The Amazon

We spent 4 days and 3 nights in the Amazon. And by that I mean basically just 2 days because we got in late on Friday—the weather was too hot so the plane was delayed flying us from Quito to Coca...what?—then left early Monday morning. Good times were had by all.

We stayed at the Yachana Lodge, an ecotourism lodge that is run by the local people and supported by the Yachana Foundation which also sponsors a local high school where kids from all over Ecuador are educated on agriculture, environmental preservation, and how to become good members of and leaders in their communities. I am a huge fan.

At the lodge they gave us these sweet rain boots because it's pretty muddy and wet in the rainforest. I had been looking forward to getting to wear a pair of these boots literally almost the entire time I was in Ecuador. In the rural areas all the people wear them, even the little kids, and I just fell in love with them. Weird, I know, but very true.

Ironically none of the boots they brought out for me fit me. They were either too tight or too loose, so instead of the sweet black Ecuadorian boots I ended up with these ridiculous cherry boots that look like they were bought at Target. Really, friends? My friend Nigel got to wear these sweet white boots you see below on the left that made her both look and walk like a cowgirl.

We went on a bunch of hikes and stuff and one day we journeyed over to the local healer's house. He was this sweet old guy who would clean your air, or aura, who would send the bad energy surrounding you back out into the universe. To get healed you had to sit up straight in the chair in the middle of the entry area, put your heels together, palms on your knees facing upward, and close your eyes. He would blow smoke on you from his hand rolled tobacco cigarettes, then use this bundle of leaves that smelled like lemons. After he'd gone around you and gathered up all the bad energy he would walk to the door of the house and, using the leaves, fling the bad energy back out into the universe. Then he would come back and make this cool little whistling noise between his teeth and continue to clean your aura until he determined that it was good. It was pretty cool.

After the healing we all went out and learned how to use a blow gun. Our guide, Juan, set up a target of a cocao nut on top of a piece of wood standing on end for us to shoot at. Despite the fact the the blow gun itself was about 6 feet long I still manage to shoot my first dart into the mud. The second one, however, hit the middle of the log, and the third one wizzed right by the nut itself. I gave myself the "Most Improved" award.

The next day, on our longest hike through the jungle, Juan showed us how the indigenous people can weave baskets out of palm leaves and roots to carry home fruit or small animals they have killed to bring home to eat. He wove this baby in probably about 5-10 minutes and it was freaking sweet! The best part is that you can reuse it until the palm fronds start to dry out and become brittle, and then you can just throw it away and it is 100% biodegradable. I love the jungle!

On this same hike we walked for some time through a shallow river. This is when I discovered that both of my lovely cherry boots had holes in the sides. A winner on all counts. There was nothing I could do about it so I was a man about it and sucked it up.

That day for lunch we had a little cooking lesson and we learned how to cook grubs! Three of the girls ate them raw, which means that you have to bite off their heads first so they don't bite you in your own mouth, then chew up their squishy, still wiggling bodies before you swallow. Yeah, I didn't do that. BUT I did eat them once we'd roasted them over the fire and they were delicious! I had seconds. They tasted like little tiny pieces of chicken, with crunchy, delicious skin. If you ever get a chance I highly recommend trying one. A cooked one, that is...

the times they are a changin

Today we leave Cuenca and go to Quito. Tomorrow we fly from Quito to the Amazon. Tuesday I fly home. There is a lot to say but since there have been lots of power outages recently (no water=no power=no wifi) I won't be able to upload any pictures to my blog until I get home. Try not to cry. However, here are some teasers to get you excited about future entries:

• I ate cuy and contrary to popular belief it did not taste like chicken: it tasted like duck.
• I said good bye to the kids and while I teared up a couple times thinking about how I wouldn't see them probably ever again I only came on the verge of really crying right as we were leaving the orphanage and Enaro said, "No llore. Los niños les gustan mucho." Don't cry. The children love you a lot.
• Although I was able to make it down to Ecuador by carrying on my guitar and one suitcase and only checking one other suitcase, coming home I somehow have to check 2 bags and carry on my guitar and another smaller bag. How did this happen?
• I will be home in 5 days.

PS The power went out while I was writing this entry and I had to continue it 3 hours later when it came back on again. Good times.

people climbing up, water falling down

Today we went on a hike up to a waterfall. I almost died because the air was so thin. False, but it did remind me a lot of hiking the Y my first weekend in Provo and not realizing that when you are up in the mountains as opposed to at sea level it makes it really hard to breathe.

