Rubber Boots and Machetes:
Life in Huaticocha
We left Quito Sunday morning for the jungle village of
Huaticocha, Ecuador. It is in the
northeast part of Ecuador. You can look
up Lareto, Ecuador on a map and we are about 30 minutes southeast from
there. We were told to leave our hostel
and head to the square and look for a white van waiting for us there to take us
to the jungle and our adventure would begin.
We drove from Quito across the Andes Mountains and into the Amazon
jungle. It was a beautiful drive. After a while I feel asleep and slept the
rest of the way to Huaticocha. After
waking up I looked out the window and wanted the next flight back to
America. After seeing where we were
going to live for the next month I really wanted out. We like to say that we are living in a glorified
tree house. This month we are living
with the pastor of Huaticocha, Ivan, his wife Nancy, and their son Isaac. In the front of their house they run a small
store and the back half is where we are staying. The basement is the church, kitchen, and
eating area. The shower is a bucket in
the backyard and the bathroom is an outhouse in the back corner of the
yard. This place is slowly starting to
feel like home. Here is a look of a
typical day here:
6:55 am: Wake up and throw on some clothes for breakfast.
7:00 am- Breakfast.
It is usually eggs and bread, sometimes fried plantains or some type of
corn cakes.
8:00/8:30 am- Leave the house and slowly make the mile walk
down the road to the work site. This
month we are helping to build a missionary training camp and a new church. Our main contact here is an organization
called IncaLink and they want to create complex to train missionaries and
pastors in the jungle areas. Now the
only place for them to train is in the big cities like Quito, and most never
come back to the jungle after going to the city. Life is much easier in the city and they can
make more money than if they worked in the jungle. Right now the property is a piece of land in
the jungle with some paths cleared out for future construction. Our job this month is to clear land and build
more paths throughout the property. The
first day and a half we spent trying to dig out and move this massive boulder,
but no luck. It is still there. So for about 4 hours 4 days a week we put on
our rubber boots and grab machetes and shovels and head to the jungle to move
rocks. It is exhausting work and we
definitely look forward to our three days off from moving rocks each week.
12:30 pm- Lunch. We
slowing head back up to the house for some much needed food and rest. Lunch is the biggest meal of the day
here. It starts out with a bowl of some
kind of soup then it is followed by a plate with meat and rice. So far it has all been really good except for
the fish and banana soup. After we eat
we usually grab a bucket and shampoo and take a shower in the backyard. Then it is siesta time. I think that is the time we all look forward
to most.
3:00 pm- Siesta ends, we throw on some clothes and head out
with Ivan for some house visits. We
either walk through Huaticocha visiting people or take the bus down the road to
visit other communities. During this
time 6 gringos and Ivan pack into a small concrete house and share our stories
with them. Some of us tell our
testimonies, read bible verses, encourage them, and then we end with everyone
praying for the villagers. These visits
are very personal and the locals love to hear what we have to say and they also
love sharing their stories with us.
5:30 pm- so far each night has been different. Some nights we just end up hanging out at the
tree house while other nights we help out with different church services in
Huaticocha and around the area. Each
service we go to Ivan expects us to have something prepared. Some share stories, some read verses, and
some sing songs. He likes to tell us
everywhere we go “the spotlight is on you.”
6:30 pm or later- Dinner.
Usually more soup, some chicken, and more rice. Everything tastes good when it is covered in
hot sauce.
8:00 pm- Team time.
This is the time during the day where we can all sit and talk about the
day and give each other feedback. This
is one of the most important times of the day for all of to grow as a
team. We also use this time to hang out
and play games, just not cards- they are considered evil here.
9:00 pm- Bed time. Take
a Benadryl, shove my ear plugs in as deep as they will go, put on my eye mask,
and pray that I can sleep through the crowing roosters, barking dogs, Isaac
crying for his mom, and semi-trucks flying down the highway five feet from our
house. Lights out.
