You all may have been wondering where all of us SAM Semester students have been! I assure you we are all well and safe. We just got back today from a little rurual mountain town named Pucara. Here many of us had the opporunity of a lifetime. Where else would you be able to go to a rural town in a forigen country and be welcomed into the homes of the community members, eat meals with them, dance, play and laugh?
Our trip to Pucara was a busy one, despite all the rain! We all got the opportunity to tour a beautiful farm set in the luscious green hillsides of Pucara, as well as learn about and see sustainable agriculture in action. Next we planted trees on the steep vegetated landscape with a carbon offseting program to ofset our carbon foot print for this amazing experience. Despite the bug bites and sun burns we managed to plant over 150 trees. Later in the week, we hiked to the ranch of a anti-mining acitivist named Carlos. Here we learned about the recent mining conflict that has been occuring in the Intag region of Ecuador. The three hour hike, (more like mud slide) to Carlos’s house took us through the biodiverse cloud forest of the region.
Before leaving Pucara for the night we saw the process from plant to cup of one of the Intag regions cash crops, Coffee. We left Pucara and had a relaxing evening at some hot springs near by. Our mode of transportation to the hot springs…Zipline!! While a nerve racking way to travel it was all worth it on this 1/2 mile long, 1000 foot high zip line over a gorgeous river valley. On our return to Pucara we worked with Pucara’s Peace Corps volunteer, Manny, to implement environmental education in the local elementary school. Here we worked on clearning a piece of land for the students to start their very own garden, as well as assisting the students in putting on a play about the importance of recycling.
For our last day in Pucara, we helped Pete, our local contact in Pucara plant trees on his farm. Pete has been implementing sustainable farming and various other environmentally friendly projects in Pucara for years. We ended our visit to Pucara with a going away party, where there was lots of dancing, singing and laughing. A special thanks to all the community members of Pucara, as well as Pete and Manny for all their hard work! Thank you for making our trip to Pucara a great experience full of learning, and unforgetable memories.
Today we said farewell to our host families and the becautiful town of Pucara. While for some of us adjusting to the life and culture in a rurual setting as was difficult, we all gained insight and learned about the life of many of those around the world. For others the language barrier posed a great challange being that some of us don’t know much spanish. However from my homestay experience I learned that you don’t always need langauge and words to create a relationship with others. A smile is universal in all languages. THANK YOU PUCARA!
On a sad note our dear friend, and group member Rachel had to leave us during our stay in Pucara. You will be missed dearly. We will be thinking of you every step of the way. With much love and support from your SAM Semester.
To all of our family and friends back home we miss you! Stay tuned to hear more about our wonderful adventure!
– Maggie
PS. Sorry there is no photos to show, I am not able to upload them at this time. I will try again within the next few days.