The waterfall was up really high. It took us about 2 hours to hike up the mountain to the first waterfall. Some of the trail was almost vertical and we had to use tree roots and branches to pull ourselves up. It was awesome.

Along the way we ran across a field of cows.

Also a drinking trough for the cows made out a recycled tire and filled with water pumped from the waterfall up above. Uhm, yes.

Once we got to the waterfall I discovered my initials already carved into a rock there. Clearly someone in Ecuador is not-so-secretly in love with me.

While we were up at the waterfall it began to rain. This made the hike down a bit slippery and muddy (though I slipped a lot I did not ever fall—unlike some others I know. Bonus points for Cassi! Reminded me a little of our zip lining adventure, though not as muddy). These shoes used to be white.

After the first waterfall we hiked back down to the house where we had lunch, then hiked up to a second, smaller, closer waterfall and jumped off a rock into the freezing cold water. The rock was not very high at all, probably only 6 feet above the water, but I was afraid to jump. But I did. And scraped my foot on the rocks below because I didn't jump out far enough. This is my splash.

completion

This completes me.

So does the following email from dear lover-boy Jace Face, sent last night but received today at lunch time:

so, all day I kept thinking of you, this might turn into a problem, your turning me into some sort of good boy friend. Therefore I am accusing you of witchcraft, its the only explanation, other than i like you.

Despite the spelling and grammar errors he is really quite a man. And PS I can say whatever I want since he doesn't read my blog. So, I suppose there are really only one or two improvements I could ask for, but no more than that...

racial assumptions

Yesterday we went out to eat at this new gelato and sandwich place called Al Toque. You could tell that they were new and had just opened because they hadn't quite figured out how much of everything they needed on hand and had to tell us that they were out of the food for three of the meals we ordered. Good times. Once our food got there though it was quite tasty.

While we were waiting for our order, this older white couple came in and was looking at the menu. Our waiter came up to me and said, "Habla español, ¿sí?" "You speak Spanish, right? When I said I did, he asked if I could help the couple who'd just walked in. I agreed, and went over to help translate the menu for them. When I asked in English if they needed help with the menu, the looked at me blankly. I started to ask in Spanish but then remembered that they didn't speak Spanish, which is why I was there in the first place. I tried again in English, slowly, and they responded in broken English with thick accents that sounded Dutch (though that's really just a random guess). Eventually I figured out that they were looking for a bar or someplace to get a drink. I told the waiter they were looking for beer and he said they didn't have any there, so I asked where they did, and he told me the restaurant across the street so that's what I told them. They thanked me and left.

It made me laugh because the waiter assumed that just because these people were white that they spoke English. Heck, that's what I assumed too. It reminds me a little of a story my friend told me while we were still in high school. She was in her biology class and her teacher was talking about the rain forest in Costa Rica. Then she turned to one of the students in the class and said, "Hey, you're from Costa Rica, right?" The student looked really confused and responded that he wasn't, he was from the Philippines. This happened two more times and each time the student was not from Costa Rica, but the Philippines. It seems pretty silly since Costa Rica and the Philippines are two very different places and the people don't even look similar, generally speaking. But people all over make these mistakes all the time. And is it really racist if the only consequences of these assumptions is that you think someone speaks a different language than they do or is from a different part of the world? Things to think about.

pretty pretty

I don't know why but I think these two found notes are so incredibly sweet and every time I read them I get all warm and fuzzy inside.

the future

In two weeks and two days I will be home. 2 weeks and 2 days. 2 and 2. 22. Just like how old I am. Coincidence? I think not. While I know that I will be sad later, just like when I realized I was graduating, right now I am very anxious to just get the ball rolling with the rest of my life. Being here in Ecuador has been a really cool and enlightening experience and I am very very glad that I came, but sometimes I feel like I am just treading water while the rest of my life is on pause and waiting in the wings. Wow, talk about a mixed metaphor.

But really. For the first time in my life it seems that I have a real goal and I am excited to work towards it. And by work I really mean work because it is going to be really expensive to live in Boston and go to this bookbinding school, but I am so SO excited about it I can't even say. I figured out the financial logistics today and I'm going to have to make between $1500 and $2000 a month from December to August if I want to be able to pay for housing and just a third of tuition for the first year. I think I can do it. And by I think I mean I will because it will be so so so cool. And bookbinding completes me. That is all.