Dyeing in the Jungle

Hola amigos!

I am picking up some really great introductory Spanish.  No wonder living in another country makes you learn another language so easily.  I really wish that I knew more and could talk to all the locals like Dr. O does!  Some of them speak English as well but a translator is always helpful.

Yesterday, we used all natural dyes made from different plants to dye tshirts.  They had very many colors: two shades of green, three shades of red, yellow, purple and a blue.  The blue was super cool.  It is called huito and we also used it to tattoo ourselves!  Giermo (one of the guides, not sure on the spelling) is a very talented artist and drew all sorts of animals and scenes and designs on our skin.  I have a red-tailed boa on my right bicep!!  We all also each painted one of our hands blue and its so startling to see because it almost looks like we are diseased!  The ladies also all painted our toenails bright green, as well as on the hand that is blue.  So cool!

A few of us went canoeing yesterday.  The river is very high, the soccerfield here is about 6 feet under water.  We tried to canoe down this little tributary but as soon as we got in there, Hannah (our TA, sitting in the front) saw a snake in the water and four alligators and she began climbing backwards through the boat!  I think those things were just sticks but it was around 5:30/6 so the sun was starting to go down.  We turned around and sat quietly in the middle of the river.  It was so beautiful and peaceful, being completely surrounded by nature.  ALl of a sudden, we heard a huge splash  next to us!  We when turned to look, we saw a river dolphin!  The myth is that female river dolphins want friends, so at the full moon they seduce girls and then pull them under the water and turn them into dolphins too.  There were four girls in the canoe and a full moon last night.  OOooOOOooOOOooo

Today we are looking for more river dolphins (noone else on the trip hs seen one) and then we hike deeper into the jungle and stay at a different lodge.  We won't have internet there so adios amigos!