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tzucacab YUCATAN

Dr. Devon y Don Alfonso con el K'aanchè

hello faithful readers, much like the

radio this blog world is full of faith and mystery...

quien sabe whose actually still reading these

ramblings from CAN clowns all over the world. well, as

long as my mom reads them,

i will keep writing them! so here is a little update:

i have been working in the SPICY town of tzucacab yucatan... the town is of 12thousand folk, mostly working in campo or in the tourist-construction-service beach zones. everyday i wake up at six in the morning to be at the junior high school by seven. it is the smaller and poorer of the two junior highs in the area, and it is called the technica because it has courses in information technology and agriculture.

i am making steady progress on my project which is called project teach the kids about k'aanchès. so what is a k'aanche you may ask yourself. well in maya k'aan means sky, and chè means wood or tree... therefore SKYTREES! they are raised beds filled with soil for the planting of small plants and herbs in the family garden. BUT WHY RAISE THE PLANTS?, you wonder. well there are a variety of reasons, could be to protect them from animals such as sheep or chicken. could be that the soil is too rocky to plant right outside your home. all we know is two generations ago every home had its own kaanche for the planting of radishes, cilantro, tomatos, hierbabuena, and chiles. now hardly any have kept the practice.

SO my mission (and i am contractually bound to accept it) is to go in with 180 kids aged 11-15 and get them to learn about stuff their grandparents used to do. no small task. luckily i have what Alfonso called the jesucristo charisma and the support of the director and all the teachers.

up until now i have been doing what is called a diagnostico de conocimiento, a diagnostic to see who knows what about the traditional system, specifically, what type of wood is good to use, what is planted in the bed, how is it maintained, built, etc. i have also been spending time with the kids so they get used to me and dont think i am bin laden or jesus christ. yesterday i presented the project to the parents of the families and it went really well. tomorrow we will clean the area where the posts are going to be dug in and next week we build the first one. our goal is to build six, one for each class.

as far as daily life, my energy is pretty much sucked out by the youngings and nonstop spanish maya speaking. between work at the school everyday and other investigations, intervciews, writing notes and reading, im pretty much in my hammock by 9 oclock. up and down with the sun.

i am here with Carlos, a guatemaltecan student that has been living in merida for eight years now. he is finishing his degree in biology. he is working with the coal producers in a neighboring town called ek'balam (star tiger!) later i may have another visitor, ivan, who is working on a species of tree called jaabin. also, david arrived safe and sound in merida from his adventures in oaxaca, bringing all the positive energy and love vibrations that we know and love. even though i just spent one day with him, his words and his attitude reminded me of our larger works and filled me with good feeling to carry through with the project, which can at times be taxing, to be honest. all said and done, i am in good spirit and good health, im stearing clear of mondongo and chichara, and all is well! tomorrow we will go to the monte alto to learn more about the trees and to explore the campo some more. thats all for now, much work and little time UNTIL THE NEXT INSTALLMENT, stay safe and eat coconuts!

signed,

tomas de jesus de santa cruz de la guadalupe