Into the Jungle

I’m having a hard time starting this blog post, because I honestly don’t know how to begin. So much has happened in the last week and a half that we’ve been in Ecuador. I’ll try to get it all out as best as I can.

We arrived in Quito last Monday, and spent the following days exploring the city and attending lectures and orientations at Yanapuma, our partner non-governmental organization. They aid indigenous tribes in Ecuador, focusing on health, agriculture, and sustainable development and really emphasize the sustainability of their work, making sure that the aid they give can be perpetuated by the people they are helping, using a “help them help themselves” method. We learned about Ecuadorian culture, current issues, and politics; got some insight into the community we’d be living with; and even had a few Spanish lessons (Yanapuma also is a Spanish school). Since I know absolutely no Spanish, I was put into the basics class with about six other people. None of us knew Spanish and our teacher didn’t know English. It was humorous to say the least. I actually feel like I did get something out of it though.

Throughout the week, anticipation built as we awaited the day that we’d head out to Los Naranjos for our first homestay. Los Naranjos is one of only seven Tsa’ Chila villages. In fact, there are only 2,500 Tsa’ Chila left in total. We heard it was going to be very rural, and had heard a few horror stories from past years’ students about various things—bugs, food, snakes, bathing in the river, etc. Needless to say, we were all very nervous and excited. We took a bus from Quito to Santo Domingo, where we then loaded into two trucks. Yes, we fit 21 people into two trucks. Definitely not legal or safe or comfortable. All in all, the journey took about five hours. We were welcomed at the Cultural Center by all of the host families and Alejandro, the cultural leader, and then made our ways toward our houses.

My host family consists of two parents—Manuel, who is 25, and Listel, 22, (not sure about the spelling on that...)—and a three-year-old girl named Kiara. We live in a compound of sorts. Manuel’s father, seven siblings, and cousins all live in houses surrounding us. There are also TONS of chickens, ducks, and dogs, a donkey, and also a pig. There’s no running water, although there is electricity. There’s an outhouse out back for our bathroom needs, and a stream for bathing and laundry.

The homestay started out really tough, for a few different reasons. The language barrier is one of them. My homestay partner, Connor, has Spanish down pretty well, so that helps a lot. But when it comes to one-on-one situations, things get a bit choppy. On top of that, it’s been very interesting being paired up with a boy. Ecuadorian culture is quite male-centered, and I’ve definitely felt that first-hand. The first night we were here, rarely anyone in the family talked to me or asked me questions. All were directed at Connor. I’m sure part of that was the language barrier, but they didn’t really care if they got an answer from me or not. It’s gotten better as I’ve been here more, but it’s definitely a strange feeling.

The tribal culture here is not as prevalent as I had imagined. Alejandro dies his hair red in the traditional manner, and many women wear traditional striped skirts, but other than that, I feel that it’s quite modern. Most families even have TVs, cell phones, and motorcycles. My host parents told us that they love American movies and music (James Bond, The Titanic, and Rambo are some of their favorites.) There are cultural differences though, for sure. I have eaten so many variations of plantains and rice over the past few days. We’ve had boiled green plantains; plantains fried like fritters; plantains with cheese; plantains boiled, mashed up, and then rolled into what we call “the log”; plantain juice; and plantain chip-type things. Last night we had some excitement when my host parents came home with a big bag. Inside was a live chicken which, as Manuel told us, was to be our dinner. Then they took the bird out of the bag, put it on the counter in the kitchen, and slit its throat. We all thought it was dead. Until it started flapping its wings and sqwuaking. Blood and feathers were flying. It was crazy. Eventually, it was all taken care of though, and later we sipped our chicken soup. OH, I also ate a grub. Yes. They used an axe to cut open a log, then we picked the grubs out and ate them. They were pretty juicy, and I thought they tasted like a mix of chicken and fish. Not too bad really. I also ate raw cacao fruit and seed!

Our work project here deals with reforestation. With Yanapuma’s coordination, our goal is to plant 8,000 trees along three different rivers’ banks. We work from 8:30 to 12:30 every morning, hauling the tree seedlings in baskets, digging holes, and planting the trees in the jungle. And when I say jungle, I mean jungle—vines, snakes, big spiders, and everything. We were all a little bit confused at first as to why we were planting more trees here, because it seemed so full of life already. But as we found out, the trees we are planting will not only be of use to the Tsa’Chila, but will help prevent erosion from the river. It’s tiring work! So far, we’re three days down, 14 to go.

My house is about a thirty minute walk away from the cultural center, which is where we meet every afternoon for discussions. We’re by far the farthest away from everything. We've had to walk 30-50 minutes to get to our work sites, too. We tried to guess our daily mileage of walking, and came up with 10 miles. I’ve only been on one run here so far because it seems like we’re always moving!

That doesn’t even begin to cover everything, but I have to stop somewhere. We’re now in the beach town of Bahia de Carraquez for the weekend. We’re all excited to have hot showers, internet (although it barely works), and restaurants.

And for anyone who has heard about the situation in Ecuador, here’s all that I know: apparently the whole police force has decided not to work, resulting in bank robberies and a rise in other crimes too. There are riots in Quito and other cities, the president was injured, and Ecuador is in a “state of emergency” for a week. We’re safe though! And taking many precautions. So no worries.

I’m off for my first run in a while now. And looking forward to a hot shower when I get back. Yay!