2009 09 04. Friday.

Now my right foot is swollen with a little infection. Jeez. My body is getting hit from all sides. I'm taking some Cipro antibiotics and it should clear up soon. The doctor says I have only a small infection around the cut. The foot swelling is some minor inflammation, not infection.

With my left hand in a cast I'm now REALLY grateful for my adjustable belt. I got this cool belt in the States that can easily be operated with one hand. Its a belt with no holes. If I didn't have this it would be a lot more difficult to get dressed and wear pants now.

I was at the juice stall this evening after dinner to get a few bananas. I'm waiting quietly in line when suddenly some Indian man reaches over me and starts waving his money at the cashiers. Instinctively and very quickly I push him back with shoulder saying "Whoa! Whoa! Que! Que!" He then sat down on a nearby bench and glared at me. Glare all you want buddy, but you aint jumping in front of me. I felt very good that I stopped him and didn't tolerate that kind of behavior. If I had passively let him get away with it I would have stewed over it for days. Not good.

One of the young Indian guys at the compost area loaned me a wonderful book called "One Straw Revolution". Its about a Japanese farmer in the 1950's and 60's who discovered how to successfully farm with no fertilizers, pesticides or plowing. A very interesting type of organic farming. His yields are as good or better than chemical farms. Highly recommended reading.

Also recently finished watching a DVD on my laptop about a New Zealand Biodynamic farmer who's helping to successfully convert many Indian farmers to Biodynamic. The movie said that India did not have a "Green Revolution" in the 1970's, but rather a "Chemical Revolution" orchestrated by American fertilizer and pesticide companies. A temporary boost in yields, but much of Indian soil is now dead, dead, dead where it used to be fertile and alive. And those dead soils now cost way too much to farm, so farmer suicide is now a huge problem here. Change or starve. With that choice, change will come soon, I'm guessing. Some Indian university did an economic analysis of the Biodynamic farms here and found them to be more profitable and the farmers much more happy with stronger social cohession in the community. Take a hint, guys.