Reality Sets In.

Now that I've been back for a few weeks from my expedition I've been super busy with homework and trying to catch up with everything I missed. I'm finally back on track with school work, but now finals are fast approaching and I'm already starting to stress. I've got a lot of presentation and papers to write, but fortunatly they are all mainly on the same topics. I tried to focus them all around the issues we discussed on the expedition, which makes it alittle easier on me because I actually got to experience some of the things I am talking about first hand.
Another thing on my plate is the fundraising for i2P. I feel like I've tried a bunch of different fundraisers in the past and people and my school just don't seem to want to join in. I'm assuming it's because no one has that extra change to spare, but I think I have finally found the perfect fundraiser. Props goes out to my mom for bringing this idea home. We are going to sell pumpkin rolls at my mom, dad and baba's work for the next week or so for about 8 dollars each. My mom called me on her lunch break and said she already sold 8! That's 64 dollars right there, and about just as much as I have made with my bake sales at school! I hope this idea really works because judging by the website for the fundraising, we still need a lot more money to build this school. I'm really confident that school's will push at the very end to get to the goal!
On a different note, I started training for a marathon a week ago compliments of Kat for getting me started! I've been doing pretty well so far. My only worries are with the cold weather fast approaching I think I may have some trouble breathing because that was my biggest issue last year when I was running (right before I got mono).
Well today is a rest day for me, although I'm stuck inside writting a paper and some other homework. I'd much rather be running!

Website.

For pictures, videos and more you can go to www.impossible2Possible.com or www.jungle2010.com .

Reflections On The Experience Of A Lifetime

Now that I had a chance to write everything out that we did and had a chance to really soak in all that happened I can now appreciate the whole experience. I don't think that I could really write out how this experience changed my life or even talk about it for that matter. I had the opportunity of a lifetime to learn some valuable lessons that not many people get to experience first hand. I saw a lot of "stuff" for lack of a better word while I was in the jungle. I saw the way the people of the Amazon live selflessly. The jungle is part of them and they don't disrespect it like the world perceives they do. They have a way of living that has been going on since anyone can remember. I saw kids who were plenty happy without a PlayStation or cellphone. They got along just fine with a soccer ball and friends. These people don't have the luxuries that some people take for granted. And not once while I was there did I hear one kid whine or complain about something. These people LIVE their lives and that's what I hope to start doing. I envy them for their simplicity and courage. They make their food or they don't eat. There is no grocery stores or 3 am taco bell runs. Everything that I do I take for granted and I hope to change that by living more day to day or even minute to minute. These kids barely have a school. Learning shouldn't be a privilege. We complain about going to school and homework assignments... these kids dream of a school so that they can learn the tools to help them survive and make a change in their communities or even the world.
My goals over the next few years is to spread messages I learned while on this trip and incorporate other messages I may learn while in South Africa in the spring. I hope that one day this world can learn peace not only with one another, but also with the environment we live and rely on.

Day 14. Back At Home.

Even though my plane didn't leave until 1230 in the afternoon we all still went as a group to the airport. We had to say bye to Kat while we were still on the bus because she was in a different terminal, so sad because Kat was the first person I met on this trip and we both got to tour the Miami airport together before we experience the jungle. haha Once inside we waited by Sierra and Marshall's gate for awhile and just talked about everything. I was so excited to get home to see my family and friends, but at the same time I didn't want the journey to be over. When it was finally time for their plane to board we all said our goodbyes and I got real upset because this was it, we were all parting ways. I walked to my gate thinking about how much fun this whole experience had been and how lucky and blessed I had been to get to meet all these amazing people. I waited for awhile until my plane could board. I called my dad and he was trying to direct me around the airports, especially for a starbucks. My plane rides were for the most part smooth, but again I don't really care for flying so I just pop my headphones in and try not to listen to all the noises that I usually take for the plane crashing or something. After a long day of traveling I got off my place in Cleveland and walked as fast as I could to baggage claim. My parents were waiting by the escalators and it was so great to see them and give them hugs! My dad was taking all these pictures which I never want to look at because I probably look hideous! We talked all the way home about the expedition and what had been going on at home. When we pulled in the driveway they had a sign on the garage that said "welcome back to the states ambassador" oh how I love my parents! The puppies also have me the best greeting in the world with their little smiles and cute cheeks! There was also a ton of Halloween candy that I missed out on in the kitchen so I obviously went to town. We stayed up for awhile watching all the videos and checking out the website since I hadn't had a chance to look at it yet. I enjoyed the rest of the evening relaxing at home and drinking as much chocolate milk as possible.

Day 13. Leaving Paradise.

