'twas brillig...

I am like Alice in Wonderland, and I have just consumed a large portion of the shrinking potion...I feel so small. Everywhere I look are enormous trees, and their ribbed leaves make the sky look even farther away. Down on the earth, there are little cotton candy pink mushrooms that have the shape of tiny satellite dishes, impervious to the acidic clay soil that bears bright flowers and billions of ants. I feel prepared to spot the Jabberwocky, but instead we see a group of monkeys. At this point I had given up on seeing a monkey, but then again, I had given up on seeing a tarantula too, and ended up backing away as one scrawled across my place at the table this lunch.

Rubber Tree

After a nice and early three hour walk in the jungle, we came back to the lodge for a cooking class. How to eat larvae: 1) bite the head off and spit it out (otherwise it will bite you) 2) chew and swallow...and try to ignore the fact that you are eating something alive 3) be like me and wait until after it is cooked and crispy to try it...Amanda, Kevin, Chuck, and Taran (the brave members who followed steps one and two) can all assure you that step three is considerably more appealing. We also learned to steam fish in palm leaves, prepare heart of palm, and fry yuca. Who knew I had signed up for Amazon Cooking 101?

Toad--I couldn't tell you the name, but he makes cool noises

Lunch was very exciting! We got to mix with the Ecuadorians who are also here...I believe that they are training to become guides. And yes, it is true that I speak little Spanish, but one of them spoke French! We had a fantastic conversation, and it felt so good to be understood in a language that was not English. I tried talking in spanish with another man about soccer, but accidentally gave him the impression that I liked to kick the other team's players off of the field...not the ball...no wonder they think that us gringos can't play soccer!

More walking in the afternoon (this is my kind of place!) brought us to the Yachana school. It is supported by this lodge, and is of considerably better quality than the public school. There are even dorms for students who live far away, and would otherwise need to walk miles just to get to and from. It is a beautiful program...maybe one worth applying to teach at in the future? ...as long as I get over my fear of tarantulas, that is. We came across a baby monkey while traversing the empty campus (they have summer break, too, claro) and a local informed us that it was alone because it's mother had been killed by a poacher. If you could hear this guy scream, your heart would break. He was so lonely, and clung himself desperately to Amanda's neck. After watching him eat a chocolate granola bar, I decided he was one of the cutest things I have seen in my life.

It is time to get some packing in before dinner. The next post should be from the Andes!

Our other cute animal friend at Yachana...ok, so she's not endemic, but JZ is a boss!