I have felt that this past month has been a hectic month so I've been trying to count my blessings every night before I go to sleep so that I can appreciated every moment that I have here. I think that this is especially important since I have the opportunities to go to some amazing places, including last week's trip to the Amazon.
Even though I wasn't wearing any green on St. Patrick's Day I did leave dry Cusco for the green, hot and humid Puerto Maldonado, the capital of Madre de Dios, the Peruvian Amazon. We had a really long delay because of the rains that are occurring in the Lima and Northern Peru. When we got to Puerto Maldonado we rested until our five o'clock lecture.
On Saturday morning we had a lecture and then went to the FENAMAD headquarters (an organization that defends the rights of indigenous groups in Madre de Dios). While there we got to meet the president of all the indigenous groups in Mare de Dios. Experiences like this make me feel like I picked the right study abroad program. I know that if I directly enrolled into a Peruvian university I would just be another tourist without any cool connections. Speaking of which that afternoon we had one of my favorite lectures of the semester, on none other than bilingual education. Our lecturer was actually an advisor in the Peruvian Ministry of Education and the main motivator for EIB (the bilingual education program, which includes 43 different dialects). Education has always gotten me psyched so one could imagine how glowing I was leaving our classroom.
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| An Amazonian Sunset |
Sunday we took a 2.5 hour boat ride to Palma Real, a community of 500 indigenous people. We met with the president of the community, which was an interesting experience. To meet him we went to to the community house and were surrounded by almost all of the women and children in the community (was a bit hard to hear the president speak because children were running around and screaming). After our meeting we learned how to make arrows, clothes made out of tree trunks (can't remember what it's called) and ayamari (grass roof weaving).
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| Me learning how to do ayamari |
The highlight of the whole experience was playing with children from the community. I love kids but I think sometimes they're a reflection of the community. Throughout my week I was so impressed by by how the children could still keep themselves entertained with whatever they had, like making structures out of leaves and rocks and pretending tables were cars. I could also see the effects of globalization amongst them. Were really interested in wearing our baseball hats and sunglasses.
Monday we walked 45 minutes on a muddy trail (was the perfect dose of adventure for me) to Lago Sandoval. When we got their we took two canoes and went around the perimeter to see wildlife, like howler monkeys.
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| Lago Sandoval- we went swimming later! It was that hot! |
Tuesday we went to Infierno where we first met with the president and then went to the elementary school where we paired up with students and drew aspects of our American and Peruvian lives (also played a pretty epic game of soccer). In the afternoon we did more activities, where we learned how to make jewelry, fans, and baskets.The next two nights we stayed in a cool, minimalist nature lodge, about a 20 minute walk from Infierno.
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| Basket weaving |
Wednesday morning we divided up into four groups and went to different chakras, or plots of farming land. My group picked rice with a couple for three hours, which was probably one of the hardest things that I have done (lots of bugs and humidity. IDK I thought I was a lot more rugged but whatever!). In the evening we went on crocodile tour (saw two, one the size of a hand and the other that was six feet long), which was pretty cool, but we got stuck on a rock!
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| Rice on rice on rice |
Thursday morning we went to a shamanic center and learned all about the different types of herbal plants. Something interesting that we learned was that the center has become somewhat of a resort so that it can compete with other foreign tourist companies with lodges in the area.
Overall, despite the heat, bugs, and other factors I had to keep on telling myself to make myself the best of my experience in the Amazon because lord knows if I have no idea when I'll be able to go back!
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