Wake up was at 345 am. We loaded up the bus and headed off to the airport in Santarem with everyone. Not to much happened, we were just waiting around for our flight to leave for Belem. The entire team was on this flight so no good byes just yet. Once we got to Belem the Canadians had to rush to their next plane and the Americans had a lot of down time. Saying bye to everyone was so sad. After only a little over a week of knowing these people I felt such a bond since we had been through so much together. I wanted to cry, but instead just smiled because I knew that I had made some great lifelong friendships along this journey and thats nothing to shed a tear over. Plus I'll see all these crazy people at the fun run anyways ;) The Americans waited around for awhile and finally we were en route to Manaus. We only had about an hour, which is just enough time to get a cheese burger at the airport! I was so excited to see "Bob's" because I had been craving a cheese burger since day one. Granted this place didn't have the best burgers, but it defiantly satisfied my hunger. Our flight back to the states was about 5 hours and we got a tiny dinner served to us, with a brownie as a dessert! Obviously the traveling home is what made me gain all the weight I had lost back. I was so excited to get into Miami and not to mention that the flight in over looking the city was astounding. We got through customs relatively quick and before I knew it were were back in the same plaza that we had all ate at before we left for Brazil, but this time Italian food. The shower I had that night was one of the best in my life. Getting that clean after that long felt amazing. My hair actually didn't feel dirty anymore and I felt like a girl again. I called my parents and was so happy to talk to them! I also called my room mates to hear all the drama that happened while I was away, although we saved all the details until I got home. We went to bed semi early since we had to be up early to catch our flights the next day.

Day 12. Shopping.

Up early, but this time not to trek. Some of us went for a run around town. It felt good to get my legs going at a faster pace again, but at the same time I really just wanted to relax and give my muscles a break. Breakfast always tastes better though after a run so I was happy I went and I got to check out some of Santarem. Breakfast was delicious. I had cinnamon roll bread I guess? With cold chocolate milk!!!! After breakfast the goal was to get all our videos done as quickly as possible so we could go to the market. We finished up all our exploratory questions, mainly the ones we were saving for the end anyways and did our last Gatorade questions that pretty much asked us to reflect on our entire experience. I guess that Gatorade will be using blurbs from our interviews for a mini series that will probably be online which is kinda cool! Once we had all our work done it was time to shop! We walked down towards the river where we were directed to for the market. Many of the stores weren't opened because it was election day. We were all kind of upset because we wanted to buy some things to take home for our friends and family. Luckily we came across a store that had just what we were looking for. Jewelry. I spent all my money practically because I didn't want to bring any home with me. On our way back we stopped for alittle and got ice cream and coconuts as refreshments. The walk back should have felt long and hot, but since we were so accustomed to it, it was over in a snap. We had some time to spare when we got back so Sierra and I went to the pool where some guy told us Canadians are good looking? And we said we were from the US. hahah That was what his friend told him to say since he only spoke Portuguese. After the pool we had to pack up our stuff because we were leaving for a lovely dinner that Shirley planned for us. We had to be there by sunset because the view was amazing. The word amazing doesn't even do it justice. We took a long a bumpy bus ride to get all of us there, but it was worth it. The meal was great, we all sat at a long table and just laughed and joked about everything under the sun for a few hours. It was the perfect way to end the experience.

Day 11. Back To Santarem.

In the morning we made the long walk back through the soft and squishy ground to the boat. Simonne made us eggs and bread with cheese. We got all ready then rode over to the beach to start out photo shoot. We took a ton of pictures. Some with the i2P banner, some with the USA and Canada flags, some with our gear on. Some pictures were mainly taken for our sponsors, but there are some funny ones in there too. The whole process took about an hour and a half and before we knew it we were back on the boat with our backs to the jungle heading towards Santarem. The boat ride was I think about 4 hours? I fell asleep for awhile until I started getting hit with waves. Then I stepped into the beauty parlor at the front of the boat where Hannah and Sierra were doing everyone's eyebrows. It was weird seeing the city. I was excited because of the new setting, but at the same time upset because the jungle was so mysterious and like nothing I had ever experienced before in my life and probably wont get another chance to again. Once we got to Santarem we checked into our hotel and relaxed for alittle until we all got there including out luggage. We had dinner in their buffet and it was so good not to be eating fish and rice! I felt ocean motion sick during dinner and it was hard for me to keep my eyes open. After dinner everyone pretty much passed out except the usual content guys, and I think Adrianna and Mark were up late doing the video for the Taquara School Fundraising. If it wasn't this night they were up late it was the next. It was weird to be sleeping in a bed and not in a hammock, I actually couldn't get comfortable right away.

Day 10. The Big Tree.

