Notes from the Jungles

Here are a couple photos from my tech/

cultural trip to Santo Domingo and Mindo.

We spent the night with an Indigenous

group called the Tsatchilas. The men are known for their bright red hair: they dye their hair with a plant called Achote. It is done in remembrance of the the many who died during the yellow fever pandemic in the early 1900´s. And mind you, this is what I understood... my Spanish is pretty good.. but if this info is not 100% don´t hold me to it. The photo with the little hut is of my friend Jen and I where we slept in the jungle with the Tsachilas. It was great= Wooden slate bed, candles and mosquito net. Seriously, it was really, really cool. The Shaman demonstrated a spiritual cleansing ceremony and we were all given native names, my name is Lu-Li which is the word for flower.

The next day we learned more about the Tsachila culture- they danced, played the marimba, we ate purple potatoes and bought some beautiful necklaces and bracelets. We gave a short talk on AIDs as this is becoming an issue in this particular community and it went really well. It felt really open and the community was really receptive. We traveled to the beautiful town of Mindo... and wow, it is beautiful. We got to rest a little as traveling took most of the day. The next day we went to a school in town and worked with groups of students and discussed communication and played a bunch of games. Later we returned and worked with a group of young people ages 13-25 discussing sexuality and safe sex options. We visited several volunteers and saw their projects--- one who started a cafe/theater and one who is working on a cool farm. It was a great trip overall and now back in Tabacundo I am recovering from being rather sick... but that comes with the territory, right? Water is pretty much my best friend right now. Hope this finds you well! Much love!