- I read about Ecuador in the New York Times: I spotted an article about a cooperative of Quichua communities who organically farm cacao and make organic chocolate in Ecuador. (The chocolate, Kallari, was sold in the bar 100 ft from the Jatun Sacha reserve.
- I carried 10-meter-long (30 feet!) stalks of bamboo through the forest to help build a green house in the organic garden.
- I made a second trip to the hospital because of another high fever and symptoms of malaria (thank goodness the test was negative again, and I am fine!).
- One of the opportunities you can have as a volunteer at Jatun Sacha is serving as an English teacher in the local schools. This was one of the things I was most excited to do as a volunteer; unfortunately, upon my arrival in Ecuador I found out that I wouldn't qualify to be a teacher because I wouldn't be on the reserve for long enough. It wasn't until my final 2 weeks in Ecuador that I was able to visit the three schools nearest the reserve, but the three days that I spent at those schools are some of the most memorable, and meaningful, of my entire trip
A recap...
Starting in September there were bad feelings about my departure and an essentially cancelled flight, followed by an unplanned, extra week in the States. Next came a completely reworked itinerary, a drastically lighter backpack, a new attitude. Three days after my arrival, in the throws of culture shock, there was a 7-hour bus ride out to the Amazon rainforest. I arrived at Jatun Sacha, the reserve where I spent 2 of my 3 months in Ecuador. People from around the world lived in that reserve; we worked alongside Ecuadorians who had spent nearly their entire lives in the rainforest. I started learning Spanish from scratch. I was surrounded by trees, plants butterflies and bugs, each of which had a unique story and meaning. I witnessed a different kind of knowledge. In the Galapagos wildlife got up close and personal and I developed a sincere appreciation for the vastness and complexity of life on this planet. I realized the important of ‘just jumping in, getting your head underwater and looking around.’ In November there was a reunion with ‘old friends’ in the Amazon, and I realized how much I had missed the forest, its sounds and its inhabitants. Not once, but twice, I received medical treatment in a foreign country, relying on (limited) language skills to communicate problems and get treatment. Then I visited 3 schools in the Napo region. When a teacher at one of the schools asked if I would tutor some children in math (with Spanish, of course), I surprised myself with my eagerness to explore two areas I wouldn’t previously have considered strengths, and just how much I liked teaching the little kids. Then I began to prepare to come home, taking stock of all that I had learned (in such greater measure than I had expected!).As you can see from the post title, I made it! I hope you've enjoyed following along all of these months. Keep a look-out for my next of emails when part 2 of this adventure begins and I leave for Tanzania, East Africa. After having the opportunity to work with kids in Ecuador, I can’t explain how excited I am to go to the Rift Valley Children’s Village in Tanzania. Stay tuned for more updates in a month or so…
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