In the morning we woke up and got straight back on the boat and rode it for about two hours to our starting point. This gave us sometime to have a lesson and discuss some of the things we had seen the past few days. Once we arrived in the next community we trekked out towards one of the biggest trees in the forest. When we got there we took a ton of pictures and videos and even did the wave around the tree holding hands. I forget how many people it took to go around the tree, but it was quite a few! On the way back, our guide for the day showed us how to weave a basket out of palm leaves. We also saw things like bullet ants, leaf cutter ants and a huge moth that landed on Isaiah's backpack. The trek wasn't very far today again because we had to get back for a BGAN call. The very end of the hike was on a dirt road that led us to a school building next to a pavilion. After the 3rd and final BGAN we answered some questions that had been submitted onto the website. It gets kind of tedious because the same questions are being asked again and again like "what are you eating" and "what animals have you seen". After that we had to wrap up our Gatorade questions with an overall topic of hydration and what you will take back from this experience. I had a hard time with this because I didn't drink that much Gatorade at all. I put about one scoop into my bottles in the morning just to say that I had Gatorade (just not a lot of it... :) ) Even without the Gatorade I felt like I had enough energy to get me through the hikes. I did rely on the Gatorade bars though. I used the bars as my lunch and energy booster and they were perfect. They always settled my stomach if it was growling in the middle of the day. I don't think I'll start drinking Gatorade in the near future, but Im going to for sure invest in some of those bars. After the all the technical stuff was done we had to wait for Hannah and Shirley to get back. While we were waiting we had to say bye to the Bomberos who took such good care of us and became great friends. It was sad to see them go because they were with us from the start and although we couldn't always tell them what we wanted because of the language barrier I felt like they always knew what we were thinking. It's crazy how talking with your hands can help a conversation along. We got some pictures and they even gave us a Brazil flag to keep. Truly great people and we were sad to see them go, but they hadn't seen their families in over a week so they needed to go home. Once we got all packed up we headed back to the boat showered up (or rinsed off atleast for me) and brought our hammocks out to the last community we would be sleeping in. They made us fish and rice, of course but also they had a select few pieces of chicken that was delicious! Some good conversations happened over dinner and it was sad knowing that the expedition was coming to an end. After dinner we strung up our hammocks for the last time and dozed off. We were able to sleep in a tad bit longer today because we weren't trekking anymore. The next day was going to be dedicated to taking pictures and travel back to Santarem.

Day 9. On The Beach.

I don't know why, but Im having a hard time remembering the order in which things happened towards the end so Ill tell what I think is right. We drove back out to a community that had just opened its doors to ecotourism so they gave us a tour of their village and even showed us how they make manioc. The youth ambassadors even got hands on experience with the process. Kevin on the other hand wanted a taste, but soon after found out that manioc is very poisons if you eat it raw. Oops! This community was very up to date with things like computers and is even planning to get wireless. After our tour we hit the road, literally, today we weren't going to be trekking through the jungle. It was going to be mostly dirt road so that we could be in an open area when it came time for the BGAN call. I think that our distance was only going to be about 5 or 6k, but for me this was the hardest day. The sun was beating down on us, it was very very humid and hot. I put a ton of sun screen on, but it didn't seem to help. We were allowed to wear shorts since we werent going to be on the trails and snake guards were also out of the picture! We walked at a very fast pace so I think everyone was dripping sweat. I tried my hardest to drink as much water as I could, but it wasnt even quenching my thirst because it was practically boiling in my back pack. We even picked up an umbrella off the side of the road to shade us for awhile until it got too heavy and annoying to carry. When we reached the BGAN I think I was the most tired and exhausted I had been the entire trip. The BGAN went a lot smoother I felt this time. We all took turns very nicely answering the questions and I had a lot of fun! Sierra even answered a question in Spanish!? One of the Bomberos held the umbrella from earlier over our head so we could see the computer screen. We still had a little while to trek after the BGAN, but it wasn't bad. I could feel my skin burning even though I had clumps on sunscreen on. My necklace that Baba gave me started to turn my neck orange from my sweat and sunscreen mixing together. When we finished the trek for the day, the trucks were going to drive us to where the boat was. Easier said then done. The AC felt amazing after being in the blazing heat for a few hours, but before we knew it we were stuck in the sand and had to push the truck out, not once but twice. Although the second time was a complete fail and we ended up having to just walk across the beach, which wasn't that bad. Everyone else got a chance to go straight to the boat to shower, since we were all absolutely disgusting from the past 2 days of being in the jungle, but the 4 youth ambassadors, bob and Kevin had to stay behind to catch up on our Gatorade questions. I was so at peace laying in the sand watching the most beautiful sunset of my life and listening to the others talk. Even though I was so dirty I didn't care and I realized that I could just sit in that spot for the rest of my life and be content. Although I wasn't about to pass up a shower... which felt amazing even though I could barely wash my hair. Once we were all ready for the evening it was back to the beach where the local community cooked... you guessed it. fish and rice for dinner. Tonight our hammocks were just laid out onto the sand under alittle canopy. I thought I was going to enjoy this, but this night was the worst night of sleep I had the entire trip. I couldn't get comfortable, there were bugs all over me even though I had my mosquito net over top of me and the locals were up late around the fire. I eventually did fall alseep. The most spectacular sight of the night was the stars. No other time in my life will I probably be able to see them that clearly because there are absolutely no other lights to interfere with there beauty.

Day 8. Down Pour.

