On the last Thursday of my internship, I had one of the coolest experiences of my whole trip. Javier, who has been consistently mentioned throughout my blogs, offered to hold a Kichwa naming ceremony to honor the work Alexi and I had done throughout our time in Ecuador. We first encountered our sign as we walked the Sendero for the final time. Already in place, welcoming us.
From here, we received the full presentation of the Sendero. He described in detail the additions he was planning to make and gave us more history on the ones he had already established. We stopped just short of the final structure, entering a pool at the base of one of the many waterfalls in the area. He paused for a moment and then invited us near the falls. Individually, he told us our Kitchwa names. Mine was Pakcha, which translates to waterfall. He told me that I was strong, clear-cut, and a feminine force to be reckoned with. He also told me I had a family history in Ecuador, but I think the German and Irish family names may disagree. We then walked into the waterfall and out, joined with nature in the Kitchwa tradition!
This was such an amazing way to end my time here, and I am so grateful that Javier offered this opportunity to us! What a huge honor to be a part of his process and be acknowledged in such a way.
This week was crazy! When I say just about everything that could happen did happen, I mean it. We started the week in Banos, Ecuador, where we had spent the weekend visiting on a Manna-sanctioned retreat. We were supposed to have returned on Sunday afternoon, but rain had caused landslides on both of our routes home. These landslides had also caused Banos to be without running water, which at this point was a familiar circumstance to us. 4 hours from our homebase, we had to figure out how to get home. By Tuesday, we had decided to take an alternate route home, clocking in a nearly 14-hour trip to return to Shandia. It was an exhausting day of travel, but it did allow us to see a different area of Ecuador and Cotopaxi National Park! The mountains in our regions are largely vegetation covered, but some of the mountains along our alternative route were rocky (due to a few of them turning out to be volcanoes, not mountains after all).
Although Shandia was also without water (and occasionally power) due to the rain and landslides, the rest of the week flew past. We ended on Friday with festivities at the school to celebrate our time in Shandia. The kids prepared a Kitchwa song for us, cake was served, and games were played! It was the perfect end to our time here. It filled me with so much gratitude. I am so lucky to have had this opportunity and for cost to have not been a deciding factor in my involvement. I am first and foremost grateful for Cornell and our wonderful donors who made this experience possible for me. I was able to enjoy my internship to the fullest, knowing that it would not become a financial burden. I am also so grateful to be able to share my experiences in Ecuador through this blog platform, and I am so excited to be able to talk to my campus community about my time here! Finally, I am thankful to MPI for their continued hospitality and support throughout this internship. This was such an amazing experience for both my career and professional development, and I know that I learned lessons that will last me a lifetime. I am beyond proud to have been Cornell’s Ram in the Rainforest.
