jungle fun

The jungle was AWESOME! I felt like I was in a movie the whole time because the scenery was so beautiful. Now if I could just do something about the humidity and the bugs, I think it would be PERFECT. Here´s the scoop on what we did:

We left Monday morning from the Alston at 9am. We stopped at some hot springs on our long drive. I think I could have stayed there ALL day. Literally. They are heated naturally by volcanoes and Faba said the origin is 125 degrees F. INTENSE. Don´t worry, the pools weren´t that hot. Apparently some girl a few years back stayed in the hot pool too long and because these hotsprings are at 10,000 feet or so, they cause low blood pressure and she fainted! We were actually smart and followed directions, ie went in the freezing cold pool every ten minutes or so... I cheated a bit. I only stuck my feet in, but that counts, doesn´t it? We had DELICIOUS pb&j sandwhiches for lunch with apples and oranges... yum yum! and then headed back on the road.
The first night at Aliñahui (one of the lodges we stayed in) was the rainiest. It DOWNPOURED. It was sort of cool to have the thunder and lightning because we just sat around and chatted while lying in hammocks. Not too hard of a life. Plus the rain got rid of the millions of bugs... at least for a little while.
Tuesday morning rolled around and after... GETTING TO SERVE OURSELVES (this is big news because normally we don´t get to and they give us mounds of rice)... we headed to Arajuno Jungle Lodge via motorized canoes to drop our stuff. Then we went to a small community called Santa Bárbara to spend time with the community. I guess we were supposed to teach the kids math, but we were given colored pencils and packets with pictures of numbers so we all told the kids to color. They loved it though haha. Then, lets just imagine 85 degrees F and probably 90% humidity shall we, now lets spend three hours painting in it. AHH. We painted the outside of the school and the school desks and although it was one of the sweatiest and most dehydrated moments of my life, it was well well worth it. They school looked GREAT (what can I say, apparently we are amazing painters) and the desks will be in shape for at least a few years. The community had recently been given sets of plates, cups, bowls, and silverware, and Tom, the owner of the Arajuno Jungle Lodge, had recently given them a class on sanitizing things and how to serve food to tourists. We had Talapia (I think that´s how you spell it... it´s a kind of fish) some cabbage salad and yuca and it was DELICIOUS. And becuase there were full ribcages of bones in the fish, it forced me to slow down (mom...don´t try giving me fish with that many bones at home. it won´t work haha). Afterwards, we went on a walk to see the community. We were supposed to play the kiddos in soccer (they probably would have kicked our behinds MAJORLY) but we were all too exhausted so we went back to the Arajuno Jungle Lodge (Arajuno is the name of the river) and went swimming. Best feeling ever!
Tom, the owner, has a pet monkey named Mona. She is only one and a half years old and she is AWESOME. She definitely reminds me of a two year old spoiled brat sometimse, but, she was still a monkey that we got to hold and play with. I´ll put up pics so you can see her. Tom´s place was really nice. He has four cabins and they seem like swiss family robinson. its great. Anyway we hung around his place for the afternoon and played scattagories at night. I can´t believe it, but i´d never played before!
Wednesday we had an incredible speaker come take us on a nature hike. He spoke about ahh the word is blanking my mind, subsistent farming?? but pretty much that we should learn to grow our own food and stop feeding the large national companies that hurt the world. It was a great talk and mom and dad, I think we need to plant more food. Or maybe at least buy local. Now I just sound like a ecuadorian-turned-hippy haha. But you should have heard his talk. It makes total sense.
Wednesday afternoon we were back at Aliñahui and went on a nature hike with another guy and then had an hour to spend solo in the jungle. Now, y´all know me and you probably think of me as a fairly outdoorsy person. Well, at least I think of myself as a fairly outdoorsy person. But, when I sat down in the jungle and there were bugs crawling all around me, I decided that sitting was just not going to work because the bugs, even with my 36% DEET bug repellent on, loved me. So (Mom, you´ll love this) I did YOGA. haha. It was great. A little difficult in non-stretchy jungle pants and big boots, but it worked.
Finally, on Friday we came back to the big city. I LOVED the Jungle. Audry is thinking about doing her ISP there and helping Tom start a medicinal garden, but I don´t think I could stand being that sweaty and sticky and buggy all the time (my hands stuck to my face from the humidity... yuck). I wish I could spend another month there because it´s AMAZING. If you get a chance, go to Tena, or just somewhere in the jungle.
I am now with my new family. The last night in the jungle I caught the stomach virus that 6 or 7 other people in the group had, but I am now better! My mom´s name is Olga, and my sister´s name is Carolina. She is 17 but is turning 18 on, get this, OCTOBER 13th!!! How random is it that we have the SAME birthday! I like her a lot. Last night, Olga, Carolina, her boyfriend Daniel, and Daniel´s mom and I went to see a comedian but the tickets were sold out so instead we went to the cine and saw Mr. Woodcock. Billy Bob Thornton was a great actor but the plot was just sad. Mom would have walked out, no doubt. So now I´m at my host family´s. I guess my dad, Tito, works in Guayaquil and rarely comes home. I dunno what´s up with that but I like having an all-girl house.

Lastly, Aunt Jane: THANKS for the facebook happy birthday! I LOVED IT! And my friends think it´s great that you have facebook haha.

I miss you all and hope all is well at home, even with the horrible financial stuff going on. Yuck. Ooh to end on good news, Faba has lots of connections and he´s getting the group tickets to the Ecuador vs. Chile soccer game on October 12th. It´s a huge huge game. NOT A BAD BIRTHDAY PRESENT, EH?? SO STOKED!