Here it is... finally, the final chapter of The Amazon trip. Its only been about a week and a half since I've moved on from there, but from where I'm standing that seems like a very long time so it's good to get it all down before it fades. I don't tend to think about my past all that much anymore because I'm to busy enjoying what I'm doing now! I hope that you got something out of this chapter of my adventure; even it was just the enjoyment of reading about it. If you’re still reading this third one then I'm guessing you enjoyed the other two somewhat. Well anyway... here's the final installment.
After my adventure in the weekend I was excited about the arrival of the second week. I had now become quite comfortable with the fact that I could never really know what my next experience was going to be. My Spanish had improved slightly, but was still a very long way off being anywhere near conversational. I also felt a lot more settled into things, and the humidity didn't seem to suck the energy out of me as much now. As I approached the school for my first class on the week, I had a lot more confidence, knowing that I at least had a wee bit of experience in this now.
As I moved closer towards the school, I noticed that all the children were running around outside and the door was looked. It was unusual for Freddie not to be there by this stage, so I asked someone where he was, and then found that he was out of the community, and wouldn't be back for a couple of days. My first reaction was "sweet! a day off," but then I quickly remembered that I'm here to volunteer my services, so I offered to take the class by myself.
I wasn't able to use the school, so I went over to another building, and then found that the older children didn't have their teacher either. I'd only prepared for teaching three students, so I had no idea how I would teach both the young children, (los ninos), and the older, intermediate aged children (los jovenes). By the time I did some desperate brainstorming, and finally got organized, most of the children had run off to do their own thing, so I only had a smaller class anyway.
Most of the students were new to me, so I was able to re-use many of the things that I taught in the previous week, and I had their attention for about fifteen minutes, then they must have remembered that I was the fill in teacher, and they decided that they could now take control and do what they wanted. I didn't really resist them, and for the most part I let them do what they wanted. I hardly had the vocabulary to start yelling out orders at them, but there were always a couple that did want to learn, so I guess it worked out to be a good thing for them. When I returned for the second session I decided to make it a bit more music orientated, but it seemed that two hours was well past their attention threshold, and even an attempted musical sing along ended up turning into "lets so how many hands we can put all over Rob's guitar while he's trying to sing a song."
My lessons continued to be random surprise for me throughout my stay. I could never prepare for them because the number of students I taught each day was always changing, so I had to turn up everyday without any expectations, and I had to improvise my lessons quite often, but the classroom environment was the best opportunity for me to improve my Spanish, so even though it was very hard work at times, I defiantly enjoyed the challenge. After spending about a week and a half in the community, I realized that I hadn't really seen much of the forest around the community. One particular day was very sunny and seemed like an ideal opportunity, so I decided to go and ask Valerio about some advice on where to go for a good walk.
As I walked up to Valerio and his family, they were all doing renovations on the house. He was building what looked like some sort of deck, and everyone else was helping out digging holes and carrying dirt around. He greeted me, and then I went about figuring out in my mind how to ask him about the walk. All I was able to say was "I want to walk." He gave me this really confused look, and his whole family was also standing there trying to figure out what I meant. I repeated it and did a few hand gestures, then he said something to his family in Kichwa. A few moments later he explained to me that a man from the community named Francisco would take me on a guided walk around the surrounding forest of the community, and that we would all meet at my cabin. I walked back to my cabin, feeling glad that I'd pushed myself out of my comfort zone, wondering where abouts we would be going for this walk.
A few minutes later Francisco and a few children arrived at my cabin. I got along very well with him from the first moment we met. He seemed to be the one person in the community that I could understand, and also speak to without to much effort. I think this was very much due to his warm sense of humor, and also the fact that during our conversations, he would always ask me to tell him things in English. I grabbed my camera, and we were on our way.
As we started off on our way, he explained to me that we will be going on a circuit. Starting off at my cabin, we would work our way towards this mountain, walk over & around, and arrive back at the same point. I was interested when he mentioned a mountain, because from where I was standing I couldn't really see any mountains at all. I suspected that his concept of a mountain was slightly different to mine. He lead the walk with a machete, slashing a path as we went along. I finally felt like I was having a real jungle experience, going off the beaten track a wee bit to make our own route.
Every few meters, he would stop and explain to me about all the medicinal plants that we came across. It seems that here they have a remedy for everything. I was never able to remember plant names, or the specific uses of them, but when I didn't understand, I often got the idea from his hand gestures what they were used for. He also showed me seeds which seemed to be used for everything, from growing, to eating, to making hand crafts. As we got deeper into the bush, we came across a tree which had gigantic vines hanging down from it, growing back into the ground. Francisco went up to it and tugged on it with all his strength. After inspecting the strength, he sliced it off from the bottom and looked at me with a big grin on his face.
At first I was thinking "what the hell is this guy doing," but then he said "ok, who wants to go first?" One of the girls volunteered, running over and grabbing hold of the vine. She took it back as far as she could, then ran forward, propelling herself into the air, bursting out with laughter as she went along. We all lined up and took turns ridding on Francisco’s improvised jungle swing. It was yet another example to me of the simple pleasures that they share here. I felt like I was enjoying this carefree expression that I hadn't felt since I was a young child.
