As I write this I am sitting on my
bed drinking what basically amounts to liquidy apple sauce and eating crackers.
That would be because my host-mom is an amazing person and knows how to take
care of a poor soul who has been the victim of food poisoning. That’s right. Our first extended holiday trip
was hit by a good deal of upset stomachs on the ride home yesterday. Six of us
threw up (me included, multiple times each) and there were a handful of others
who didn’t feel very good. But we lived through it all and made it home (with a
trip to the hospital for some IV’s on the way), and we will be ready to tackle
the amazon tomorrow, instead of today.
Besides the trip home though, I had
a blast on the coast. Even the long trip there was enjoyable in its own way. I
finally remembered to bring my iPod, so I had something to listen to. I had an
interesting experience as we were passing through each of the small towns as
well, just looking out the window and seeing all the people as we passed by.
For them, our entire existence in our bus was basically as meaningless as their
existence to us, and yet, each of them has cares and concerns and a whole life
apart from that moment where they saw me on the bus, and I saw them. I don’t
know if I’m actually conveying the feeling very well, but it was a powerful
feeling for me to see that there are so many people and so many different lives
out there that are so different and disconnected from my own. It’s not the
first time I’ve had that feeling, but definitely the strongest.
The first night on the coast, we
were introduced to the station and told that we wouldn’t be going to the beach
because it would be getting dark soon. Well. That wasn’t going to stop US. So
we headed out from the station through the shrimp farms until we found a bit of
beach. It was nice to be able to just walk out into the water (which was warm,
even though it’s the ocean) and watch the sun go down. Granted, the sun was
behind a bunch of clouds, but the clouds turned a pretty pink color.
The next day we got up bright and
early to go hiking through the forest. We were introduced to all sorts of
different jungle plants and Alaina and I even saw a black snake! (I tried to
get his picture, but it turned out all blurry.) The part we were walking
through was a shade cacao plantation. Sorta. There were cacao (chocolate) trees
in the forest and we picked a couple and ate the coating around the coco beans.
It doesn’t taste anything like chocolate even though it’s really good, and the
coco beans themselves are really bitter. We came out on the other side of the
forest to an oil palm plantation that was NOT being shade grown. That was an
opportunity to hear all about jungle farming practices and what should be done
and what shouldn’t. We stopped in town in the middle of our walk, looking at
all of the houses of the people there and watching a few town boys play with
toy cars in the dirt road. Walking back along the beach, we found a bunch of
shells and different creatures. First was a crab, then Maggie and I saw a
flounder, and then a bunch of us found a starfish. I was not ready to leave the
beach when we did, but the walk back through the mangroves around the shrimp
farms almost made up for it. We trekked back through the mud, among the trees,
and alongside big wet areas, mostly square, that contain shrimp. The people dig
shallow ponds, fill them with water from the ocean, stock them with shrimp, let
the shrimp grow, then drain the ponds and collect the shrimp. These farms are
great for getting shrimp, but they destroy the mangroves to make them, so they
are both a blessing and a curse to the community. There aren’t many ways to
make money in the area, so people will scrape by any way they can, and usually
in more ways than one.
Our next big activity for the day
was travelling over to the island to go clam digging. I have so much respect
for the people who dig clams for a living. They spend the entire day bent over digging
through bud with their hands looking for mud-colored clams. I only found one
that was any good the entire time we were digging, though I did find one shell
that lacked a clam and one clam that was too small to eat. Not only is the job
difficult, it can be dangerous. There are spiky fish, crabs, and eels that can
get you if you aren’t careful. Once we had returned to the town on the island,
(through deeper mud than we had been through the first time, tides do rise
after all), we cleaned off as best we could and migrated toward the local dance
hall. We were served ceviche (a type of acidy soup made with seafood) made from
our clams and a bunch of other ones that had been found by actual clam diggers.
Post-ceviche, we were given a marimba and dance demonstration which was really
interesting to watch, though I didn’t actually see much of it because I was
bogged down my children who wanted to take pictures with my camera. Regular old
pop music was blasted through the speakers after the party, and we all danced
with the locals. It was surprising how much the little kids could dance, and
how they were dancing. You think kids dancing at a high school prom is bad, you
should have seen the 9 and 10 year-olds we were dancing with. They know how to
get down and dirty a lot better than I do! Which could be some part of the
explanation for child pregnancies among the population, but more likely it all
comes from the same source. Whatever that may be.
The next day was mangrove day. We
all got in boats early in the morning and rode out deep into the mangroves
until we were back to solid land, got out of the boats, and went hiking around
looking for monkeys. We actually found one too! A lone howler monkey, probably
a male, sitting all by himself up in a tree. He was kinda cute, but also kinda
far away, so he was difficult to see clearly. After monkey-hunting, we rode out
to a different island and ate breakfast, before heading back into the
mangroves. We learned all about the different types of mangroves that exist in
Ecuador and were then given permission to go climb them. I think climbing up
mangrove roots was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip.
From there, we finally got to eat
lunch and explore the beach! (This is the coast after all.) A bunch of us took
the opportunity to jump in the waves, which was extremely enjoyable until I got
stung by a jellyfish. He was just a little guy, so the sting went away after a
while, but he really didn’t HAVE to sting me in the first place. We picked up a
bunch of shells and got to ride in tricimotos (I think it translates to
rickshaw in English) down the beach to more cool places where we could see
crabs and explore in the sand. All in all, I think we all had a good time on la
playa (the beach) and even enjoyed the shrimp dinner we had until it came back
to bite us all the next day.
Now I’m all packed up and ready to
go to the Oriente tomorrow morning. I hope this trip has a happier ending!
Also, pictures are already up! Go
check ‘em out here!
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