Days 19, 20, and 21/22

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Day 19: Misahualli

I slept very well here! It cooled off during the night, so it wasn’t as oppressive, but the sun did wake me up when it rose. For breakfast, we had fruit, bread, and eggs, then we got on the bus. We took these large canoe boats down Rio Napo. Our first stop was an animal sanctuary, Amazoonico. There we go to see parrots, monkeys, tapir, and some other jungle animals. Some of the monkeys were really small and super cute! At this sanctuary, they try to rehabilitate and release animals if they can. It was cool to see these animals and learn about the work that they do. We got back on the canoes and then went tubing! It was refreshing but the tubes got hot pretty quickly since they were black, so we had to keep them wet. We floated for a while in small groups, then got back on the canoes and went to a Quichua home (native group) where we learned about how to use a blowgun to hunt. We also got to see caiman! They were pretty small. By the time we got back to the hotel, it was around 3 pm so we had a late lunch consisting of soup, trout, cucumber salad, and ice cream. I’m not a huge fan of fish, but it was pretty good. Then we all jumped in the pool and spent a couple hours there talking, hanging out, and playing games to stay cool. After changing, we went to dinner where we had soup that was kind of like broccoli cheddar, chicken, rice, fries, lentils, and chocolate cake. The rest of the night was spent relaxing.



Day 20: Misahualli/Papallacta

Breakfast was the same as yesterday. After we ate, we checked out and drove to a place with pools and caverns. Half of us went caving! We couldn’t bring our phones, so we don’t have any pictures, but it was fun! There was a lot of water, so we got wet and our boots kept filling up with water. Our guide told us about the rock formations, showed us a very large spider, told us a legend while we sat in the dark, and we got to swim in pools of water. I had never done anything like this before, so it was an exciting experience! After spending a bit of time swimming, we went to a restaurant for lunch. We were outside under a roof and had soup with popcorn, rice, meat, veggies, fries, and flan. Then we drove for a few hours. We had to cross a bridge that is only open from 4-6 pm due to mudslide construction so we had to wait in traffic for a while but then we're on our way. We arrived at Papallacta later in the day. There wasn’t much around but our hotel was nice! We had levels and a jacuzzi. There were also hot springs. Kim and I are with Emily and Payton again. For dinner, we had pizza, chicken, rice, and cake. Most of us went into the hot pools after dinner for a while, then some of the girls had karaoke in our room which was fun. Kim and I were going to look at the stars with Ben and Daniel, but it got cloudy so we just hung out in their room instead of watching Chicken Little in Spanish before going to bed.



Day 21/22: Travel

We had a slow morning and could choose when we ate breakfast, which was buffet style. After, some of us went into the hot pools again for a while. Then Kim and I went back to our room to shower and pack. For lunch, we had soup with popcorn, chicken, fries, salad, and a pie/cake sort of dessert with fruit in it. It was all good but there was so much food that I couldn't finish it. Then it was on the bus to drive to the airport. We got there around 4 pm and couldn't check in yet, so we spread out and worked on assignments and hung out together. After getting some food, we got our boarding passes and dropped off our luggage which there were lines for. After going through security, we had more time to wait and look around the airport and grab some snacks.

We boarded our place a little after midnight. I tried to sleep the whole time but it was difficult. The seats were not very comfortable and I woke up a couple times to lights, announcements, snacks, and to fill out the customs form. There was also some turbulence. Our flight was ahead of schedule, but we had to wait on the plane because customs was not open yet. We had to wait in a line, but they didn't ask me any questions so getting through was easy. The wait for our luggage was longer because the carousel was broken but we had plenty of time to be waiting around as our flight didn't leave until after almost one. We passed the time by walking around, getting food, working on assignments, and watching movies. I tried to sleep but wasn't able to. After grabbing some lunch, we boarded our plane. This flight was a little shorter and I listened to music the whole time. When we landed, we just had to grab our luggage! My mom picked me up and I said goodbye to everyone. I'll probably see most of them back at Messiah, at least in passing. We had about a 3-hour drive home and made it back around 7 pm. In total, I traveled for 28 hours and 3 minutes from the time I got on the bus in Papallacta to the time I got home. It was an amazing trip but it is great to be home!



Individual Level Reflection:

As I reflect on my time in Ecuador, I experienced and learned a lot! The last week required more adjustment as we were changing locations and living out of hotels. Something I enjoyed from the last week was seeing and participating in the chocolate-making process. We all gathered around in a small pavilion type building with a table and fire. Each step of the process was explained to us as we saw it happening. It was interesting to see the cacao fruit! We got to try it and it was not what I was expecting. I found it kind of hard to eat but it was cool to get to try it! Then we got to participate in roasting the beans and cracking them open. It was fun to have our whole group helping out. That experience made it feel like we were more of a family, working together for a common goal. Together, we completed the task and it was fulfilling. Some of us took turns griding the beans into powder. In the end, we got to eat the fruits of our labor. To me, this was a beautiful scene. We were all crowded around the table while eating, sharing, and laughing together. While you can find pieces of this type of community in America, I felt it a lot more in Ecuador everywhere we went. This was just one example, but I truly enjoyed having these experiences. I think, in this case, I was able to really use my CQ Action to adjust. A lot of times I have found that people at home just want to get things done quickly and by themselves. But here, we went along with how the locals did it. This required little of me except to use what I knew about the culture and apply it in this new situation as I enjoyed it.

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