After our brief swing stop, we carried on towards the "mountain." When we arrived at the top, I probably would have used a different word to describe it... maybe "hill", or "hump." He proudly pointed out all the different areas that we could see. He was very passionate about his community, explaining all the areas he had traveled to around the area. From here he encouraged me to take a photo. Even though the view was blocked by trees, I felt he had taken me here especially for the photo, so I took a couple anyway.
After a couple of hours walking, swinging, and learning about plants, we were back at my cabin where we started from. It was one of my highlights so far, and I was glad that I'd gone and asked about it. After hanging out with Francisco for a wee bit longer, I lay down in the hammock for a wee while to catch my energy back. It had been one of the hottest days here so far, and the humidity seemed to be that much more intense.
The remaining days of the community seemed to be over before I knew it. I was enjoying my stay there, but at the same time, I was looking forward to some very basic things, like being able to express myself fully again. I felt that I had learnt all the Spanish I could, I now needed some English assistance to get me through to my next stage. The day before I left, Jacobo arrived in the community to show me around a wee bit more, and to host to going away party that night.
It was a great relief to have Jacobo here. He often tried to practice his English with me, so I always felt like he was equally benefiting by being around me, and he was very tolerant with my Spanish attempts. He arrived at lunch time and that afternoon took me on a walk, showing me an exhibit of the traditional traps that they still use to this day. He also showed me more medicinal plants and demonstrated some interesting bird calls.
When we were done, we went to the community, and everyone was gathered to say goodbye to me. We played soccer, ate tasty fruits, and told jokes (of course I wasn't participating in the later, although I was still able to relate to their humor a wee bit through their body language.) By the end of the soccer game I was covered from head to toe in mud, but it was the first time that I'd really hung out with these guys and felt like I was socially participating, and that I was part of the community. After the soccer, I was told that at eight o'clock there would be a big shared meal, and to come ready to dance. I walked back to my cabin, excited about what was in store for me that night.
As I awaited eight o'clock, I sat there wondering what I will perform for them. After tossing up a few different ideas, I decided I would play some originals, some blues, and at least one song from New Zealand to give them a taste of "Kiwiana." When I arrived back, everyone was sitting around a couple of big tables, and I had my first real experience of a social gathering in this environment. It was the experience that I had been wanting since I arrived here, and it was a great way to finish off my stay here.
After the meal Jacobo did a speech, updating the community on news, and future volunteers that were going to be arriving. Afterwards the tables were cleared, the jungle juice was out, and the dancing shoes were on. All night they passed around this jug of liquor, which they boiled on the stove first, then served very hot. It tasted similar to port, but wasn't quite as strong flavor, and as the night went on, it seemed to get stronger... and stronger, and they never seemed to run out!
The festive part of the evening started with a performance of the local music from the community. It was based on four percussion instruments playing different rhythms, and monotone, chanting style vocals over top. They also got the girls involved, doing set dances for each song. After about two songs, I was asked to get up and dance; I gladly took the chance and jumped up. Everyone seemed to love dancing, and had no trouble finding a groove, despite to missing baseline.
After warming up my dancing shoes, it was time to warm up my vocal cords. I knew I would be performing, but what I didn't know was that I would have to participate in their culture as part of my performance. As they called me up, they told me to take off my clothes and put on the traditional outfit. I decided that I was going to experience this culture to the fullest extend I could, so I put on my new outfit, and walked out looking like an albino Kichwa.
As I grabbed my guitar for my first gig in South America, I made use of this unique opportunity, and decided to play a few originals. They had a great appreciation for my music, and asked if I could play something they can dance to. I played a medley of a few blues shuffles, and sure enough I had a few fans on the dance floor. They seemed to be able to find the groove alright, even though it was the first time they'd heard a shuffle. I finished off by playing "What I Got" by Sublime, and turned it into a big jam. They ended up chanting back to me like a call & response sort of thing. Even though they were chanting back something completely different to what I was singing, it was great fun to get their participation in some way.
After the performance, it was more drinking, more sharing stories, and for me it was just enjoying this unique social atmosphere. I was glad that I got to experience this vibe before I left. After one last night cap, I got up and headed back on the walk to my cabin. As soon as I stood up I realized I'd had a few more than I intended, and I quickly remembered that on the way to my cabin I have to tip toe across a log. I was a bit nervous, but after a few false starts, I managed to get across and stay dry, making it back to my cabin to enjoy my final nights sleep before I headed off.
The day of my departure was a contrast to the day of my arrival. Instead of being torrential rain, it was clear blue sky, and very hot. As we left, a man offered to take my pack again. This time I took him up on the offer, I was happy just to carry my guitar in this heat. I walked through the jungle one last time, wondering if I will ever return back here in the future. When we got to the end of the walk, I stood into the canoe feeling glad I'd given myself this opportunity, but also feeling relieved that the next stage of my journey was on the horizon.
This experience taught me so much about myself, and has forced me to look at and appreciate some of the most simple and fundamental things. It was the first time that I'd been forced to accept things as they are, which was very challenging and frustrating at times. But through that, my perception has widened, my heart has grown, and my curiosity has opened. I had no idea what to expect there, and I have no idea what to expect from now on, but I don't really care. There is nothing more liberating that the feeling of being free from expectations!
Well there it is. I think I'm going to chill out with the blogs for a few weeks. I'm staying in a great little town in the mountains called Banos for a wee while now. I will continue with posts, but they won't be very long, more like little updates on what I'm up to.
Catcha soon
Rob
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