Vida Verde - Life in Green River

The alarm rings at 6:30 am and we hit snooze, once….twice…three times before we finally roll out of bed and hustle to get dressed – breakfast was the usual fried eggs and rice, so we didn`t miss much by ¨sleeping in¨. Our last day at El Placer (the school we`ve appropriately named ¨el zoologico¨) has arrived. We should have worn pads under our clothes to prepare for the borage of students who nearly held us captive at the end of the day. ¨No se vayan – Don`t leave!!!!¨ they pleaded.

We could have never predicted how a small town teaching experience would be. The teachers were kind and fairly helpful when it came to disciplining the students, who treated us like most students around the world treat substitute teachers. Having received no grades from us whatsoever, the incentive was personal for each child and depended on their individual motivation to want to learn the language – a skill that could potentially earn them job security in the future. We found the best teaching method was through play, by relating a new language with fun tasks such as mask making, color-by-numbers, songs, useful dialogue and fortune tellers, of course all in English. In the short month we´d hoped to have left the students with a basic knowledge of the language, but primarily attempted to peak their interest while exposing them to a new culture.

Our instincts were right on when we chose to volunteer for a month in Rio Verde. By doing so, we achieved a middle ground between travelling and living, having unpacked our bags and left our Lonely Planet to collect dust in the corner. In exchange, we picked up local friends and a family. We had a home and a job with responsibilities, but still managed to get off by 1 pm, at the latest, to enjoy the same freedom we had before as travellers.

Daily treks down the lengthy trail to El Pailon, with its picturesque ¨Land Before Time¨ feel, irresistibly delicious food, and great company, got us ready for the upcoming Inca Trail hike. Irma and Diego, two amazingly friendly Argentines who ran the restaurant ¨El Otro Lado¨, offered us a second home by allowing us to stay gratis (free) in their exotic cabañas in exchange for lending a hand in the restaurant during busy weekends. Claire took full advantage of the opportunity to waitress in español, while Ryan did his best to avoid taking photos every 2 minutes of the ¨straight-up-Sidhartha surroundings¨. Bonnie would have been in heaven, gardening in an ideal year-round climate and cooking up her famous Chick-a-Curry for an international crowd. Maybe she can take over the lease when the Argentines finish in August.

The longest friendship we had in Rio Verde, having been established on our first visit there as tourists, was with two artesanos: Oscar from Ecuador and his novia (girlfriend) Ruth from Germany. Their caring personalities not only showed through in the custom-made necklaces they crafted for us, but also in the form of generous tidings of homemade strawberry marmalade and garlic butter—which we took the utmost pleasure in accepting. They were such kindred spirits, helping us feel like a big part of their lives even if our stay was short.

Above all, the long nights with these amigos spent storytelling about travels and adventures will remain the highlights of our time in Rio Verde. As the following Oda al Rio Verde states, we`ll be near at heart even with continents between us, and awaiting future visits with open doors.

As for us, we`re on our way south to Peru, stopping off in Cuenca and Loja to take in more mountain scenery before dipping down to the coast for a 20+ hour bus ride to Lima. The grand finale of our journey: the 4-day Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. See you all soon to do more story-telling in person!!

For more Rio Verde photos:
http://picasaweb.google.com/clapoma/RioVerdeII