Another slow start in the morning. We packed everything up like we usually do every morning and headed out in the trucks so that they could take us for a special breakfast. We went back to the store where we had purchased almost every item she had. The store owner made us breakfast! She invited us back for eggs and hot rolls and coffee! It was so delicious! We hung out there for awhile and answered some more exploratory questions. Finally we headed out to make our way to the trails. We were again suppose to stay in the jungle for another night so we had to put our heads down and truck it there because you didn't want to be walking once night fell. We didn't really look at too much today as far as plants and animals go. Our guide though had three dogs that ended up following us the entire way on the trail. We had some pretty steep climbs and descents up ahead and the guide left us before we got to them because he had to go back. The one hill was literally straight up, barely anywhere to grab onto and the way down was just as bad. I had to put my gloves on, which I think the smell could maybe have knocked someone out... The hike today was shortened a little mainly because it was so humid and we had no water stops since we were so deep into the jungle. I drank my camel back so quickly I didn't even realize it. Soon enough we were at our campsite and ready to set up our hammocks. It was quite dark yet and the truck hadn't arrived yet with any of our supplies. We were just hanging out and all of a sudden we all start to feel water droplets. We thought it would pass over, but then it got heavier and we also heard thunder. The Bomberos started to make some sort of shelter out of palm leaves and all we could do was huddle together to be warm. It was amazing how cold it can get in the rainforest if you are wet. We tried to stand under this huge tree, but it didn't help at all. It poured for maybe 40 mins before the trucks came and then an executive decision was made that we couldnt sleep in the jungle in fear that it would continue to rain throughout the night and we were not prepared for it. We got everything together and hopped in the truck and drove to the ranger station that was quite a distance away. I should mention here that anytime we were in a car we were smashed with atleast 8-10 people in one car. When we were at the ranger station it stopped raining for awhile. We had to wait for the trucks to go back and get everyone else. The ranger station wouldn't let us stay with them because we had too many people, but some of the Bomberos and Palo went ahead and found this random farm where the owner wasn't home that we could stay in. I found out later that it was one of the Bomberos relatives, but for the longest time I just thought it was some random persons house. A side story: The dogs that were following us, one started limping and was hurt. Marshall picked up him and carried him to the truck. When I saw the dog in the back of the truck it was sleeping. The Bomberos went back into the jungle to look for the other two dogs so we could take them all home, but they couldn't find them. Also, there were piles and piles of trees that were striped and looked like lumber. Doc was filming them because the picture went well with the deforestation project and he ended up getting told to turn the camera off. It seemed shady, but it is all legal what they are doing when it comes to cutting down trees. They are allowed to cut down a certain number of a certain species and then they replant so that they don't kill off any one species. All the trees in the jungle (the big ones) are tagged so that they know exactly what they are allowed to cut down. After we all regrouped we headed out to the farm which was a short drive away. It was two buildings, two very nice houses. The farm is owned by the government so we were not allowed to do any filming there that night or take any pictures, we obeyed because this was our only option to sleep and we didnt want to disrespect anyone. We had our dehydrated meals for dinner, but the house also had cheese to munch on. This cheese was obviously the best cheese Ive ever had because it came straight from the farm that we were on! We strung our hammocks up around the porch of the house and luckily there were hooks so it was very simple instead of trying knots. After dinner we lounged around and went to bed semi early. It was nice having a roof over your head to fall asleep too.

Day 7. Into The Jungle.

We woke up the next morning very early and it still took us awhile to get going. I'll tell you now, not once did we get on the trails when we were suppose to. haha We had a lovely breakfast and even got to see some student head off to school. The education part of the team, Adrianna, Mark, Doc and Kat were busy trying to get interviews with some local students about their thoughts on the school before we left. When we finally got moving we were stopped by a local man who was selling jewelry. He presented the 4 youth ambassadors with rings made of coconut to show the community's appreciation for what we are doing for them. A lot of people ended up buying some pretty amazing things. Sierra bought a jaguar tooth necklace! I ended up traded the angle pin Baba gave me before I left for a frog necklace "for luck" (I gave it to Baba when I got back and she loved it!) and I also bought a bracelet. Once we finally got on our way we left for the deep jungle. We had everything packed up to stay in the jungle for two nights and left it with the Bomberos who would be meeting us in two trucks to take us into the deep jungle. It was too far to hike the entire distance; we would have ended up hiking in the dark. We walked along the beach for awhile and ended up at a river crossing where the trucks were waiting. It was absolutely scorching in the sun so it was nice to get in an air conditioned car. We drove to a store near by to restock on some food that we would need for the jungle nights. Lots of cookies, chips and crackers. We ate a lot of "junk" food for calorie purposes since we weren't stopping for lunch during the day and our dinners didn't contain many calories. The lady who owned the store probably was scared to death of us since we had practically an army with us! Also, we probably spent enough money in her store for her to take a trip to the Bahamas. haha After we restocked everything we headed our for quite a drive where the Bomberos dropped us off to start our hike. This hike wasn't very difficult, but it seemed hard for some reason because the previous day we didn't do much, it was like a rest. The youth ambassadors had a horrible habit of asking "how much further?" so Shirley decided to trick us. She told us we had about 2 hours or some sort of outrageous amount of time left so we put our heads down a trucked it trying to get to our campsite before dark, which would have been a HUGE problem. I'm not gonna lie, when she mentioned that it was potential we might be walking in the dark I did get nervous. At night is when the jungle comes alive and I was not about to be waltzing around running into jaguars and other dangerous animals! Anyways, we were really making good time and before we knew it we were at the campsite. It defiantly didn't take us 2 hours, more like 20 minutes. Shirley sneak attacked us so that we thought it was much further than it was so we would get there faster! We all died when we saw camp, so happy to be there! We had to hangout until the Bomberos got there with our camping stuff for the night. They drove the truck right up to the campsite so that in case of an emergency we had a quick way out. There were plenty of trees to string out hammocks up on, but many of them were very tiny and with 4 people to each little tree just calls for disaster. Doc's hammock took down one of the trees and Shirley's hammock with it. At one point I heard some parrots (Macaws) and looked up and got to see 3 flying overhead. This was the only animal that I absolutely needed to see coming to the Amazon! As soon as the sun went down the forest really did come alive. Insects that are probably the size of a grape were making siren noises and you could hear the howler monkeys plain as day. The monkeys sound like a jet engine about to take off (that was the analogy that Jessi used). That night we ate our first dehydrated meal. I though it was disgusting, but hey it was food. After dinner we all hung out and talked and played the game two truths and a lie. That game is a ton of fun when you play with people you don't know, especially all the people in our group since everyone is so interesting! I got tired real fast that night and crawled into my hammock praying that I could fall asleep with all the loud noises. It started to thunder in the middle of the night so I grabbed a tarp I had in my bag and put it over top of my mosquito net just in case it were to rain. Sleeping in the jungle was such a crazy experience because I know I'll probably never get the opportunity to do anything like that again. Amazing.

