The trip to Beijing was a lot of fun. We saw all of the big sights and I got to eat some good Mexican food. Once we were back in this part of the world we traveled around some and saw a lot of the local things here. After everyone went home I've been busy with class and trying to get more corn planted. We have four test plots in the ground and are planting one more later this week. Then it is on to coffee... We have almost everything together for the coffee test plots, except for the minor detail of finding someone who will sell us coffee seedlings. I've talked to a few people and I think we're on the right path to getting it all together. Hopefully that will come together in the next week and a half so we can start planting towards the end of June.
The ag projects have opened a lot of doors for us already. In one of the villages we have planted corn for three years, and every time we go out there people welcome us into their homes and love to talk to us. In one of our other villages it is the first time that we have been out there. We are working with a man who lives alone because he wife was killed several years back when a boulder fell on her. He loves having us come over for company, and because we have to check the corn every two to three weeks, we have a lot of chances to sit around the fire with him. My roommate and I just spent this last weekend at his house. And, while the barking dogs and flea that lived in our beds were a little annoying, it was a great weekend out in the village.
This upcoming week we have about ten college students coming out from Oklahoma. Most of them are basketball players and we're all going to be playing basketball tournaments and teaching clinics for the next two weeks. On top of this I'll be planting corn and visiting some villages. It'll be a busy two weeks, but it is always fun when people come out for a while. Hopefully they'll be able to get out to some villages and really experience life here.
