I changed my plans to leave Cali today and instead rode with him to the farm where he gave me a tour for a few hours. Enjoyed a lot of good conversation (in English) and views of beautiful countryside and interesting roadside market activity.
Tree fern
written by
cjones
on October 27, 2007
from
Cali
,
Colombia
from the travel blog:
so-journ
Send a Compliment
comment on this...
Cali
Cali
,
Colombia
Torrential rains in Cartagena yesterday morning. Rivers of water about a foot deep flowed through the narrow streets and about an inch of water washed in from the streets onto the floor of the restaurant where I had breakfast. My flight from Cartagena to Cali was delayed by more than 5 hours because of the rain.
National elections are Sunday and as in Guatemala it's very dangerous to be a political candidate here. Candidates and their families are often targeted for assassinations or kidnappings. Read in the paper a couple of days ago that as of then there had been 29 assasinations, 9 kidnappings and 27 other attacks. Other differences I've heard about with elections here are that bars and liquor stores are closed the whole weekend of the elections and buses and many other businesses don't operate on election day. Wonder if that makes it difficult for some to travel to the polling place.
written by
cjones
on October 26, 2007
from
Cali
,
Colombia
from the travel blog:
so-journ
Send a Compliment
comment on this...
On solid ground in Colombia
Cartagena
,
Colombia
Harbor at Portobelo
Storm clouds over the sea
What luck to have a guitar onboard!
One of the islands inhabited by the Kuna
The Melody has landed! Arrived yesterday in Cartagena after 5 days and 4 nights on the water with 9 other backpackers from the US, Canada and
Sweden
. It was a fun trip aside from getting seasick on the 4th day.
Really curious about seeing
Colombia
firsthand, since I've heard so many conflicting things about the country. Appears that all those things could be true, just that different people see different sides. Today I glanced through a book on the subject called Las Dos
Colombia
s (another book apparently not available in English or probably in the States). There are a lot of police and military roaming the streets, but the ones I've seen so far seem no better or worse than those in the US - most seem like decent people and I'm sure they make the streets safer for gringos like me.
Met a
Colombia
n lady who believes that most people here are not truly patriotic but have a regional mentality and are not very concerned about what is happening in another part of the country. The human rights organizations and the UN all say that the level of violence against the poor and indigenous people in the rural areas is the highest in Latin America at this time - akin to the violence in Guatemala in the 80s and most of it perpetrated by paramilitaries who have ties to the military and police.
Colombia
is also known to have the highest internal displacement (largely due to the violence) in the world except for Darfur - estimates are 2 to 4 million people over the past 20 years.
Streets of Cartagena
Back to my immediate location: Cartagena is a popular tourist destination for both backpackers and upscale tourists. The historic center is a beautiful place to walk around with colonial architecture and narrow cobblestone streets lined by 2-story buildings with balconies overflowing with tropical flowers. Such contrasts in this country!
Walls around the city
Historic center of Cartagena
written by
cjones
on October 23, 2007
from
Cartagena
,
Colombia
from the travel blog:
so-journ
Send a Compliment
comment on this...
Setting sail
Portobelo
,
Panama
Leaving on a chartered yacht (very reasonable) for the San Blas islands and
Colombia
tomorrow!
written by
cjones
on October 17, 2007
from
Portobelo
,
Panama
from the travel blog:
so-journ
Send a Compliment
comment on this...
End of the long bus ride
Panama
,
Panama
Arrived in
Panama City
yesterday after 3 days on long-distance buses from
Tegucigalpa
. Very heavy rains and flooding in
Costa Rica
, which delayed the bus 6 hours because part of the Pan-american highway collapsed. Giant waves on rivers we crossed over. This is the same highway that passes through KC as I-35.
Relaxing here at a hostel and looking into options for transportation into
Colombia
. The city here is very modern and not too unlike the US, but especially diverse being located between South America and the rest of Central America and the only Central American capital on the Pacific coast, so there's some Asian influence.
Read in the paper here that the "economy" of Panama grew 7.5% in the past year, but 64% of the population is in poperty with a third in extreme poverty, and the poverty has not decreased. Also read that at least by one account the richest man in the world now is from Mexico, another country where there is much poverty. Something's wrong with this picture! Whose really benefitting from the economic growth?
written by
cjones
on October 14, 2007
from
Panama
,
Panama
from the travel blog:
so-journ
Send a Compliment
comment on this...
Tegucigalpa
Tegucigalpa
,
Honduras
Iglesia Los Dolores in Tegucigalpa
In the capital city of
Tegucigalpa
, doing some planning for the rest of the trip and stopped in a bookstore this morning. Of course most of it's in Spanish but found a lot of good material on subjects I'm trying to learn more about such as economic, social and ecological factors affecting the situation here in Central America. Strange that the historic downtown area has a nice park and baroque cathedral but mostly US or similar fast-food chains for restaurants.
written by
cjones
on October 9, 2007
from
Tegucigalpa
,
Honduras
from the travel blog:
so-journ
Send a Compliment
1 comment...
Viewing 61 - 70 of 83 Entries
first
|
previous
|
next
|
last
author feed
author kml
Heading South?
FairTutor can hook you up with
Online Spanish lessons with a live personal tutor
. It's pretty sweet!
www.fairtutor.com
Navigate
Home
Find Blogs
Find People
Find Places
Find Photos
Browse Tags
Make Maps
Write a Blog Entry
search
Login
go
create a new account
Blogabond v2.40.58.80
© 2024
Expat Software Consulting Services
about
:
press
:
rss
:
privacy