Living with the Shuar..

Where to start? I don´t even know! From day one I guess...

So I arrived in Arutam on Sunday 13th, with a volunteer I randomly met on the bus from Quito.There are 5 volunteers including me at the moment. We all live in a house in the jungle with hammocks to relax in during our free time. The jungle and the views are so amazing, I can´t even describe what it is like here. It´s kind of comparable to Pandora in Avatar!
The people from the community are all really nice and friendly towards us, but the children are scared of us. Probably because they aren´t used to seeing white people! The community is made up of one family of maybe 40 people and they live in several houses around the the forest close to the road. But Arutam is actually 1500 hectares!!
This week the work wasn´t bad at all. The first day (Monday) we planted corn in the jungle and then in the afternoon we picked up cow poop to make manure! It was hilarious! Then the main coordinator, Enrique, who we generally work with took us on a short walk through the forest. We climbed a really shaky tree house which they built a few years ago. And we could see the whole Amazon and the Rio Pastaza in the distance!! On a clear day you can see several volcanoes but that´s only if your lucky. I havn´t been lucky yet!
Tuesday was so boring! It rained almost all day and we couldnt work, so Enrique took us to his parents house where we drank chicha. Chicha is made from yucca which is masticated by the women and then fermented for a few days. YUM!! In the afternoon, we shuvled some dirt from the side of the road and watched some of the Shuar guys play volley ball and that´s about it.
Wednesday, we turn the ground in a field and planted more corn! Then we watched the Shuar guys play football against a group of students from Guayaquil, Ecuador. Go Shuar!! They won 4-2! In the afternoon, we walked into the jungle to collect palms to fixed one of the roofs in the community. The jungle is so amazing! I can´t even describe it! You´ll have to wait and see the pictures!! In the evening we went to Enrique´s parents house, where some of the sons showed and taught us their traditional Shuar dance. Good times!
Then yesterday (Thursday), in the morning we carried planks of wood from the forest closer to the community! Ouch! And in the afternoon, we trekked into the jungle, showered in a waterfall! AMAZING! And then we slept in a house in the jungle with an AMAZING view! We made a fire and ate dinner. And then we came back this morning after sunrise and made our way into town, Puyo.
Every day here is such a blast, we laugh so much and the Shuar love sharing their culture and stories with us.
Now more importantly, the food! Generally for breakfast we have popcorn (yep, like the one you have in the cinema!), sometimes pancakes, fruit. For lunch and dinner, we´ll have plantain, yucca, vegetables... It´s really my cup of tea but it´s not terrible! We did have a really nice yucca soup, fried yucca (which takes just like fries) and plantain pancakes.
I know I´ve forgotten to say so much but there´s just too much to talk about I can´t even remember it all !!

Got to go now.. Got to pick up the laundry! It´s impossible to dry your dclothes in the jungle because it´s so humid and they stink! Oh and my camera broke (so sad!) so I need to go fix it or buy a new one!

Love you all and wish you could all see how amazing this place is!