Adios, Los Naranjos

It’s been nine hours since we loaded up into trucks and out of Los Naranjos, and I already miss it. The last two weeks we were there, I had really started to become accustomed and to appreciate the way of life there. Surrounded by jungle and nature, supported by a close community, with no real stresses or worries, the daily routine became a meditation of sorts. Every night, I would walk the dirt road home as the sun set behind my back, finally reaching my house a few minutes after dark. Kiara, my host sister, would then run out to greet me and follow me into my room, where she’d proceed to go through—and sometimes lick and bite—all of my belongings. After dinner, we would all sit around the rickety plastic table and have conversations that lasted up to an hour. We (and when I say we I mean Connor translating) would talk about things ranging from politics to movies to environmental degradation. I learned so much, not only about Ecuadorian culture, but about my host parents individually. For example, my host father is a DJ on the weekends at a local radio station. Both of my host parents finished high school, a feat that is extremely rare in the community.

Our conversations almost always ended with Manuel´s line of “Bueno chicos...,” which was our cue for bedtime. With no light in our room, we’d read or listen to music in the light of our headlamp and fall asleep to a soundtrack of roosters, barking dogs, or, when we were lucky, random cats fighting in our kitchen.

I got a cold/flu type thing this past week, so I didn’t work on Wednesday or Thursday, but I think those two days were among my favorites during our time in the village. Each morning, I walked with my host mother and sister to a tiny store inside another family´s home. On the way there, my host mother picked a cacao fruit for me to eat, showed me a plant that closed up on itself when touched, and pointed out pineapple fields and papaya trees. One day at the store she bought me cookies and a frozen milk popsicle. Another day she bought me potato chips. And because Ecuadorians love their mayonaise so much, it came with a pack inside the bag of chips. I have to say though, the combination wasn’t actually that bad. After our stop at the store one day, we went next door to Lister’s grandmother’s house. Her house is very new, still under construction in fact. It has running water, two bathrooms with flushing toilets and showers, a digital photo frame, computer, and probably at least six rooms. They have to be the richest family in the entire community, if not the entire surround area. It was strange for me that these things that I consider “normal” appeared so out of place.

For our last night the community put on a despedida, or farewall party, for us. It started off with our media project presentations. All of the groups´projects turned out excellently. One group focused on monoculture and made a cookbook of plantain recipes, another ´s was centered on traditional garments, and my group’s was on traditional medicine. After that, the first item on the party agenda was for the men to dye their hair the traditional red color. We also used a dye found in a plant to paint lines and designs on our bodies. Right now, I’m rocking a sun and some other tribal designs on my arms. As this was going on, some Tsa’chilas started to bring out pitchers of chicha, a drink of fermented corn and sugar cane, and served some to us in gourds. To follow this up, Alejandro and the shaman, Andres, performed a cleansing ritual on us. Then the games began. We had tug of war, a game involving a banana being passed down a line, a chicha drinking competition, spearthrowing, and of course music and dancing. Not to brag or anything, but I was the winner of the chicha drinking competition. Well, I beat the other TBB girls, but was outdone by a Tsa’chila women. I still won a prize of two aluminum plates though! I also won a prize in the spearthrowing competition because I was the only woman to hit the tree that we were aiming for. That prize was arguably even better than the plates: roll-on antiperspirant and a pair of nylon socks. When we were all finished with dinner, which consisted of beef, salad, and a toasted plantain served on a large leaf, we all sat around to watch a fireworks show. The fireworks were lit off probably about 20 yards from where we were sitting. I definitely had ash falling on me. Easy to see them at least! Our host families presented us all with gifts after that. Mine was an awesome rainbow striped purse. When all of that was over, we cranked up the music on the stereo for a dance party.

My night didn’t end when the party was over though. I got a ride partway home in the back of a truck. I’m surprised we all made it out alive. There were probably 15 people in the bed of the truck, hanging out the sides and off the edges. It sounded like it was about to break down at any moment and barely made it up the hills. And to top it all off, there were no headlights so we had to shine our headlamps out in front for the driver to see.

This morning we all had to say our goodbyes. A few of the host parents even started crying. I was sad to leave our bubble of safety and comfort, not to mention the fresh avocados and bananas. But I know that I have a standing invitation for a place to stay if I ever return to Ecuador. The people I’ve met and things I’ve experienced have been so amazing. When I think back to how I was feeling before I went into this homestay I can’t help but laugh. I was dreading the weeks I was going to have to spend with the snakes and spiders and mosquitoes. But now I wish I were back in my wooden house, attempting to converse in broken spanish to my host parents, with Kiara hanging by my side.

But for now, I’m going to get my laundry together and rest up before we go out to dinner. There are certain things that are nice about being back in the “real world...”

Ciao!