Life in the Amazon

My experience in the Amazon so far has been filled with mixed feelings that I dont know how to describe. It isn´t what i expected but that doesn´t mean a bad thing, only different. There is a weid and awkward barrier between the volunteers and the villagers that I am trying my best to break. I am going to talk more to them and maybe even see if they would take me out to explore deeper into the amazon and possibly even out into a canoe on a river. I have done some exploring on my own and with a couple others to some amazing lookout points which have some indescribable views over a cliff into as far as you can possibly see into the Amazon rainforest. There is a natural labyrinth nearby that I have heard talks about and can´t wait to find and explore.

The living conditions are far better from what I expected. Two other girls and myself share our own house which is situated high up on a hill nearby the village which overlooks the amazon. I have my own bedroom complete with a huge bed and balcony with views of an amazing volcanoe that sits right in the middle of the rainforest. In our house we have our own oven, fridge, toilet, shower and even a tv and dvd player, although none of the dvds are in english. Our house belongs to a guy by the name of Soren who lives here with his wife who is the doughter of the chief here. From what I hear they are away until possibly december. So for now we get to stay in his house. But next week I am planning on heading to a different community that is alot more remote and deeper into the Amazon with alot less facilities. The shower is a nearby river and the bathroom is a hole in the ground from what I hear.

This entry is being written in different sections and it has been almost a week since I have written the above comments on a piece of paper in my room.

The barrier between us and the villagers is becoming faded less and less. I have been hanging out and talking with them more and more and it is passed that weird awkward stage. They call myself Jiru which means machine in Shuar, because I explained to them That I am actually a robot that doesn´t require sleep or food. Thus, Jiru is my new Shuar name. We have been on some cool hikes and explored a nearby river for swimming which is beautiful. On another note, there has been some shady events going on in the village and a girl got all of her money stolen from her and I have gotten my ipod stolen. We are all gonna talk with the chief soon and see if we can get to the bottom of this. When I first arrived i was seriously questioning my decision to stay here for 8 weeks, and up until today I felt really confident in my decision to be here for 2 months, but if shit like this keeps going on unnoticed I think I am going to have to leave early and find somehwere else to stay for 2 months before I leave for Peru. I will keep this updated soon and thanks alot for reading.

- Jiru

Quito, Ecuador

After I arrived into Quito Ecuadori made my way to the hostel which is in this part of town thats called the old town and is pretty wild with cobblestone streets and old colonial buildings. Oncw i got to the hostel i met a lot of cool people and it turns out that a girl from Australia named Amanda is doing the exact same volunteer thing in the Amazon and is heading there the same time as me so we chatted and quickly became friends. The next morning i forgot to tell the hostel that i was going to be staying another night and it turned out that they were completely booked and i was forced to leave and find another hostel. This exact same situation also faced Amanda and another pretty cool girl from England named Laura. Fortunatley we found a hostel only down the street and checked into there, this hostel we checked into in my opinion is actually really nice we have a private room with our own bathroom and shower and even a tv, and were paying a whopping $5 a night each. The only catch is that it is like completely deserted but we just hang out at the other hostel where all our other friends are and eat the food there and then sleep down the street in a nice quiet private dorm, it´s a pretty nice situation.

Amanda, Laura and myself spent the day in the new part of town which is like their downtown area and did some shopping and got some food, Amada and I made the decision to travel towards the Amazon on friday instead of thursday because it turns out that there is a misfits concert thursday night in Quito so we´re pretty stoked about that. After spending the day wandering around we made our way back to not our hostel but the original hostel we were at because thats where everyone hangs out to chill, we met up with a bunch of other people at the hostel and headed out for a night of clubbing in downtown Quito. We went to this club which had this event which was called girls night in which all girls get in for free and have free drinks before 10pm. It was kinda weird because we got there at about 930 and the club was just packed fully with girls and they did not let guys in until 10. So me and another guy i met from the states wondered around this strip in downtown Quito which was just jam packed with club after club, we found this cool little club that was in the basement of a building and was mostly packed with locals, so we hung there for a bit before making our way back to the original club we were planning on going to. At first it was kinda slow but by the time a few hours have passed the entire club was sooooo jam packed with people you could barely move and it was just a huge party. Altogether it was a pretty fun night.

As for today theres tons of stuff i have planned like visiting this super old cathedral which towers over Quito. Now I´m not the kinda cathedral or museam fan but the cool thing about this one is that you are allowed to climb to the very top on these gothic towers and up through all the clocks and bells and gizzards just like Quazzy modo. Once you reach the top which is hundreds of feet high you can go outside and stand on the edge of the building where there are no guard rails or anything, and you are faced with stunning views over Quito. After i check that out, me and a bunch of people from the hostel are gonna check out that misfits concert downtown, and then tommorow me and Amanda head for the Amazon.

Countdown to The Beginning

In about a week and a half I will be beginning my trip of travelling around South America for almost 4 months. Originally planning on being 3 months, my funds are more than I calculated they would be when I was planning this trip. Thus, I have decided to extend my stay down there, and give myself an opportunity to see and do more things. My trip includes 2 months in Ecuador, and 7 weeks travelling around Peru and Bolivia.

To begin my trip I am going to be living and working with an indigenous tribe located in the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador for 2 months. The tribe is called the Shuar, and at one point in time were the most feared and warlike tribe in the entire Amazon for their much feared practice of shrinking the heads of their foes which they call tzantzas. I have spent most of my time towards learning Spanish relentlessly and I feel completly confidant in my fluency. The Shuar tribe all speak fluent spanish but it is their second language. Their first language is Shuar. Although a lot has changed up until these recent years, they are faced with increasing pressure from logging companies to come in and destroy their land. the whole idea for them is to help them to develope their community and create a source of income without having to resort to selling their land and timber. this includes initiatives such as creating tourism, making crafts for which they can sell in the markets, or raising cattle or fish for which they can substitute their diet. Some of the activities that I will be doing are building trails with machetes in the Amazon, teaching English in their village school, farming, or building structures. It is also a cultural exchange for which I will be living and eating with them in the Amazon and participating in their activities such as hunting with a blowgun or spear, and going on camping trips with them into the jungle.

These past few weeks have crept up on me very quickly and although I have dedicated most of my time towards researching and mapping out my entire trip. It is only today that it has finally dawned on me of what I am actually going to be doing. Something I have been picturing in my head and imagining for so long is finally going to become a reality. I am overwhelmed with feelings of anticipation, and I truly feel that I am ready for this. Being by myself and getting away from everyone and everything is something I think I need to experience and will be beneficial to me. I will try to update this as much as I will be able to, thank you for reading
-Justen