We've Moved To A New Address

But don't worry you will be redirected to the page you've requested.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Day 13 - Yachana in the Amazon Rainforest


Right now, darkness consumes almost every inch of space, leaving behind just a small patch of stars visible through a canopy of trees. Bugs fly and chirp everywhere. A generator rumbles in the distance. Yep, I’m blogging from the rainforest.
It’s been crazy here. Even getting here was an adventure. We had to take a plane to Coca, then a bus to the river, and then took a three-hour canoe ride to Yachana. We’ve already had one tarantula scare when a girl from another group found one on her shoulder. One of our students got sick and has been stuck in the clinic all day getting fluids. Power is only on from 6-10 p.m. and computer speed and signal are fairly week. Despite all that, it’s been a blast.
Today we met with a medicine man, known as a curo, in Yachana. The indigenous peoples here believe that life is a balance between good and bad spirits. When infected with too many bad spirits, the body becomes weak and gets sick. It is the medicine man’s job to remove those bad spirits. Today, he performed the ceremony on our group that removed our bad spirits and replaced them with good.










After our souls were purified, we needed to catch our lunch. Naturally, we used a blow gun and hunted for our own. OK, so maybe we just came back to our lodge and ate the prepared food, but it was still awesome. One of the girls in our group, Ashley, actually got three bullseyes in a row and won the competition. Too bad she’s a vegetarian!


















I hope every day is this interesting. Just walking from place to place can get pretty adventurous in these parts.

Nick Bratcher






No comments:

About Kentucky Ecuador Partners

Kentucky Partners of the Americas (a chapter of Partners of the Americas) has enjoyed a partnership with Ecuador since 1965. (Currently, Kentucky works with areas of Ecuador including Quito, Santo Domingo de los Colorados, and the Amazon Basin. Kentucky-Ecuador Partners has been one of the most progressive and most productive partnerships. The Kentucky chapter is supported by volunteers from most regions of the Commonwealth. Members are located in Winchester, Lexington, Louisville, Murray, Richmond, Whitesburg, Danville, Frankfort, Bowling Green, and other cities.