Last day..

Hey all of you! I want to sound excited, but in fact I´m not. Today was my last day with this incredible group of people. I can´t believe my journey here is coming to an end. During this volunteering experience we´ve achieved our goal which was to improve the children´s English. However, while the principal aim of the project was to teach the kids another language besides theirs, we also helped the community in terms of economy, administration, infrastructure, etc. We built a school and a playground area for the kids to play. We also installed a library with books in English, Portuguese and gave them the tools to write their own books in their own language. Nevertheless, they taught me a plethora of things such as appreciating the nature, understanding how important family and team work is and that in most of the cases material stuff are valueless. I will carry them in my heart for the rest of my life hoping to be able to come back someday. This has been definitely the best experience I´ve ever had and I totally recommend it to all of you lovely readers! I will be starting a new project when I arrive to Chicago. This will be based on raising money to build schools in the Amazonian jungle. I look forward to hearing from you soon and expect you to contact me by mail (already posted) or simply by commenting below. Thank you so much for being part of this amazing adventure! Best wishes.

Hello loyal readers! I´m extremely ashamed of not blogging since last month! I know, I know.. I´m the worst blogger ever but it had been like Mission Impossible for me to find some time even to sleep! So I apologize and hope you´ll be understanding given the situation. To start with, the tribe chiefs invited me to go to a 3-days excursion last week (it´s the map I uploaded a couple of days before but didn´t have the time to comment). Firstly we went to Itacoatiara where the landscapes are incredibly different from where the tribe is settled. It´s more like a touristic destination. I had the chance to try some typical brasilian drinks such as caipirinha (what they call "caña”, lemon and sugar) or piña colada (rum, pineapple juice and coconut milk). On our way home we stopped in Manaos which is probably the biggest city in the Amazonian area, but honnestly it wasn´t that interesting for me. So we decided to leave earlier than we had planned to and we took a ferry which transported us to our "home" by the Amazonian River. During the way, we made several stops and in one of them I was encouraged to zip-line high up in the trees (dad if you read this I know you´ll be proud of your little girl!). The view from the altitude was spectacular! It was so fun! We had a blast! P.D: I´m posting a picture of Itacoatiara, piña colada and caipirinha!

Hey guys! I´m leaving you here a picture of where I´m staying. I know what you are thinking, it seems like a movie to me too! XOXO

Ver mapa más grande

Welcome back lovely readers! As you all may know, i´ve been extremely busy these days becoming a part of this amazing group of people. I know it would be nice for me to tell you what I´ve been doing but it´s pretty impossible given the fact that we are always doing different things! It´s magic they don´t have a routine, they do whatever they want to, when they want to. However, it´s late right now, so I can tell you what my activities of today were. Well, I woke up early in the morning (I have to admit they are crazy about the time they wake up, it is still dark. They say it is a sacrifice for their god, but for me it´s just the worst part of the day) and we cooked some typical food. I said it was delicious, but in fact it tasted like plastic. Anyway, we then arranged with the kids to meet in a kind of square where they usually make the decisions of the tribe, just like the Greeks did in the past. I thought they were going to get distracted easily given that they are not used to be in a class where they have to listen to a teacher. Surprisingly, they were more focused than I was in highschool last year! Their respect for the olders is astonishing. In summary, I taught them basic expressions and idioms such as "Hello, how are you?" or "What´s your name?". The best part was that in our way home, to the center of the village, they couldn´t stop repeating those expressions! In the afternoon while men went hunting for dinner, women prepared costumes for the party which took place just a few hours ago by the bank of the river. We made a bonfire and danced around it. It was amazing when a little kid asked me to sing in English, I was so embarrased! Thanks god they all started to sing as well even if they had no idea what the lyrics meant (I taught them "Let it be"!). So here I am now, super excited about this incredible experience and waiting for tomorrow to be even better than today (I have to say it´ll be nearly impossible!). I´ll go to bed because remember I´m waking up extremely early tomorrow! I expect feedback from you, so comment below of just e-mail me (michilambrechts1@gmail.com). Cheers! PD: This is Anne, my colleague, dancing with the kids!

My first impressions

That morning I woke up before the alarm clock rang. I was so anxious about leaving that even if I had slept less than 6 hours that night, my body felt relaxed and rested. I took a shower, dressed up and went to the kitchen where my mother had prepared breakfast for me. I could see in her face that she was happy because she knew that it was what I really wanted, but so sad because she knew in her inside that these 6 months were going to be endless. Anyway, my father came home and gave me a ride to the airport. Thanks god there was no traffic jam and we could rapidly arrive to American Airlines terminal. Honestly, I had packed the night before and I wasn´t over weighted at all, I only packed the most necessary things. My passport checked, my luggage dispatched it was time to go. I could see my family from the line, my mom desperately crying and my father trying to avoid it.  It was heart breaking but I knew I had to do it; it was time for me to do something meaningful with my life.  Once I crossed security check I realized my journey had just started and I was super excited about it. Luckily, there were no turbulences during the flight and before I knew it I was already landing. Shockingly, they made us get out of the plane by a sort of stairs and then walk through the landing strip to get to the inside of the airport. The first thing I noticed was how hot it was, it was 8 pm and the temperature was suffocating. There was no wind at all, not like in my loved Chicago! When I entered the building, I perceived people everywhere! Finally, after having crossed the customs point I remembered I needed my suitcase. I tried to understand Brazilian signs, but I couldn´t. A guy, who was staring at me, easily discovered I was desperately looking for baggage claim. He fortunately talked a little bit of English and walked me there. I have to say, that I´m amazed for how nice and friendly Brazilians are. Afterwards, I got out of Manaus airport hoping someone could give me a ride to at least Tefé. Even if it wasn´t my final destination, it was less than 50 km away from the Enawene Nawe tribe camp. This sedentary tribe lives in the middle of the Amazonian rainforest totally isolated from the rest of the world. Let´s go back to the ride story. I sat in a bench and hoped someone would come to me and ask me if I needed something. As usual, this wasn´t happening so I took a step forward and started asking people if they were going in my direction. It only took me two minutes to be seated in a truck in my way to the Amazonian jungle. I have to admit that the idea of me trapped in a vehicle with someone I hadn´t seen even once in my life was pretty scary, but it was my only option so I had no other choice. After 7 hours trip I finally got there, I had arrived to my home for the next 6 months!