Day 6. Taquara.

With very little sleep from the night before, everyone rolled slowly out of their hammocks. We laughed and joked about the party from last night on our way back to the boat for breakfast. Every morning it was such a challenge for the whole group to get going. Everyday my clothes got more and more icky and smelly, but its weird how I would get use to it... it's also true that the smell was just as likely to be coming from the person next to you. The snake guards were starting to get really annoying just because they rubbed your lower leg and kept coming undone. Today's trek was short, intentionally because we would be making our way to Taquara which is the city where i2P is building the school. We were on the boat for quite awhile because the waves were huge, white capping, and the wind was strong. Then it started to rain. We werent in a rush since we had such a short trek, but when the rain finally did let up we hopped in our boat for about a 20 minute boat ride back to the community where we would start hiking from. Half way through the ride Sierra, Jessi, Kevin and I got to experience a true Amazon rainstorm first hand. It was the first rain the area has had in three months so it was so exciting! Within seconds we were all drenched. You could barely see 20 feet in front of you, thats how hard the rain was coming down! Finally we rammed the shore with our tiny boat and practically ran for shelter. Ray, Doc, Bob and Marsh were already on land so they got a cool shot of us making our way to the school house where they set up camp till the rain let up. This whole experience of being caught in the rain and being soaking wet was so cool, def a top ten moment! We chilled out and tried to warm up. We all thought for sure the other boat wouldn't come since the rain was so harsh that it felt like bullets to the face. It took them awhile, but the rest of the crew made it to the shelter. We just kinda hung out for awhile and decided we wouldnt start our trek until after our BGAN with the students. Doc decided we would have a lesson which was perfect because we were in a school. Simone, a wonderful women whose job it was to set stuff up with the communities managed to find us some food for lunch, you guessed it... rice. We ate and talked about biodiversity and had some discussion about issues surrounding the area. I found everything so interesting because I had already went over everything in my classes, but it was so different to actually see what was happening with my own eyes. The rain finally started to let up, but I was still freezing so I had to change into some dry clothes. The BGAN was so intense. The questions from the students were great, but they were being fired at us so quick, and we had to take turns answering and it was very overwhelming! I finally warmed up some and the rain had finally stopped so we attempted to get some more exploratory questions done with Palo since he could translate with the locals. We also had sort of a big gathering in the school with some of the kids from the community where we asked questions through Palo of the kids. It was a lot of fun interacting even though most of the kids were a little on the shy side. My favorite question was asking them if they had seen a jaguar. Almost all the hands in the room went up! Crazy. Soon enough we packed everything up and started our short hike to the community of Taquara.
As we entered the community the kids started to walk with us, holding our hands and I could tell just from that that they were excited to see us. The people of the community knew that there was a chance they might get a school built for them, but they didn't believe it would actually happen. From the moment they saw us, I think they knew that it was reality and that they would get their dream of having a school that could service something like 100 kids in the area, all the way up until high school. The new building won't be effected by flooding like the current school building is either. We reached the focal point of the community and we got changed into some dry and comfortable clothes. The chief of the community invited us to sit in on their meeting and together we all expressed our gratitude. They sort of swore us into their community and thanked us for coming because like I said, they didn't believe it until they saw us. This school project is their kids future for generations to come. The children also sang some songs that they had practiced for us. So adorable! At one point they were circled around us singing and they ended the song by placing their hand on our shoulders. It was defiantly and emotional scene. As much as I wanted to cry, I couldn't seem to muster the tears only because I was just so happy and all smiles to know that we are getting the chance to really make a difference in these peoples lives. It started to get dark, but they still had more for us to participate in. The youth ambassadors sort of hung out with all the children while the adults of the community prepared dinner and got ready for the ceremony. The A-team got some pretty cool tattoos on our arms (not real ones) and we got a ton of pictures with the kids. My favorite part of the evening is when Bob gave his camera to some of the children so they could take some pictures and I had all the other kids in the room doing funny poses with me for the camera! It's amazing how I couldn't say one word that they would understand but we were all laughing and smiling and just having a great time!
The meeting/ceremony started with two men blowing into large wooden poles making a low humming noise and creating some sort of design in the ground with them as they drug them across the sand. The fire was in the center and they circled around it a few times. Then with a recorder like flute playing a simple tune, girls form the community in grass skirts did a dance in a circle for us with a simple kind of two step. They danced around us for some time and then invited us to join in. We all held hands and did the simple dance with everyone from the community and at the conclusion of the ceremony we got to shake and or hug everyone who participated. We exchanged many Obrigadas (Thank yous) and so many smiles. This whole experience was truly life changing. To know that these people have very few of the luxuries that we take for granted everyday, including a school. We complain about going to school probably everyday... these kids don't even have a school. Learning shouldn't be a privilege, which is why this fundraising is so important. It will take the community three weeks to build that school (they will do all the labor themselves, the whole community will partake) and the rainy season starts in Jan. That a very small window for them to work with, which is why it is imperative for the money to be raised by December 1st.
After all the events of the night we set up the hammocks and hit the sack. A lot of content was taken that night and the usual tech crew was up late putting everything together.
I feel like I may have mixed something up when writing about this day, but everything I wrote all happened, I'm just not sure about the order because it was just so eventful.

