Bella Vista -day 2

Our day begins with a 7 am wake up call and we make our way to the dining "hall" for breakfast. We eat, get into our gear ( steel toe rubber boots, hard hats, safety glasses and gloves), don sunscreen and pack water as the sun is shining and its gonna be a hot day. We carry on working at the 4 different stations, digging, building cement forms, cutting and bending rebar. Some children are around but most have left the school grounds for the day as they were there at 7 to write exams and are done for the day. Some of the younger kids are very curious about what we are doing, and over the course of the morning, they begin to join in and help in a number of ways. Conversations ensue and the group as a whole is making amazing progress with their Spanish. During break time the children and the group enjoy some volleyball together and at one point our group shares a line dance demonstration which everyone enjoys.

At noon we pack up, go to the boat and head back to minga lodge for lunch . Around where the boat docks, children are jumping from trees and rocks into the river to cool off. Luckily for us, the breeze as the boat speeds up the river serves to cool us as well. It has become a tradition that as soon as we get on the boat, singing ensues for the 30 min trip home.

After lunch we head out on our jungle hike led by Roberto, a local resident and guide with the lodge. We begin by hiking uphill for 240 steps and as we reach the top we find another incredible view. The air is dense, humid and hot though the trees provide respite from the hot sun. Roberto talks to us of the different kinds of plants, the destruction of amazon rainforest, cultural uses for the various different plants and the way traditional hunting and harvesting happens in this area. He also demonstrates for us the way palms are used for shelter, basket making etc. We hike for about 2 1/2 hours and eventually we have to descend down some very muddy and slippery paths resulting in several spills and muddy individuals by the end.

Time for a quick shower and then it's dinner time. Just as we begin, a major storm of wind and rain rolls in and blows throughout our dinner time. It's amazing how quickly the weather changes here. Following supper we move the the classroom, we're we participate in a leadership activity of a simulation game where we are given roles of families coming to a Minga gathering to try and make a community decision about where to put community resources and energy - building a water system, a school, a church or a women's cooperative, At the end of 2 hours the group has made excellent arguments and debate and learned lots about about the process of a minga. It's now 9:30 and we only have power for 30 more mins so everyone heads back to their rooms to get ready for bed. An impromptu singing of o Canada breaks out to celebrate Canada day . Another storm whips up and it pours and blows most of the night.