1 month down, 23 to go! Life is continuing to be very tranquilo and entertaining here in the Amazon. My American amigo Charles left a few weeks ago so I´ve been at a lack of English. The fam all went to Karaoke for his despedida. Not much going on here, we´ve had volunteers from Denmark and France along with a steady flow of toursits and school groups. My computer is back to life (minus 8 years of pictures, work, etc.). It will be easier to work down here once I have it back. Last night, my neighbor found an equis (possibly the deadliest snake here) in his yard, so they poured gas on him and burned him in the middle of the road. The tarantula routinely crawls down my wall. We bought chickens last week to raise. The pet snake has successfully escaped his cage the last three times they have put him in there...strange, all my recent happenings involve animals. Anyways, I´m sure alot of you are wondering what exactly it is that I am doing here. My new best friends are 5 girls under the age of 12. We go down the water slide (yes, I live next to a tourist complex with a pool, water slide, and caves), play in the pool and bathe in the river together. They also convinced me to teach them English. The Fundacion I work with is comprised of 1 big family. The two grandparents have eight kids who in turn are married and there are eight grandkids running around. So, there is rarely a dull moment here at the caves. When I can get into town, I do a little marketing for the foundation and will be developing a website here soon. The foundation is also in the process of building volunteer housing (thanks to Charles´designs) so that will also bring in more volunteers. We have family vs. family basketball games (which I only have an advantage in because I´m tall. There is no skill involved.) I´ve also learned to successfully kill a papaya with a blowgun and trekked through the Amazon in my yellow rubber boots. Right now we are in the ´rainy season´here in the rainforest. When it raines the caves become very dangerous and the whole complex floods. Kinda cool to see. Anyways, life is pretty chill. These first three months are meant for integration and evaluating the community´s needs. When I move into my own house (there´s a scary thought) in August, my projects will expand and by then I´ll know the caves well enough to be a guide, so start planning your next vacay to the Amazon! [photos: Jamie and I in Quito during Swear in week, Tena cluster after swear in, beautiful waterfall in the middle of the Amazon, me with Daicy and her friend on our jungle trek]
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