This night is a night I will remember forever.

Day 5. Swampy.

You know when the sun is about to rise when you can hear the roosters... I slept fairly well on the beach in my hammock, but it did get chilly out and dogs were barking through most of the night. We again tried to get on the trails by 7am, but it took our group awhile to get going in the morning. Breakfast was on the boat and was practically the same as the day before. I got dressed in the same outfit as the day before. Trekking pants, under armor longsleeve, gators, trail shoes, snake gaurds, sun glasses and my back pack filled up with water and Gatorade. Once out on the trail we trekked our longest distance of the entire trip. Today was the day we were heading to the swamp! We walked along for quite awhile and the A-team talked about everything because talking made the km's go by pretty fast. Before we knew it we were at the creek that we were able to cool off in. The current in water was strong so the Bomberos stood around to make sure none of us got lost down the river. The A-team swam across. Sierra did so well, I on the other hand was reaching for the Bomberos. After that it was time to cross the soggy swamp. It was tough trying to pinpoint your next move. I kept saying it was like a puzzle trying not to sink in. As we were crossing it was also raining and thundering so it was exactly how the rainforest should be! So perfectttt! Crossing across the river upstream alittle was a lot more involved because the current was even worse and it was crazy deep! There was a tree luckily that stretched from one end to the other that we were able to cross with. Sierra went first with a Bomberos helped. They both walked across relying on balance. They almost fell in and it was so scary. Then Jessie and Shirley went next. Jessie asked Shirley right before they dipped into the water what was in the river. Shirley told her she would let her know once they reached the other side. Apparently everything from snakes to stingrays lived in that area... I followed close behind Jessie and I decided not to get my back pack wet so I shuffled over keeping my arms stiff and straight and not getting anything lower then my mid back wet. After everyone was across we were all freaking out because the experience was so awesome! During the swamp crossing there were a lot of pictures taken and content filmed. It was crazyyyy. We finished out the trek and all together we saw a bunch of animals. I won't named them all but we did see snakes, lots of butterflies, and insects. It was so interesting learning about everything from the Bomberos and Shirley. They seem to know everything there is to know about the jungle. We arrived at the community we would be sleeping at after a good 20 kms of hiking that day. We were able to return to the boat and get some snacks and change out our gear and grab our hammocks. We then set up everything in the community and ate dinner that they prepared for us. Fish and rice, not surprising... haha I had such a hard time with the bones, it scared me so bad because I didn't want to swollow one. Not to mention the fish still had teeth and its little fins. Also there were a bunch of kids that hung out with us for awhile. The conversation never made it past how old are you and what is your name. Palo, one of our guides and translator, showed up after awhile and we could finally talk to them. We got some of our exploratory questions done with the kids. Also, the President of the community who was suppose to take us around the next day unfortunatey got stung by a sting ray. His foot had a huge hole in it and it was very black and blue. The doctor came to him after a few hours and gave him medicine to ease the pain and he will be okay. Sting rays hide under the sand in the rivers, so you have to shuffle your feet during any water crossing so that you can get them to move and not step on one. There was also a party that night, since it was Saturday, in the community. Since we were exhausted we didnt attend, but let me tell you. The party raged on until 430am. And when that was over the roosters started with their daily routine. I got virtually no sleep that night.

Day 4. First Trek Through The Jungle.

