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Diary of a volunteer project in Ecuador: Update Four Jess writes...I believe that at the time of my last installment we were set to depart for our evening of election-related celebrations in Tena. A very bizarre experience indeed. By the time we arrived, the fiesta was already well under way... all the town was gathered in the spectator stands of the sizable basketball court in the centre, and an unidentifiable he/she was rocking the mic with plenty of political banter, amidst short bursts of Spanish hip hop from the resident DJ Jazzy Jeff.  Earlier that day we had decided to take good heed of the warnings that it was highly illegal for foreigners to partake in political protests or rallying of any kind. However, a mere two minutes after we greeted our adoptive family in the town centre, we were bundled into a the back of an already crammed pick-up truck to join the victory lap of Tena, which was accompanied by excited chants of 'All vote for political party number 3'. A number of head dives were made towards the centre of the truck as were passed numerous clusters of TV cameras and journalists. We fortunately managed to escape without arrest and full of the party spirit.My nickname of Sweaty has recently changed for the worse (to Al Pacino/Scarface), due to an unfortunate (sober) tumble at a departing jungle disco. My entire chin and left shoulder now consists of a less-than-fetching crusty brown scab, with intermittent patches of blood and pus. I made to mistake of attempting to imitate Daisy and Duncan's breakdancing move (the worm) which entails a partial handstand and a wavy floor movement. My version however, consisted of a full handstand and an intimate face-greeting-with-the-floor move. To conjure an image of the resultant injury, try envisaging Jimmy Hill the morning after an introductory night at Fight Club and you're probably pretty close. I made at least three children of Chichico Rumi, our jungle village, run in horror when I tried to hug them goodbye... I'm sure the nightmares will haunt them for a good few weeks.  Gaping facial gash aside, our final few days of tribal living were most enjoyable. A massive party was held on the last night where were had to perform a briefly practiced local dance in our self-crafted traditional costumes in front of approximately 150 villagers. Comic viewing all round, I feel. We were later able to feast on our self-killed and collected traditional banquet. The morning was spent spearing a large number of fish belonging to the Parana family, in addition to collecting bananas, papayas and yuka from a neighbouring island. The fish was then cooked in banana leaves with a vegetable medley... the result of which was utterly amazing and should be
recommended if tilapia fish and banana leaves are ever made available in Tesco!Following a fairly sniffly departure from our indigenous jungle family, we've returned to Quito for a weekend of laundry and partying before we set off on our 11 hour bus journey to the coast (Agua Blanca). This will be our home for the next three weeks, after which myself and Alice will be fending for ourselves on our tour of Peru. Lots of love, Scarface and Alice x  Click here >> for more info on Jess and Alice's project Click here >> for more on all placements offered by The Leap Follow the diary of Jess and Alice in full here...
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