Its been about 5 weeks that I have been in the jungle and its going farely well. A few weeks ago I spent some time at a different community called Irsham. This community is the most isolated that I have been to, the only way of accessing this village is a 3 hour hike deep into the jungle. I made the trek with a couple other volunteers from the Arutam station and a guide and it was going pretty well except for the fact that an hour into the hike it started to rain terrentially. All of our clothes were just completely soaked head to toe as we were cought in this fierce storm and there was no way to go back because we have already gone so far. Not to mention we had our huuge backpacks on at the time also. Nevertheless we made it to Irsham and settled in, met the tribe which we were greeted with huuge smiles, ate dinner and slept. Irsham is a really cool place because its pretty much just a chief and his family of about 6 daughters and one 18 year old son and wife, and they are pretty much almost completely self sufficient from the land they live on it was a really cool experience to be there. As for the work the next few days it was extremely tough and rigorous but this station definetly was in need of volunteers the most and i was more than happy to help. Later on in the week we were taken on a trek even deeper into the Amazon for about 3 hours, found a nice spot, and set up a camp to sleep in the middle of the jungle for the night. We collected wood and leaves and made a shelter for us to sleep in for the night. Building a shelter and collecting food and sleeping in a random spot in the middle of the jungle was definetly an experience I will never forget. For 3 straight meals all we had to eat out there were snails and plantains and water. During this camping excursion the 18 year old son went out hunting and cought a monkey which we later brought back to the hut and cooked up and ate for breakfast.
After spending some time in Irsham I returned back to Arutam for a week just to relax and take it easy for a bit because Arutam is the most comfortable of the stations with facilities like showers and toilets and a little better food. Then I headed back to the Chinimp tuna community to spend another week there. It was cool to see all the villagers there again and they were really happy to see me again. I did some pretty cool stuff there like hunting for ants, where we go out at 4 in the morning with these huuge torches and light them next to these ant hills and then all these giant queen and king ants with wings fly out towards the fire and we collect them for food later. It was going pretty well but then i felt myself getting bit all over and looked down, only to see that i was completly covered with ants head to toe getting bit all over, in my shirt, my pants, everywhere. But i delt with it and we got plenty of ants. Ants were then served with almost every single meal that week, and i learned to like them. Or at least deal with it.
Upon departure i was given a bunch of gifts from the family like some pretty cool bracelets, a necklace, a sachel bag, and some pottery. As for the 2 and a half weeks I have left I think I might just stay at the Arutam station but we will see. Thank you for reading and ill try and post more soon.
- Justen
Friday, September 26, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Chinimp Tuna
This past week I have been volunteering in a different community in the Amazon called chinimp tuna. This tribe is a little deeper into the Amazon than the last community i was at and the scenery is alot more beautiful. It is surrounded by different rivers and streams that we can bathe and go swimming in. I feel alot more invlovled with the people here and they included us in all the events that are happening and invite us to eat their traditional food with them such as larvae and ants. Although most of the time they feed us quite nice with chicken, pork, fish or rice.
The first day we arrived was a bit of a chaotic one because we happened to arrive on the sae day that a huge part was going on, and almost every single person there was completley hammered out of their minds. ome of them have been drunk since the morning the day before. Every 5 minutes I had to deal with these people coming up to me and asking me the same questions like a hundred times. They also bring this traditional drink around called Chicha which is made from the women of the tribe who chew this plant and spit it back into a bucket and this drink is essentially their spit in a cup that you drink. I have tried it a few times and cannot deal with it anymore. Every time is comes my way i always get up and walk away before it reaches me or I make up an excuse so that I wouldnt have to drink it.
Later on in the week we all had the opportunity to participate in the daily activities that they do such as collecting fruits and plaintains from the jungle or go spear fishing with them in a nearby river where I acually caught 2 fish which we later had for dinner. We were also taken on a pretty sweet hike deep into the jungle to explore a waterfall in which the community is named after. For the weekend we were taken to a pretty big party deep in the jungle at a locals house where there was a huge celebration involving member of the government to celebrate a new bridge that had been built there to help connect nearby villages. Before the bridge they had to swim or take a small raft across. In honour of the bridge being built that killed a pig and cooked it for dinner.
All in all this week has been very enjoyable for me and I feel alot more appreciated and welcomed here than at the community before. They even made us all gifts like bracelets and necklaces made from seeds from the jungle as a token of appreciation. As for this next week I am going even deeper into the Amazon to stay a week in a community. This community will be the most remote village I will be staying with on this trip. I have heard people telling me that most of the people there have not even seen a car in their life. After that I think I will be returning to this community I was just at for a little while longer. Thank you for reading and I will post again next weekend when I go back into town.
- Justen
The first day we arrived was a bit of a chaotic one because we happened to arrive on the sae day that a huge part was going on, and almost every single person there was completley hammered out of their minds. ome of them have been drunk since the morning the day before. Every 5 minutes I had to deal with these people coming up to me and asking me the same questions like a hundred times. They also bring this traditional drink around called Chicha which is made from the women of the tribe who chew this plant and spit it back into a bucket and this drink is essentially their spit in a cup that you drink. I have tried it a few times and cannot deal with it anymore. Every time is comes my way i always get up and walk away before it reaches me or I make up an excuse so that I wouldnt have to drink it.
Later on in the week we all had the opportunity to participate in the daily activities that they do such as collecting fruits and plaintains from the jungle or go spear fishing with them in a nearby river where I acually caught 2 fish which we later had for dinner. We were also taken on a pretty sweet hike deep into the jungle to explore a waterfall in which the community is named after. For the weekend we were taken to a pretty big party deep in the jungle at a locals house where there was a huge celebration involving member of the government to celebrate a new bridge that had been built there to help connect nearby villages. Before the bridge they had to swim or take a small raft across. In honour of the bridge being built that killed a pig and cooked it for dinner.
All in all this week has been very enjoyable for me and I feel alot more appreciated and welcomed here than at the community before. They even made us all gifts like bracelets and necklaces made from seeds from the jungle as a token of appreciation. As for this next week I am going even deeper into the Amazon to stay a week in a community. This community will be the most remote village I will be staying with on this trip. I have heard people telling me that most of the people there have not even seen a car in their life. After that I think I will be returning to this community I was just at for a little while longer. Thank you for reading and I will post again next weekend when I go back into town.
- Justen
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