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.