I (Kim) and the fam have been going to a jungle city called Tena to do an HIV/AIDS workshop for indigenous adolescents. This week was a little different...
I’m going to preface this by saying how much I actually HATE and despise bugs, snakes, spiders, bats etc…
If you know me very well, you know this about me and it has actually created a little anxiety in my being to think sometimes that I am not so very far away from all of these when we go to the jungle. This was never more real to me and a great reminder as it was this week DURING our workshop…
The first part of the workshop went well. At 10:30 AM like every week, we took a quick break for a snack. During this break, someone came and fumigated the hut where we were and the surrounding areas. I didn’t think much of this since I see people fumigating here all the time. When it was time to start again, the director asked me if we wanted to wait a little longer? He went in and checked for ‘fumes’ and thought it was OK, so I said OK!
After about 10 minutes or so of teaching…
COCKROACHES started coming out of every part of the hut! The walls, the ceilings etc…One fell on me and then another…NOW remember, for the average person in Ecuador, this is not that big of a deal, a little inconvenient, but not a big deal. It is for someone who doesn’t like bugs! LIKE ME! I think the students got a kick out of me dancing AROUND the roaches, flicking them of a letting out little screams…at least they saw the real me I suppose-a frady cat when it comes to bugs!
To top the whole cultural experience off, after a few minutes of the roaches coming from everywhere, the chickens that live in the village where we are teaching, all came into the hut and started eating the roaches-a fine meal I guess!
Chalk one up to being forced to deal with your fears in front of 50 teenagers! I didn’t deal with it very well, but at least we got through it! Definitely a workshop to remember…
P.S. The roaches here are not like the ones in the States. They are BIG! Not like the size of a plate big, but big nonetheless!
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