Monday

Since we were going to the jungle this morning, the moms made us all sandwiches for lunch early in the morning. Then we also had pancakes and fruit for breakfast! After we ate, we got ready for the jungle which included putting on lots of bug spray of course!

We walked up to the orphanage, where they were loading food for 350 children; this included the 350 sandwiches Bless An Orphan prepared last night, bags of chips, a HUGE bag of animal crackers, and juice drinks! Whenever they take trips to the jungle, the schools tells Bless An Orphan there will be 300 kids, but they always bring extra food. When people hear there will be food at school, they actually send their kids so that they can eat. And actually, after everyone had been served, there were only about 10 sandwiches left. We ended up making a few extras for the teachers too, because we had brought extra bread and meat just in case we didn't have enough.

We rode in Bless An Orphan's van to get to the canoe place instead of taking a taxi or bus. Then we took a short canoe ride to the jungle. When we pulled up to shore, the only way to enter was by walking up an extremely steep little path. It was definitely sketchy, but no one got hurt or fell!

We weren't really sure what to expect of the area, but it was actually very civilized. The school was similar to the schools here in Tena, and it had concrete walls and everything. The kids were all dressed in uniforms too. On the car ride back to Tena, Karissa actually told us that the government comes in and puts a school in, but that's about the only civilized part there. Most people actually live about 2 miles away from school, and that is where life is more like what you would picture a jungle to be like. What was really crazy is that about half of the teachers actually live in Tena and make that commute daily, which has to take almost an hour!!

As we walked by the school, lots of kids were poking their heads out the door looking at all of the gringos! There were SOO many little kids!! We divided up into four groups to play with them. There was a dodgeball group, a soccer group, a duck-duck-goose group, and a singing group. I was in the singing group; we sang a couple American songs in Spanish while Mrs. Lundy played her guitar! The kids' favorite song seemed to be "Head, Shoulder, Knees, and Toes" (or "Cabeza, Hombros, Rodillas, y Pies"). It was a little difficult for some of them, but they caught on pretty well! It seemed like the duck-duck-goose group had a little trouble getting the kids to understand the game at first, but they caught on a little bit eventually. I'm not sure how the dodgeball group or soccer groups did, but I would assume everything went fine!

After playing games for a little bit, we served them the lunch we brought. They were very well-mannered, and probably 10-15 kids even said "thank you" in English! It was kind of interesting, because I noticed some of the kids weren't eating their food just yet. This is only a guess, but I have to wonder if they were saving their food because it's the only meal they would really get to eat today besides the small 10 am snack the school provides. Mr. Kuester was feeding some of the dogs around the school food from the trash box, and then he realized there were kids eating from the same trash box he was taking food out of to feed the dogs. It is just so sad to see how many basic necessities these kids lack.

Mrs. Witges also evaluated some of the kids who were sick. She treated kids with rashes, malnourishment, respiratory problems, and even a little boy with a really bad heart murmur. His face was pale, he would hardly eat, and he was lethargic. The only way he could probably get help is to have surgery in a hospital in Quito. Karissa also is going to try to see if a few of the kids' parents would allow them to stay at the orphanage for a couple of days so that they can visit a hospital here in Tena to get a full diagnosis. Let's hope they do!

After we ate lunch and left the jungle school, we headed back to Tena. On the way back, we stopped at a cave that supposedly has a 30-foot anaconda living in it! All of us seniors did go in, but it was definitely a little freaky in my opinion!! We went in a little ways, but the area for standing was getting smaller and smaller, there were bats EVERYWHERE, and there was a knee-deep puddle of water we would've had to walk through.

When we got back to the hotel at about 4:45, we cleaned up a little bit and relaxed. All of us kids, Mrs. Lundy, and Kayla went to a Zumba class at 6:00. It was such a unique experience, and it was super authentic with all of the Ecuadorians there dancing too. It was definitely a tiring workout though, because you are moving the whole time. After that, some of us walked to the store to get bread to make more sandwiches for tomorrow, and a few others decided to run back to the hotel.

When we came home, we had one of the best dinners we've had so far!! It was rice, black beans, quesadillas, and chips and guacamole, all prepared by Mrs. Witges! (: We really haven't had much cheese here (yes I know I had it last night, but that was rare!), but what was on the quesadillas was delicious! We also tried a new fruit that tasted just like a kiwi! I can't remember the name, but it was really good!! There was a bit of a bad spot on the piece I ate, so I ate around it and set it on my plate. I had stepped away from the table to get water, and all of a sudden Molly screamed, because there was a little worm crawling out of the piece I had!! It sort of reminded me of a mealworm. We are hoping to get more of the fruit to eat before we leave, so hopefully we don't find any more bugs in it!

After awhile, most of the seniors played cards and everyone either went to bed or just relaxed.  Tomorrow we have to be ready to leave by 7 am, which is the earliest we've had to leave so far! We are going to go dig two wells. Apparently we have to walk 30 minutes into the jungle, so it sounds like we will be really getting a full jungle experience! I am very excited for it, because I think it will be really eye-opening to see these people and their way-of-life first-hand. Tomorrow is really our last big work day (at least that we have planned) sadly. Wish us luck!!

-Kaitlyn