Here we go again...

Here goes my second attempt at a blog. I managed to keep my first blog (www.durangocantango.blogspot.com) updated for the first half of the trip, but apathy prevailed. I'll do my best to outlast that nagging pest this time around.

Just to catch you up, I finished off the last few months of my trip in Archidona, Ecuador. It's a small jungle town 15 km away from Tena, one of Ecuador's gateways to the mysteries of the deep Amazon (some of which, i.e. the 15 meter snakes, will stay a mystery if I can do anything about it). I volunteered for an up and coming entrepreneurship called Runa.

Runa is commercializing a new tea-like beverage called guayusa (why-you-suh). And while profits are necessary for the good health of any company, Runa also focuses on environmental sustainability and social development. Check out www.runa.org if you'd like to learn more. I was fortunate enough to get to spend three months observing and aiding the process. Afterwards I went home to Durango with the intent of starting a life in my hometown. But Runa wasn't done with me. Between the excitement of joining an upstart company and the rewards of living in a land so unlike my own (not to mention the temptation of a paying job), Runa convinced me to link up with them again this year.

So, here we go again...