Happy 4th of July! Even though I'm not in 'Merica, I definitely feel like I am celebrating everything America stands for by exercising my freedom to travel and learn anything I want! I am especially grateful for that freedom today as I see what life is like in other countries and recognize how much I have to be thankful for.
As promised, today started off with a birding adventure on a boat! We had a great group that made for such a fun time. We went to a lake about 30 minutes away and saw some really pretty birds. Joan, a teacher in east Harlem, and I have become close. She's hilarious - we're pretty much on the same page. I'm quickly figuring out there are 2 types of teachers on this trip. Group A is so serious, every experience is a learning moment, and they are seasoned birders. Group B is here to make the most of this experience for us and our students, have a lot of fun and laugh all day (we're in the Amazon!) and our only experience with birds has been poop on the windshield. You can guess which group I'm in! There is a definite derived between the groups, but everyone will find a way and settle into their "nests" soon enough. (Bird humor - I'm learning from group A.)
After birding, we went to a workshop at the Peru Renu EthnoBotanical Gardens. This has been my fav experience so far! The native tribes in Peru have a shaman or medicine man, who locals go to for natural healing. There is a whole garden of plants he grows and uses right in the backyard. The new shaman is always the youngest boy (or girl if there are no boys) of the current shaman. At age 14, he goes into the jungle with his dad for 6 months and drinks a concoction twice a week that involves boiling a hallucinogenic root and mixing it with various leaves, including the coca plant. 😳 the father sees the boy's impurities come out in the hallucinations as he throws up. When the vomit is free of demons, he is pure and ready to become the next shaman, (This particular shaman is the youngest of 15 kids from 3 different moms - being shaman has it's perks I guess!) the shaman's friend, Julio, did a cleanse of the negative energy on all of us. That was a great story to hear, but I was way more interested in how you can use plants instead of chemicals for medicine. My fav was Dragon Blood! It's sap from a tree that's used for pretty much everything - respiratory, muscle aches, antiseptic, anti-aging... Then, Guillermo (the current shaman) gave us "tattoos" of our choice from a fruit, naturally, I got an Anaconda on my forearm! After, we talked about how to incorporate this into our classrooms, and I got some great ideas from the teachers. It was really cool to learn this side of the native culture and I hope to keep in touch with the shaman...in case I need info for my classroom...or any natural plants he had growing there! ;)
We went on a hike in the afternoon...in the rain! It was during this hike, looking at bugs and trees and fungus that I realized I really do love it here. It was pouring and I didn't even mind it - in fact, I was a little bummed when the hike ended and we went inside.
We finished the day with a night boat tour. My boat was mostly group B - so we finished the day the same way we began :) I saw a lot of butterflies and bats - bats everywhere! The wifi has been out here for 2 days and I have to admit, it's frustrating. Part if the reason I came on this trip was to share my experiences with everyone back home. I know I'll still be able to, but it's definitely hard living without my www. Thanks for reading this...even though it's not coming up as live as I wanted.
Tomorrow we move to a lodge with no wifi (officially) for 2 nights. It's about a mile hike into the rainforest, which I'm sure will be beautiful...and full of Mosquitos! I'll post when I can! Next stop...ACTS lodge!
No comments:
Post a Comment