El Oriente

As they call it in Ecuador, El Oriente, the Amazon beckons me on this early morning. Caffeine assisting me, from the comfort of Denver Airport’s picture windows in concourse B, I’m gazing out at an all too familiar skyline of snow-capped peaks, the snowmelt of which I will not meet again until August as it fills the rivers and streams and blooms the wildflowers of the foothills. Colorado summers are distinguishably my favorite thing about living in this State – hiking, climbing, rivers, bikes, backpacking – and I will be sad to miss the heart of it all this year.

Alas, off I go to a world of wonder, education and adventure awaiting me atYachana Foundation on the upper Napo River in the Amazon River Basin. Piranhas, crocodiles, some giant iridescent insects yet to be named, some populous pesky insects yet to be killed in the throws of my annoyed, slapping hands, flowers with scents and dyes yet to be experienced by my senses, indigenous people of Kichwa descent, and many adventures awaiting my curious mind. Truly, this trip is void of any expectations from me. An open mind and a bag full of books is all I brought. Okay, I brought my rain jacket too.

I will be lacking in French Press coffee, NPR mornings, and hot showers. There will be no saucy advertisements and debilitating (at times) technology of Western culture. The texting and emailing I’ve become so accustomed to – they give you that little “high” everytime a familiar tonal melody or the long-awaited vibration informs you that, yes, you are in fact important and someone needs to talk to you. In reality, most of the time its an update from Groupon or Facebook hardly caring for my attention.

A break from civilization and society and the impossible expectations of life I place on myself. A time of slight solitude, profitable peace. I will put to work these hands and this mind that has endured their first year of development in training, observing first hand the incredible possibilities of a future embedded with social equity and sustainable ecosystems as practiced by Yachana Foundation.

Stay tuned, it should be a good summer.