A Week in the Bubble

Last Friday marked the one-month mark in the journey. It’s like I’ve been living in some strange, warped time zone; it feels like it’s at least been two, maybe even three months. Then again, I’ve had it in my head for so long that this is an eight month trip. And now it’s down to seven. Crazy.

Our past weekend in Bahia was filled with some of the best and some of the worst moments on the trip. One of the highlights was visiting an eco-village named Bella Vista. This 500 person community is focused on environmental sustainability and education, especially with their kids. As we were being led on a tour of their community, we were invited to their clean up and party the following day. Even though we were scheduled to return to Los Naranjos, luckily the program leaders were able to work it out to make it possible for us to stay the extra day! And I’m so glad we did. We ended up painting a mural on one of the walls in their town and got to join in their party. Definitely one of the best days so far. We also celebrated Hannah’s birthday with some chocolate cake, nutella brownies, pizza, and a piñata.

And the bad of Bahia…
Eight people got sick. Three went to the doctor. People were literally dropping by the hour. All of a sudden, another person would just be out. There was also lots of drama, as we were faced with the question of whether or not two of our group members had to be sent home for breaking an alleged zero-tolerance rule. After many group talks, late nights, and emotions, the two were allowed to stay.

The week back in Los Naranjos has been filled with lots of work, seminars, reading, and of course walking. Things are settling into a routine. We’re learning about environmental issues of all sorts, and it’s all really interesting for me. This is the portion of the trip that I was most looking forward to when it comes to the learning subject, and I’m excited about the seminars we have coming up. We’ve started working on our media projects. I’m in a group with Kasha, Mckinley, Mary, and Alex. We decided to focus our project on the subject of traditional medicine to make a video and book. Alejandro and the other shaman here took us on a walk through the jungle and showed us lots of different medicinal plants. We are starting to go through it all to create a storyline for our video. We only have two weeks to make it, so we’ll definitely need to be efficient.

We celebrated Montana’s birthday last night with a community party. It was also Faith and Rachel’s host mom’s birthday, so the Tsa’Chilas were there too. Thanks to Roberto’s fancy new speakers, we were able to have a dance party in the community center.

Tomorrow (well I guess it’s today as I have to post this from there) we’re heading into Santo Domingo. There’s a store there where you can find all of the traditional Tsa’Chila clothing and souvenirs that we’re going to. I feel a little uneasy about it because it seems almost like they’ve sold out, but I need to see it before I really make a judgment. We’re also going to a mall to find some internet cafes as well as load up on snacks and other necessary goods. A few of the lingering sickies are making a trip to the hospital too. It’ll be a little day trip out of the Los Naranjos bubble.

My host mom has pulled out the wood board that only means only thing: for dinner we’re getting the log. Boiled plantains, mashed up and rolled into a dense, tasteless cylinder of mush. And I’ve just been called to the table. Can’t wait!