"The power of imagination makes us infinite." -John Muir
I´m afraid I lied at the end of my previous blog post. I said that this next week would be pretty routine. I guess 2 weeks in the jungle isn´t enough to teach me that the word "routine" has no meaning here. Fresh off my Ayahuasca experience we were back at work on monday, only this time it was not farming. Marco threw us a curveball and we have been helping him build a larger kitchen. I use the word "helping" loosely here. Mostly we do the little things he doesn´t have time for while he builds the entire kitchen himself. We help move wood, hold things, hand him nails, dig holes for posts, make a path out of rocks, etc. The entire process has taken all week due to interuptions caused by the weather. We still managed to work in the fields a few days also but most of the time is spent on the kitchen.
Yesterday we ventured deeper into the jungle to gather palms leaves to make repairs to the roof which has been leaking. It took about two hours, five people, three machetes, and thousands of bug bites but we got what we needed with time to spare before the bus rolled through so we went on a jungle walk to find fruit to eat. There were definately a few interesting tastes out there. The real meal was waiting for us at home though. One of Marco´s dogs, Tony, caught an armadillo on Friday night. Upon our return we were greeted with a plate of rice, beans, plantains, and deep fried armadillo. Delicous!
There was one moment that was quite surreal that took place earlier in the week. After a long day of "working" on the kitchen, the clouds had thinned and to the west you could see Chimbarazo (the largest mountain in Ecuador) and the Andes. Just behind that the sun was setting. It was one of those moments when you forget everything about anything and just stop and stare at the scene in front of you. Of course none of us had a camera to capture the moment and share it with you all but I suspect it would have been one of those intances when pictures don´t do it justice. It was not something that had never been seen before, or that would never be seen again, but that moment felt special, as corny as it sounds. None of us said a word. We just stared.
I find that each week that passes I am more disconnected from my life in the states and becoming much more used to the culture down here, though I am not really in either place. I am floating somewhere in the middle.
This next week marks our last in the upper Amazon, and we leave to rejoin civilization once more. I have had this idea to make a video and put it on the blog to show you all what our lives have been like for the past month. Perhaps I will get to that this week so keep your eyes open for that on the blog next weekend. Everyday is an adventure and I hope it continues to be that way. The world has so many sights, sounds, smells, and tastes (armadillo?) to offer that one lifetime doesn´t seem to be enough. Books and photos only do so much so go out and see what this planet can show you!
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