beautiful people

For all of you that said we were crazy for going to South America, that it was dangerous, that we shouldn´t trust anyone, this is a tribute to the incredible South Americans we have met in our travels.
Rachel and I have been the recipients of so much kindness and help from people whom we could never repay. Many times we would have been lost or in some trouble without their help. I would like to introduce you to a few people we have met who blessed and inspired us.
Giamba is an increbily humble sculptor we met in Yepeyu, Argentina. He has made good money from his artwork, but chooses to live with his family in tents on a campground that he is helping to restore in his small town. His passion is learning the art and culture of his people, the Guarani, to recreate in his own sculpting and to work to preserve its history. He took Rachel and I on a hike looking for artifacts of the Guarani, it was incredible! We found handfuls of pottery fragments which he took the time to explain the technique used for each piece we found, he even let us keep a few to take home. :)
Rosa is the owner of an ecotourism group in the rainforests of Bolivia. She worked to establish Madidi National Park, one of the major national parks in the rainforest of Bolivia. She works in ecotourism to educate foriegners on the value of preserving the rainforest, and also holds workshops to educate college students in Bolivia as well. Her passion and love for the rainforest continues to inspire her to find new ways to educate others to protect their environment. Rachel and I were very impressed by her drive and dedication to her work.
There are so many other friends we met as well, Ahmed from Peru, who gave us a tour of his home town, our Brazilian friends from camping in Ilha Grande, who tried to teach us Portuguese, Samba, and some Brazilian music, the list goes on. I thank God for every one of them and hope that when someone from a foriegn country comes my way, I can show them kindness the way it was shown to me.
see you soon! we are on our way home!!!

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