Thursday, June 21, 2007
Mas Aventuras
I still feel like nobody knows what in God´s name I am doing. I have to clear the air really quickly lacking spark and interest...sorry, endure it. So for the last month or so I have been PAYING to volunteer at Amazoonico, an animal rescue center in the Orient region of Ecuador.
I heard about the volunteering opportunity from a Paraguayan girl named Suzy while traveling south in Argentina. A seed was planted in the deep, cerebral chasms of gray brain matter inside my skull. It took roughly 110 hours on bus, 5 days and 5 nights, passing through 3 coutries to arrive in Ecuador from Argentina. I am into pain and saving money, so that is what I tell people who ask with grimacing faces "why not just fly???" That multiple bus trip is a story in itself, and I am just now starting to regain feeling in my ass.
However, right now there are more important things to discuss. The guy sporting the latest line
of mankinis is named Louise. He took me and another volunteer on a sprelunking adventure: we did the cave thing, with bats, enormous arachnids, waterfalls, cliff jumping in terrifying darkness supplemented by the echoing roar of a surging underground river. We only had one day off, and we naturally wanted to stretch our time doing all around kick ass things. That being said, we arrived back at the port where canoes take us back to Amazoonico late, again in complete darkness, no canoe visible in the shafts pouring from our flashlights. Ok, Louise, Mr. Mankini, what do we do now? ask your gringos. His answer (however in smooth Espanol) was this: Walk to a friends
house where a trail starts. This trail will take us back to Amazoonico. And this answer was enough, and proved true, however not before his friend and forest ranger Jaime gives us this thing, to carry back with us. It was so small, the staff vet could not determine what it was. This woomb fresh organism survived the 1.5 hour hike back in the dark, through the Amazonian (which I had to do barefoot, my sandals lost function in the mud) and about 5 days after, but sadly lost in the Big Struggle yesterday. He was getting round the clock care, but in the end, he was just too young and fragile. Everyone pour out a bit of milk for my
friend, the mystery animal named Casi Nada, which literally means Almost Nothing.
Louise, in his depression and lack of will power turned to the bottle and understandably drowned his sorrows while becoming completely trashed. Under normal circumstances, it would have been excusable. The circumstances were not normal, and were these: it was 11am on a Tuesday, in the middle of the workday, drinking heavily and acting lude in front of shocked tourists, and inciting feces throwing contests with free living monkeys. Since he is my good friend, I was put in charge of getting this Ecuadorian sh*t show away from the tourists and locking him in his room to sober up. The task was easy enough with the promise of some juevos revueltos, or fried eggs. Some where in route he decided to lose his pants and fashion his tiny underwear for all to see and giggle at. In all reality, he is a normal well adapted human being who was caught in a weak moment in his love for animals. For these reasons and more, Louise, you are my Ecuadorian hero. Keep on rocking in the free world. ¶ 10:47 AM
I heard about the volunteering opportunity from a Paraguayan girl named Suzy while traveling south in Argentina. A seed was planted in the deep, cerebral chasms of gray brain matter inside my skull. It took roughly 110 hours on bus, 5 days and 5 nights, passing through 3 coutries to arrive in Ecuador from Argentina. I am into pain and saving money, so that is what I tell people who ask with grimacing faces "why not just fly???" That multiple bus trip is a story in itself, and I am just now starting to regain feeling in my ass.
However, right now there are more important things to discuss. The guy sporting the latest line
of mankinis is named Louise. He took me and another volunteer on a sprelunking adventure: we did the cave thing, with bats, enormous arachnids, waterfalls, cliff jumping in terrifying darkness supplemented by the echoing roar of a surging underground river. We only had one day off, and we naturally wanted to stretch our time doing all around kick ass things. That being said, we arrived back at the port where canoes take us back to Amazoonico late, again in complete darkness, no canoe visible in the shafts pouring from our flashlights. Ok, Louise, Mr. Mankini, what do we do now? ask your gringos. His answer (however in smooth Espanol) was this: Walk to a friends
house where a trail starts. This trail will take us back to Amazoonico. And this answer was enough, and proved true, however not before his friend and forest ranger Jaime gives us this thing, to carry back with us. It was so small, the staff vet could not determine what it was. This woomb fresh organism survived the 1.5 hour hike back in the dark, through the Amazonian (which I had to do barefoot, my sandals lost function in the mud) and about 5 days after, but sadly lost in the Big Struggle yesterday. He was getting round the clock care, but in the end, he was just too young and fragile. Everyone pour out a bit of milk for my
friend, the mystery animal named Casi Nada, which literally means Almost Nothing. Louise, in his depression and lack of will power turned to the bottle and understandably drowned his sorrows while becoming completely trashed. Under normal circumstances, it would have been excusable. The circumstances were not normal, and were these: it was 11am on a Tuesday, in the middle of the workday, drinking heavily and acting lude in front of shocked tourists, and inciting feces throwing contests with free living monkeys. Since he is my good friend, I was put in charge of getting this Ecuadorian sh*t show away from the tourists and locking him in his room to sober up. The task was easy enough with the promise of some juevos revueltos, or fried eggs. Some where in route he decided to lose his pants and fashion his tiny underwear for all to see and giggle at. In all reality, he is a normal well adapted human being who was caught in a weak moment in his love for animals. For these reasons and more, Louise, you are my Ecuadorian hero. Keep on rocking in the free world. ¶ 10:47 AM
