Day 3: The final skert

Day three of the jungle was hardcore! It rained in La Paz which caused the river level to rise drastically. This meant we couldn’t walk in the riverbed and had to carry the filters directly through the forest. This was a lot harder than walking through the riverbed. The raised river also made carrying the bags of sand to the pick up point a lot harder. We had to make a fire line and pass these hella heavy bags of sand. The mud made it so we were also slowly sinking. The situation was so horrible that a lot of us could not help but laugh. It’s easy to become hysterical when you’re dead tired and surrounded by friends. We wrapped up the work by preparing all of the supplies to make our morning work easier then ate dinner and gathered with the people of the community for a cultural exchange. We mingled with the children, practicing our Spanish and playing games. Some people of the community performed songs and danced traditional cultural dances. During a couple songs, we were dragged out of our seats to dance. We held hands and danced in circles, smiling and laughing the whole time. A couple of us even danced individually with elders of the community. It was amazing to connect with the community. I (Tessa) was sitting with a two year old boy named Erby on my lap, and after a few minutes he fell asleep on me. It may have been the cutest thing to ever happen to me. He was so deeply asleep and so adorable that I couldn’t bear to give him back to his sister. We said goodnight and talked for a while before going to bed tired and happy.