Seed and Poetry Festival

A part of our course was to do with seeds - these are vitally important for organic agriculture. Well, we were told about this "Seed festival" which was in a convenient location on the way back to Quito, so I went there with two friends. It's in a community house called  "Casa de las Abuelas" (The house of the grandmas), on the banks of Rio Caña. A stunning location - lush green vegetation, fast flowing river, far from the nearest city. It started for us in the mid afternoon with a play which included music and dancing - including grabbing people from the crowd. 

Then we had a sing-along - a beautiful melody "El río va fluyendo, hacia el mar" (the river is flowing, into the sea). Then there was a break in the entertainment, so we went for a swim in the river. A man on a horse decided to join us. Later in the evening, we saw some traditional dances performed by kids, then a brilliant contemporary dance performance by three teenage lads involving fire and juggling. There were some short videos on the importance of water and the problems of water in the world. Watch "Abuela Grillo" (grandmother cricket) it's a great animation - no Spanish required - it's loosely based on the privatisation of water in Bolivia and the subsequent riots when too many people didn't have a reliable supply of water. Perhaps the best bit of the evening was the poetry conversation - where a man and woman speak to each other in verse - all completely improvised. I couldn't follow much of the Spanish, but the rhymes were good and there were squeals of laughter and appreciation from the audience. The salsa dancing went on until late and was followed by a bonfire by the river which lasted until dawn.