Cleansing Souls, the Ecuadorian Football Experience, and the Elusive Sloth

I know I said I would try to write more often and I don't seem to have done that. Hopefully I can make up for it now. It's about 8:00 pm and I have no obligations until 6:00 am tomorrow. Hopefully it won't take that long to update things. I will have pictures up when I get to Quito on Friday or Saturday. I have so much to share. It will be easier just to post pictures and tell about the adventures associated with them. Plus, I'll have a real keyboardcin Quito which will make typing easier. Of course, looking over my last post, I don't know if that helps my typing. I found so many errors but didn't take the time to correct them. I figure anyone who reads it will get the point.

Today was fun! A small group of us went over to Mondana to play football with the local students, a traditional for Sundays here. I really don't think I'd ever really played too much football (unless you count my son's soccer practice last year). However, here I've done it several times and really enjoyed it. Of course you put a few "gringos" up against a few 15-18 year-old Ecuadorian boys (some much younger and a few older) and you get quite the comedy! It's actually a very fun-spirited match and we usually get at least one Ecuadorian on our team, usually Robert, the student that joined us for a while at the beginning of the expedition (I'll tell you more about Robert later - he's a remarkable person!). However, today we got his brother who was almost just as good. It was fun to watch them go against each other. They all are so good! Even the little seven-year-olds playing barefoot make us look bad. Brittany (an EM from Canada)) is really good. We actually have several good players, me not being one of them. I have had a few miraculous plays though. But we're all having fun which is the point. The field is right along the edge of the Napo, but about seven feet above it. The ball has a bad habit of getting kicked over the edge and going straight into the strong currents of the river. It's crucial to the game that the ball be retrieved as quickly as possible, meaning whoever is closest must jump down to the banks below and get the ball before it gets swept away. I was one of the lucky ones today. There is no time to doddle so I went in, shoes and all! But, I saved the ball! I was realitivelt lucky though, i only got my shoes and pant legs wet up to about the knee. The last time we played, Conor (another EM from Canada) jumped in, got drenched from head to toe, AND nearly got swept away himself, the current being so strong that it took a lot of effort to get out! We got a good laugh out of it. Another challenge we face on the field are the chicks. There are chickens running around everywhere and many have chicks. The little guys seem to want to play with us. Of course, that's not possible. I always fear we're going to trample them. So, we just shoo them away or pick them up and place them somewhere safe.

Yesterday we had an exceptional cultural experience! We took a trip to see the cuerandero (I might have mispelled that). He's the village medicine man. He cleansed our bodies of evil spirits. It was a very relaxing experience. It involved a lot of smoke being blown on us and leaves flapping around. The description really does not do it justice. It was actually very mind-opening. After we each had the ritual performaned on us individually, we went to a HUGE kapok tree. I can't wait to share that picture! The whole group is inside the rim of one of the buttresses! I hope I stated that correctly. Then we got to swing from some of the vines hanging from it! My camera decided to die at that moment but Flo (an EM from France) took a picture of me swinging! Very exciting stuff in my personal opinion! It's almost magical to get to experience all of the things I've been teaching my students about for years, things I've been dreaming about for the majority of my life! I can't thank Fund For Teachers enough for this experience. I still can't believe I'm here! Of course, I have less than a week here and I'm actually trying to figure out a way to get back here next summer, if not sooner. The only reason I want to get home is to be with my family, especially Royce and Joey. Of course I'm totally missing my husband, too. I'm seriously ready to pack everyone up and move here. I would give up most everything at home to come live here, doing things like I'm doing here now - living in the way that I am now (no electricity or hotwater, very few of the comforts of modern life, etc.). I knew I'd like it here but I had no idea I'd fall so deeply in love with it. I just want to see everything there is to see and five weeks just isn't enough time. I actually don't think there could ever be enough time to see it all. It's always changing and if you look just a little bit closer, there's something else hiding there. When we're out doing mist netting or some other thing, I've constantly got my binoculars out, looking into the tree tops, just looking. For what, I don't really know. Everything, I guess! I just don't want to miss anything!

We actually saw a sloth the other day! I asked about them our first week and was told it was nearly impossible to see them, only one expedition before us had seen one and that was because they had a guide visiting the reserve (GVI's camp here is the field station of the Yachana Reserve) and took a group out for a night walk. Apparently he spotted some flowers from the canopy on the ground, a sign of sloth activity, and called the sloth. After a bit, he emerged from the canopy. So, that was a very rare treat. Well, we had one of the students from the high school, Juanaro (probably mispelled), visiting and he spotted it in a tree. We got lots of pictures so I will share them soon!

We also got to see our first puma! It was actually pretty terrifying. Conor was standing there just looking for frogs and suddenly this huge cat pounced on him. They say they can minimize the scarring but his left eye might not regain full use. Just kidding! We haven't seen a puma and Conor is 100% intact. He just wanted me to write that for his parents. It seems as though they found my blog while searching the web for info on GVI. So to Conor's parents, I offer my apologies, from one parent to another, in giving you what I am sure was quite a fright for a second there. I am actually excited that you were able to find this and us it as an information source for your son's life. Conor is keeping us all amused with his extraordinary storytelling skills and life experiences. I'll be sure to include pictures of him when I finally get the means to do so. I also promise never to write false information about him again!

Well, I have literally been tapping away on this miniscule keyboard for an hour and a half now. I need to get to bed soon so I will end this entry. Ooohhhh, I just realized I might be able to add photos as early as Thursday when we arrive in Tena. Ick, that just reminds me of how fast time is flying by and my adventure is ending. So sad! Oh well, I have done and seen more in this past month than I have in years. This has been a super amazing time and I can't wait to elaborate more and share photos. But for now, I'm going to bed. Goodnight!