The Boys of the Jungle

3 weeks ago I would have never imagined I would fall in love
with this place.  When I first got here
all I wanted to do was pack my bags and go back home.  I definitely did not want to do this if this
next year would be like our first week here. 
I was miserable.

 A few days into being
here some boys from Huaticocha started hanging out with us and would just
follow us around.  The first time was
when we went to the river and then to Nueva Esperanza.  It was then that we knew why we were here, it was
for the jungle boys.  Eventually more of
them started coming around.  At first, we
wondered why a bunch of jungle boys would want to spend their summer vacation
with some gringos, but we definitely appreciated and welcomed their
company.  As time passed they started hanging
out with us from morning till night. 
They would join us in the mornings when we had to haul rocks, machete
grass, and dig giant holes.  We would eat
with them.  They would help make us
dinner.  At night we would play soccer in
the street with them.  During the day we
teach them English and in return they teach us Spanish. 

 

These boys are like none other.  They have no fear, feel no pain, and are
always ready to work.  They climb to the
tops of trees with ease.  They carry
wheelbarrows full of rocks three times their weight.  They hunt the jungle for cacao and sugar cane
for us to snack on while we work.  When
they slice off a chunk of their finger off with the machete they don’t even
flinch.  They pick up spiders and every
insect imaginable to throw at us and scare us. 
They are called jungle boys for a reason.  They seem to be born from the jungle. 

 

And each and every
day they continually steal pieces of our hearts.