The goal was to be ready to go by 7am. That didn't happen. We were up early, but it just took everyone a long time to get going. We had breakfast on the boat, most of the same stuff from the day before. We were told to load up on calories because we wouldn't be stopping for lunch today, or any other day for that matter. Lunch would be considered all the snacks we had bought like ruffles and cookies and crackers. We also had plenty of Gatorade bars for an energy boost. Hydration was the most important part of today because none of us were use to the humidity or the heat so we had to replace all that we lost with water and Gatorade. I'm not much of a Gatorade drinker so I had a tough time taking down anything but water. I knew that Gatorade would be helpful, but I just didn't put that many scoops into my bottles.
It may have been around 830 when we finally were ready to start trekking. We met some local people right before we were under the canopy. They were great, very nice and excited to see us. Isaiah gave a little kid a pair or booties from his culture, it was so cute!
A lot happened during this day. We were told it was going to be the toughest day. Everything was going smoothly, we were learning about all sorts of things in the jungle from our guides Shirley and Pene. They told us all about different plants and insects. Butterflies were everywhere and every single one as pretty! Ray was obsessed with them! All through the trek the A-team was being photographed so it was kinda weird at first. I never knew if I should look at the camera or keep doing what I was doing. After awhile I got use to it and became a lot more comfortable in front of the camera. There were so many intense hills and climbs on this part of the trek. I should also mention that Shirley puts on the Jungle Marathon every year and it is a stage race through the jungle that lasts alittle over a week. Ray competed in it a few years back so he knew exactly what we were in for. We followed the trail from the Jungle Marathon and had a water stops at the same places the race did. I couldn't believe that people actually run on this trail for a race, thats how steep these climbs and descents were. Everyone was good up until the first water stop where the Bomberos filled up our bladders and bottles. I apparently wasn't drinking enough because my bladder wasn't empty. Marshall was mainly in charge of monitering our hydration so he just told me to keep drinking and drink more. It was tough to force water when I really wasn't thirsty, but it had to be done.
As the day went on it continued to get more humid and the temps warmed up. Thank god we were under the canopy and in the shade. Alittle while after the first water stop Isaiah started to feel the effects of the humidity. He started to slow down and over heat. We stopped so that the rest of the A-team could distribute some items in his pack so he wasn't carrying so much. While we were sitting, someone yelled bees. We had to run down this steep hill to avoid being stung. It was scary at the time, but funny after the fact. Once we were out of harms way, we decided to let Isaiah lead at his pace and made sure that he was drinking enough. Someone also asked him about how many layers he had on. He had like 7... tights, pants, underarmor, tshirt. He is from the Yukon so I guess he was expecting some sort of snow storm. haha just kidding if you read this ;) After we got everything figured out he was good to go and we finished the trek for the day at the same point we went into the jungle at. It was a huge loop. We didn't get to the waterfall because we had to be back for a BGAN call at 3pm so we didn't have time. We headed back out to the boat to change and gather our stuff for our nights sleep in the community. The BGAN didn't work because it isn't made to get a single on the water, it has to be on land so we missed out first call. This meant that the next call had to go through because these students were counting on seeing us! We got boated back to the community and set up our hammock in trees along the beach. The sunset was beautiful, like nothing I have ever seen before. The sun and the moon were up at the same time. The President of the community cooked us dinner, which was fish and rice and manioc. We had to be careful because of the small bones. The fish still had heads, teeth and eyes. Kinda creepy at first, but I was starving and wasn't about to go to sleep without any calories, especially because I would regret it the next day. After dinner everyone pretty much just gets ready for bed and passes out because we have to be up at literally the crack of dawn. This time around I got some advice that in your hammock you can lay diagonally and you will get a flatter suface. This helped out a lot. Even though I spent most of the night curled in a ball because it was so cold! I wouldn't think that it would get that cold at night on the equator! Another side note: we had mosquito nets over our hammocks to prevent getting bit by anything during the night, but I am also taking Malaria pills just as a precaution!

Day 3. Escola Da Floresta.

We woke up pretty early to have some breakfast and have a meeting on what the whole expedition will entail. Breakfast consisted of crackers, fruits, pineapple, bread and coffee. The i2P team seems to be pretty obsessed with coffee and I tried "their" coffee and I have to say I liked the Brazil coffee a whole lot more! After breakfast we had introductions to the team and talked about what we had to accomplish on the expedition mainly for the students following along. We had to work on the Exploratory Questions that students from selected schools submitted, other questions from students from the i2P website, Gatorade questions, and some other various tasks like using the flipcam for CNN. Every night Ray, Doc, Bob and Kevin would compile all the content we shot over the day and put it together and edit it to make the videos you see on the website. The guys would be up till like 1 in the morning editing content and then they would send it out the next day via BGAN which was our key to communication and how we had our video calls to the students to answer questions.
After our meetings we put on our i2P tshirts and headed off to the Escola Da Floresta which is a learning center that students come to as sort of a field trip from their normal school in the cities to learn about environmental issues in the area. This place was beautiful and had so many different kinds of plants from the rain forest. We also had a chance to see some kids on their field trip and Isaiah played his Morning Song with his drum for the students. After learning all about the learning center we headed back to the hotel so that we could walk down the street for some dinner. The dinner, although it took awhile to arrive, was one of the best meals I have had in a long time. Beautifully cooked chicken, rice and many other side dishes. I also tried tongue.... and thats all I have to say about that... haha After dinner we did some more packing and got everything ready to head out to the boat which was leaving from Shirley's house just down the road. We hung out there for awhile as all our gear was being shuttled over to load onto the boat and we got to try cashew fruit, which grows pretty much everywhere. It's amazing how you can just pick fruit off the trees and eat it because there are no pesticides or any chemical to worry about. The youth ambassadors, or A-Team as Shirley called us, got shuttled to the boat in a motor boat and already my feet were wet. As soon as we were on the boat we set up our hammocks, or well the Bomberos set them up. Bomberos are technically "firemen" and they were our safety guards for the entire trip. They literally helped with everything and I don't think we could have completed the expedition without their help. They were all so great! After the hammocks were set we had our first lesson. Doc, Adrianna, Mark and Kat would conduct lessons for the A-team so that we could connect what we learned with what we saw our in the jungle. The lessons were the same as the modules that the kids were following along with at home so we were all on the same page. Afterwards we practically hit the sack and went to bed. The hammock was so uncomfortable the first night. I was between Sierra and Isaiah and kept hitting them all night from the swinging. The boat didn't dock till early the next morning. Sometime in the middle of the night our boat hit a sandbar. The Tapajos River is usually something like 5 meters deep and since it is the dry season it is only about 1 meter deep. Another boat had to come and push/pull us off to get us back on our way. I don't even remember this happening, I just thought it was all a dream. The air was cool and I only slept with a light blanket and my jacket that I used for a pillow.

