We open our eyes at the especially early hour of 5am and we’re still in the jungle, awaiting the arrival of el Gran Yanashi, a large boat filled with more sacks of sand than you want to imagine. Of course, following jungle time, the boat did not arrive until 2:30 pm. In the meantime, we taught a few of the previously mentioned learning modules in Spanish (Dehydration, Ear Infections, and Dengue Fever) to 3 different local health promoters. When the boat arrived, it was pretty entertaining for the strong, local workers to watch the 6 brave, foreign girls carry heavy sacks of sand like off the boat and onto the shore. We later lounged on top our sandy throne watching our clothes dry drip by drip.

As Alec was in the shower, he heard a thundering wallop. As it turns out, dinner was being procured by chopping down a huge palm tree with a single machete. This was done by our homie Abran and no one was hurt, but the tree did knock down a power line. Luckily our world-renowned chef and apparently electrician, Raul, was able to fix it, before he cooked our most Amazonian meal yet: fresh heart of palm salad, fried caiman (alligator), and an enticing green sauce.

Our final day of the first week was a real treat — we finally got to know the Santo Tomas community a bit, joining them for a typical Sunday, where everyone gathers for lots of soccer, tag, and other games. We played with some of the kids, Krislia slid all over on the muddy soccer slope, and Alec scored 2 goals wooooo
(against the kids, and with Raul’s help of course). It’s been a great week – we’re all adjusting very well and deepening our friendships at an alarming rate, but we’re still waiting to see a sloth…