Inspirations

I have encountered an inspiration, and from none of the usual suspects. When I travel, I always manage to pick up an extra bag of “get my shit together” souvenirs. With all the extra time to think, I plan. I’m really going to get in better shape when I get back. I’m really going to spend less money this year. I’m really going to manage my time better by cutting at least three hobbies out of my life – (this one is pure absurdity and never achieved). You could call these inspirations and they usually come from observation followed by contemplation, with the observation part generally being of new activities to try, new books to read, new challenges for myself, new ideas for my future, a new subject I want to study. Now, I encounter myself inspired by my peers – my younger, harder working, more diligent, softer, smarter, self-less Ecuadorean peers.

Robert hails from the small community of Mondana where he grew up playing volleyball on muddy courts illuminated only by the hours of sunshine offered and washing his clothes in the Napo river. He graduated in the first class at Yachana Technical Colegio where he helped build the classrooms, dorms and kitchen and also served on the team that cleared six hectares of rainforest to grow food for the high school. Robert acquired his perfect English skills in Pennsylvania, going on to impress listeners worldwide during his speech on rainforest conservation in Tanzania before returning to his family at Mondana to work as a one of the most highly-requested guides at Yachana Ecolodge. All before the age of 21.

Maggie is a quiet-hearted, sweet soul who is determined enough to return to complete her high school education at 28 years of age. She never fails to smile as she serves me breakfast and I have never heard a peep of fatigue from her during the eight hours of machete-whacking through the fields.

And then there is the legend of Fabio. A young man by age and a wise soul by wisdom, I have met few people in my life with the work ethic and desire for knowledge as this friend of mine. I have been inspired by his diligence, moved by his words, inspired by his dreams, and struck by his smile. He studies in the city at the University of San Fransisco de Quito with the big boys but has not forgotten a single scent of the rainforest of his roots. His relationships are precious to him, his reading is important, and the notebook tucked in his bag, toted down rivers and through forests and on long dusty bus rides, is bursting at the seems with every bit of knowledge he could ever require from any passerby. He is the inhalation and exhalation of one of my favorite Emerson quotes, “Every man I meet is in some way my superior, and in that, I learn of him.” I will tuck a little piece of Fabio in my notebook and tote it through all of my further journeys as a constant reminder of a inspiration.

The constant competition and striving for perfection in my culture can be quite enervating at times. I need to get an internship, I need to get a job, I need to write better, I need to read more, I need to focus focus focus. Then, I stand at the corner of Confusion Avenue and Running-Against-the-wind Boulevard, staring at my map thinking, “Now, where was I trying to get to again?” In these folks at Yachana, I have seen a strength I would like to acquire. These people are not trying to take over the world. These young people are not trying to prove anything to anyone. They are not out to win some award, get their name in some research paper, or get a better job than their peers sharing the canoe with them. They are out for the journey. They are content in their work, their play, and their “achievements” they receive along the way. Life must be, as the notorious and anonymous “they” always say, truly about the journey and not the destination. I have gained so many things from this summer that are difficult to put in Research Field Notes to my professor or my final Research Analysis for graduate school, and they’re difficult to express in a flashy resume aimed at obtaining a sought-after job. But they’re in my resume of life. The references are listed as teenage Mentors.