Day 2. Off To Brazil.

345 AM is extremely early, especially when Sierra wakes up in the middle of the night to sleep talk to you. haha Off to the Miami airport we waited in a very long line to check all our bags of luggage including the team bags that carried the Gatorade and medical stuff. Security went fast and before I knew it we were on the plane to Manaus. It was about a 5 hour plane ride and I was lucky enough to switch seats with someone to sit next to Sierra. We had a lot of time to talk and I feel like we bonded very fast. The plane ride consisted of naps, eating, talking and watching the movie "Running The Sahara". Ray, the founder of i2P is in the movie so it was a perfect pick and very inspirational.
We landed in Manaus and had to wait in the longest line ever to get through customs. Mainly because our luggage came out at a different carousel so we were like the last people in line. After that we had a few hours to kill before our next flight to get us to Santarem. All the adults got on the computer and Sierra and I fell asleep on the floor. Our flight was leaving soon and as we were trying to find out where to board (the airport wasn't big at all) all the employees kept telling us that the plane to Santarem wasn't our plane. It was the only plane leaving at that time and we weren't really sure what we were doing, but next thing I know Bob is out on the tarmac yelling to see if it was our plane. No security even tried to stop him. Fianlly we all ran out towards it and all the guy had to say was "my bad" haha. There were a few stops on the way to Santarem, but when we got there Ray and Shirley were there to greet and pick us up. We squished I think 8 people and about 12 or so bags into Shirley's SUV/blazer kind of care. I don't know how we did it but it wasnt very comfortable. Let's just say we all got very close very quick haha.
We ended up at a hotel in Alter do Chao, which
Shirley said was the closest thing to civilization before you hit the jungle. The USA part of the team got there way earlier than the Canadians so we had plenty of time to sorta through the rest of our gear and pack everything up. Our room had AC which was nice to have that luxury one last time before hitting the jungle and really roughing it! I also took my last "shower" before heading out that night and it was sooo nice! We had to be up early the next morning so we went to bed semi early, I didn't even hear the Canadians come in that night thats how tired I must have been. Before we fell asleep I remember mentioning how nervous I was to be on camera and how it was going to be the hardest thing for me communicating with all the kids and interviews and stuff. I have never really been on camera so I was obviously nervous. Last night in a bed, the next week and a half would be spent in a hammock!

Day 1. Getting There.

I haven't been on a plane in a long time so I was obviously pretty nervous. My parents dropped me off and we got there pretty early because I was expecting security to be really tight for some reason. I ended up sitting in front of my gate for a long time waiting. The plane ride wasn't so bad, although I don't particularly like it. I arrived in Charlotte for a short layover and there I met up with Kat who was a guide on the expedition and a great photographer. We both headed down to Miami to meet the rest of the USA part of the team. It took us quite along time to meet up with everyone else because Miami is such a huge airport! The shuttle finally came around to take us to the hotel and there I finally got to put a name with a face for Bob, Mark, Sierra and Marshall.
At the hotel we were given about half of our gear that we had to sort through and pack up. It was such a challenge to figure out what I needed and what would just get in the way. Kat on the other hand was an expert. I laughed at her when I saw the bag she brought to Miami, but I realized she knew exactly what she was doing with all the stuff she brought! Afterward packing for quite some time we all went out for dinner where we got a chance to talk. Everyone who went is so inspirational and has achieved so many great things (I won't go into detail, but everyone is amazing!) After dinner we walked back to the hotel and hit the sack because our wake up call was at 345!

Expedition Amazon.

This may take a long time to write and it still probably wont contain everything that I experienced on my journey to the Amazon Jungle. I am going to try to split everything into the days, although while there the days seemed to run together and I honestly just lost track of time. These past 2 weeks have changed my life. I met some pretty amazing people, tried some exotic foods, saw dangerous animals and insects and experienced a whole different way of life through the communities we trekked through and stayed with. On a scale of 1-10 this trip gets a for sure 10!

Expedition Amazon.