Day 2: Visit to Pakay Chikta

Dining area at the jungle lodge

Following a nice breakfast at the jungle lodge, we once again boarded our motorized canoes, this time to head in to a jungle community and visit a school. There are dozens of children who attend the school or the day care. Although they were initially a bit nervous to talk with us, the children and their families warmed up upon seeing how happy we were to be with them. Most of the children spoke both Quichwa, the native language of the indigenous people, and Spanish, so a few other teachers and I were able to communicate with them. They are actually on vacation right now, but they seemed thrilled to spend time with our group and to play with some of the learning tools we brought for them.

A young girl who followed me around for much of the day,
pretending she was shy but loving all the attention she was getting!

Much to my surprise (and my dismay), I was initially assigned to work in the fields. Machete in hand, I attempted to cut some of the grass that had grown on the soccer field that a previous EF tour group had built for the students. (No, I am not kidding about the machete!!!) I was terrible at this, so I instead took on the task of raking grass that others had dredged up. The rake was sharp, so it was easy but satisfying work. However, it was very hot, so it was certainly not easy! I promise, there are photos of all of this that I will eventually post.

Ms. Missert, adjustment counselor from Weymouth, and
Ms. Meyer drinking chicha (this one has no saliva, but I am
pretty sure the one I drank back in the village had saliva in it! 

When it came time to rotate “stations”—some teachers were inside the school, while others worked to build a bookcase—several other teachers and I went inside the day care (a smaller building adjacent to the school) to rest for a few minutes. Several high school students, who were home from school on vacation, and some young adults (ages 19-22 or so) came inside to sit with us and talk. My roommate, a Spanish teacher at Weymouth High School, and I were able to talk to the women and learn about their lives. My roommate’s students took photos and created post cards with their photos. Through these photos, we were able to share a little bit about our lives in Massachusetts. The women were interested in the snow, and one of the teenage girls recognized the names of the famous swans in the Public Garden—“Romeo y Julieta” –from having learned the story in school. It is amazing to me that a 15-year-old girl in a remote village in the “Ecuadorian Amazon” knows the story of Romeo and Juliet. This was one of my favorite moments of the day! In this same situation, I drank chicha. Given that this was in a remote village, it is likely that this chicha had been prepared in the traditional manner: fermentation through the saliva of the women. Motivated by a sense of adventure—and not wanting to offend the women—I was the only person in the group who drank it. One other person only pretended to drink it, and call me gullible, but she fooled me! It tasted lemony, but there was no lemon in it. The texture was thick, somewhere between a pulpy orange juice and a New England clam chowder, but that is the best I can do to explain it.

Standing outside the school - notice the young girl holding
her sibling in a baby sling. Many very young girls carried
their siblings around in this way!

I had a wonderful experience working with the elementary school students once it came time for me to enter the school. Their classroom is small and they do not have many school supplies, so we came prepared with everything from stickers to flash cards and puzzles to crayons and markers. The students were engaged with all of these new learning tools and they excitedly called out the names of the colors when I asked what they were, and I shared the English words with them as well. When I showed them a picture of the recent blizzard on my iPhone, 11-year-old Darwin—seemingly a natural with technology—found a cat picture and started scrolling through all of my cat photos as his brothers looked on.  All of the older siblings were incredibly patient with the younger kids, and they seemed to share a lot of the caretaking responsibilities. The cat photos kept the kids occupied for a long time, but eventually they wanted to see what else they could do with the iPhone. They played Angry Birds for a few minutes before it was time for lunch.

Ms. Meyer with a young girl wearing a mask we brought.

We ate lunch first, and the kids then followed. Many ate with their hands, and some had to wait for quite a while until they could have juice, but they did not complain. They seemed happy and grateful and curious—just as kids should be! I cannot state how much I enjoyed spending time with these young children. They seemed to really enjoy my company as well, as several of them looked for me and followed me around! As one of the residents of the village showed us around (we saw banana and cacao trees, and watched a yucca harvest), the kids came along with us. The kids were adorned with stickers and dressed in the tiaras and rings that Ms. Richardson, a 6^th-grade ELA teacher in Hopkinton, had brought for them. Several kids took over the iPads and iPhones of teachers and took some incredible photos. I’m not even sure whether anyone showed them how to do it, but they got it right away! Oh, and each time a photo was taken of them, they rushed over to the camera wanting to see it right away.

After the jungle tour, we broke out the lacrosse sticks, soccer nets, and soccer ball that Mr. Norton, a phys ed teacher at Center School, and Ms. Barry, a kindergarten teacher at Center School, had brought. I did not play soccer or lacrosse, but it was incredible to see everyone—Americans, Ecuadorians, young, old, male, female, athletic, non-athletic—all playing together. It reminded me of a former student who researched soccer and found that it unites the world. As these games were going on, I worked with three other teachers to modify “Duck, Duck, Goose” to play with a group of smaller children. It was up to me to explain the game, as I was the only one of us who spoke Spanish. We called the game “Gato Gato Perro” and it took a few tries but the kids did finally understand! Hot Potato did not go over as well, but a round of “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” was a hit, as they’d heard that song before.

Our long but rewarding day in the village concluded, we began to walk back to the canoes. Again, many of the children followed us, which we found to be extremely touching.

Two children see us off as we depart in our canoes.

We came back to the lodge for dinner and a performance by several indigenous people. This time, I did not drink the chicha, even though it definitely did not have saliva in it. I did eat a grub, though! It was barbecued and didn’t taste too bad. Mr. Norton was the true brave one in the group; he ate a grub that was still alive. Yuck!

Ms. Richards contemplates a barbecued grub - I ATE ONE OF THESE!

A live grub - moments before Mr. Norton ate it!

The stress I was feeling about going to the jungle was well worth it. The smiles on the kids’ faces, the happiness radiating off their families, and the sense of personal satisfaction and warmth I am feeling today made all of the worry melt away. More tomorrow!