Day 4: An Aboriginal Day

Fellow Niekerkians,
I can tell that some of us are catching up on sleep, which is good on days like today. Today was eventful, exciting, and exhausting.
First we woke up and came down to eat breakfast. We had an egg dish and some orange juice. Then we packed up the materials that we needed for the Vacation Bible School, along with some PBJ sandwiches, and headed to our bus. The bus was cramped, as per usually, but refreshingly cool. We drove about an hour to reach the Chagres River.
We arrived at the river and unloaded our bags. Then we headed down the "stairs" to the lakefront. Where we were met by members of the Parara Puru tribe. We put on our life-jackets and boarded the canoes, which were carved from trees (an original uni-body of sorts). Each boat had two tribe members on-board: one in the front, who carried a pole, to help steer the canoe, and one in the back to control the outboard motor.
After a half-hour ride, we reached a docking area. We left our things in the boat and headed off hiking on the trails. The trails were unmarked and the only indication of their existence was a small break from the forest floor. Traveling on the trails was difficult because they were uneven, slippery, and steep. Many parts of the trail involved walking through a stream, which was an annoyance for those of us wearing tennis shoes. The hike was so hot, that we were all ecstatic at the sight of a waterfall going into a small pool.
We immediately jumped into the water and started splashing each other as much as possible. We made our way over to the waterfall and sat by it for a while (an idea that led to many great pictures). Next one of us got the idea to jump off of a rock jutting out of the pool. The jump was about 7 feet tall (2 meters for you Panamanians), and we all had a good time jumping into the water. After a bold dive in by one of the tribesmen we began the walk back to our boats.
It was a short ride to our next stop: the small village called Parara Puru. We walked up the hill to be greeted by a small group of men playing instruments. The men ushered us into a hut with a palm tree branch roof. We sat down on the benches to hear a man talk about the language and history of the tribe.The native language is called Embera and it is spoken throughout the tribe. The kids are also taught Spanish in school. The people there migrated from a place in Columbia, where many of their people still live, to come to this area and farm. Many years later the government declared their lands a national park and the 84 citizens of the tribe had to stop farming and hunting. Now the people get income from the government and from tourism. Then there was a tribeswoman who told us about the role and dress of women in their society. The woman said that they hand-make many things and sell them at a price of one dollar for every day that they work on the item.
After the explanation, a woman came around with fried fish and plantains wrapped in leaves. Many of us thought the food was delicious, but some of us opted for a PBJ sandwich instead. They also served fresh fruit on handmade platters covered in fresh leaves. After the dinner the locals began their dance. The people danced around for several minutes to the music of their handmade flutes. They did a few different traditional dances and then they asked us to be their dance partners. The music was fun and the dances were very interesting.
After the dancing we began our VBS. The tribes-people of all ages sat around whilst we led them in singing. We told them the fruits of the spirit in Spanish, then we began our craft. We handed out bags for the people to color and we handed out many stickers. The stickers said either Joy or alegria (the Spanish word for joy). We spread God's joy by putting the stickers on our group and on the tribes-people. After that wound down we talked to the people one on one. Our group spent the most time with Kevin (pronounced Keybin). Kevin quizzed us on our Spanish knowledge and told us things about his people.
After the excitement, we hoped back into the canoes and headed towards home. We reached the bus in about twenty minutes, and then we began the journey back on the bus. We had a nice dinner and some time to relax. I think that we would all agree that the day was awesome and probably the best day of the trip so far.
Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow,
Bryce and the rest of "The Fam"