Armadillos, Bubbles, Wenches & Other Assorted Craziness

To say that I was tense on our way upriver for the umpteenth time would be an understatement.  After wobbly boats, boats splitting in half, Sam falling in the water without a life jacket, almost flipping our boat (and the list goes on) my nerves were on edge. Which is saying a lot considering the fact that I used to love riding in boats AND I had just had an amazingly relaxing vacation in Panama with our friends the Louderback’s but nevertheless I was. Tense that is.

Astonishingly enough we had a very uneventful trip up with amazing weather and only having to push once J Thank goodness!! The pleasant weather continued for the rest of the day and we were able to visit, unpack, swim/bathe and have a pretty good dinner. My muscles were really sore though when I woke up the next morning – all that stress really got to me.

On Wednesday the kids and I helped Adam clear off some brush and Estevan came to visit. He and Adam decided to have church on Wednesday (so of course they all showed up on Thursday). Which turned out to be a big day for us. 

Adam wanted to take the boat to the other side of the river to collect bags of sand and pebbles to help keep our path from being so muddy and slick.  But because of all of our recent troubles Adam wanted to test the boat out first before we put the whole family in it. However, Sophia really wanted to go (Isabell Kate and Samuel were sleeping) so she went with him. As per usual the boat died halfway across – Adam had to jump out and pull it to shore. He couldn’t fix it without tools so him and Sophia were stuck on the other side of the river. I was watching all of this from the house but I was unable to help do anything. Adam realized that the only way to get back across was for them to swim.

So I watched helplessly as Adam walked to the farthest point upriver – he then took off their boots and his shirt (apparently the long sleeves prevent him from swimming well) and he put Sophia on his back.  

They start the swim over to my side of the river, and can I just tell you that I almost vomited as I watched that current take them. Good grief - the water was moving. I honestly wasn’t too terribly worried because Sophia had her life jacket on and Adam is a very good swimmer, however I kept expecting them to walk up the hill and they never did. 

By this time about 15 kids had gathered in front of the house and they were all looking down the hill (my view was obstructed) so I finally called down and asked if they saw Adam and Sophia. They yelled back, ‘NO!’ .... WHAT!? I said, "seriously!??" And then another girl said, "Yes, we can see them"….whatever. 

So I am starting to panic at this point and I am pulling on my boots while deciding to just leave the kids sleeping in the house and I run out to look and see if I can find them. I hear my name being called out and I turn around and there are Adam and Sophia coming down the trail that leads to town. Whew. 

Apparently while fighting the current Sophia freaked out and almost strangled/drowned Adam because she was squeezing his neck so tight and so they had to float around the bend in the river and to the first bank you get to for Shakay. 

Adam had to then carry Sophia through town barefoot and shirtless (I wish I had pictures of that but you will just have to imagine it – in my panic who knows where the camera was). 

Of course, poor Adam had to get his tools and then swim back across the river to fix the boat. Fortunately he was able to fix it and drive it back over so he didn’t have to swim again. He definitely slept well that night J

On Friday the sky cleared up and the sun came out for the first time since we had arrived. We were so excited we all went down to the river and watched Adam make a ladder (our first one had already rotted and ruined). The kids and I were picking up sticks that had washed down stream into our bathing area when I looked down and saw a snake swimming across the river. 

I don’t know if you have ever seen a snake swim but it is super creepy.  All I could tell was that it was big, black and had a white belly. I also knew that I didn’t have a machete and that Adam needed to come kill it. 

I yelled for him and he came running but amazingly enough he didn’t have a machete either and it was a fast snake. It slithered up the bank and into the brush (at least it was the brush opposite from us). I asked Adam if it was poisonous and if he had seen that particular snake before (he has seen two and it was actually the first one I had ever seen). He said no, that one was about 3 times the size of the ones he had killed. Oh great. I said, “so was it poisonous?” He said, “Well its head was the size of a boulder and it had a blunt tail so yeah.” Oh ok. 

Well to me it just looked black….so good to know…also good to know that it is still out there alive somewhere.

Saturday morning promised to be sunny and hot so we weren’t too surprised when we received visitors at 6:30am. I was still upstairs feeding Isabell Kate but I heard Adam talking to some women. When I came down he said, “Guess who came by to say hi??” Ummm, I have no idea – who? Delia, the lady who thought we had demon children; apparently she was going across the river to hunt. He said, “I think she wanted you to go with her?!” 

Sadly (and I truly was sad – I really wanted to be friends with her, even if that meant I had to hunt) she had already crossed the river so I couldn’t go.

I didn’t even know that the women hunted, but evidently Saturday was ‘women’s hunting day’ because everyone we knew went hunting. And what were they hunting for, you might ask. Well folks, they were hunting for armadillos. Yup, that’s right, armadillos (which I have recently learned can carry leprosy.... nice little fun fact).

Apparently they let their dogs lose and then the women chase them (in rubber boots) through the jungle until they find an armadillo hole – then they dig it out with their machetes and kill the poor sucker. True story. (So in hindsight – a little glad I missed that) I am gonna have to get in better shape in order to survive Shuar hunting trips J

Other Random Facts Before I Go: 1. Isabell Kate got her first bath in a sink (no pictures of that either because slippery wet baby and small metal sink means that you need at least 4 hands) 2. Adam had the pleasure of eating cold, day old armadillo soup…. Which was mostly skin and scales 3. Our friend Lucho lost 40 planks of wood because the water rose so high in the night and our boat sank (Adam was able to use the wench and get it out, but Lucho never found his wood) 4. A thirteen-year-old girl drank poison and died in Mariposa (a Shuar community a little farther up river) we saw the coffin go by in a peek boat - super sad 5. Delia came by before we left and chatted with me for over an hour so I think we might still have a chance at being friends 6. And last but not least – church went well and we had a new family join us – Guillermo and his wife (who is Hermocina’s sister) and their 4 children. Guillermo has tons of questions and seems eager to learn, so that is exciting!

All in all it was a great trip – full of excitement, terror and jaw dropping amazement – just another normal day for us J Thanks so much for your continued prayers, comments and encouragement!

Here is a video of the kids playing and then some pictures that we did manage to take (wink, wink). Enjoy.

I think at one point we had every Shuar child in Shakay in our house :) ahhh, the memories.

Isabell Kate was quite the star

coloring and sharing cookies

These are two of Delia's children

Guillermo and Adam

Lucho and Betty (the girl on the left I had never seen before) the woman with her back to the camera is Guillermo's wife.

jungle sunset

Isabell Kate loved the hammock & we loved that she loved it :)

I learned how to use a pressure cooker :)

This is some scary jungle caterpillar thingy....

the new ladder and the rising water

this would be the current and water level that Adam and Sophia swam

burning trash

watching me cut vegetables was almost as fun to them as blowing bubbles....crazy.

ahh yes, the sunken boat

our little cutie - she is 5 months now!!

Flat pancakes for dinner - makes everyone smile :)