Well we have arrived in Timbara and holy cow this is a
change... No more cold and no more Cuenca because this is the jungle! It is so
lush and beautiful here on the edge of the Amazon and I am in love…the sounds
of the birds & waterfalls, the smell of the flowers… everything!
Our drive to Timbara was long, but with waterfalls
everywhere I was glued to the window. When we arrived here we were in awe of
the landscape…every inch of everything is covered in green. I have to admit my
favorite plants so far are the banana trees (see picture below) solely because
I think it is sooo cool to see where the bananas I eat everyday come from.
My homestay family here is so kind. There are 7 people in
the house including 5 girls, a father, and a 15 day old baby. One of the girls
Nidia is 5 and we have become fast friends after I sang her Happy Birthday on
our first night here. (it was in fact her birthday…) I’m sharing this house
with a fellow intern, Annalise, which has helped us both adjust to our new
family quickly. Our house is beautiful (I have to admit it is even better than
my first house in Cuenca) and besides the mosquito net and lots of work, I feel
as if I am on vacation.
The weather here is warm, 80s all the time, but because it
is rainy season is rains dozens of times a day. The rain doesn’t bother me at
all though (especially since I haven’t showered yet…and I think rain counts…
right?). In fact the sound of the rain on the tin roofs puts me right to sleep
at night. (I then am woken up immediately by all the wild chickens, but I am
hoping I will get used to that).
I have been wearing all my bug repellent clothing to protect
me from itching, but honestly I haven’t had any problems with bugs yet. Because
it is raining constantly it has kept the bugs away (but don’t worry I still
reapply bug spray multiple times a day). While we might be bug free, we are
definitely not snake free… some of the Timbaran construction workers found an 8
foot boa constrictor and thought it would be a good idea to bring it to the
main street to show everyone… I opted out of seeing that one… (Plus I think
they are going to cook it, so I may see it on my plate soon anyways…)
Let’s see… nothing major has happened here yet, we are
enjoying the scenery and have just been working on projects. We head out to
different communities today, but our schedule keeps changing a little because
of landslides here. I am learning that during rainy season landslides are incredibly
common, and recently there was a major one on the main road so we are having to
be flexible…
I’m just going to end this by saying how happy I am here.
Timbara is paradise and I hope these next two weeks go as slow as possible so I
can soak up every minute of it.
Lots of love from Ecuador,
Jen
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