There are so few logistics one can take care of when the adventure lasts so far past the ability to imagine. Sitting in a coffee shop in Bend with my boyfriend making last minute transportation arrangements from the airport to my hostal, I kept trying to explain to him that, unlike previous explorations I have taken outside of the US, I truly had no mental image of what I was going to be doing for the next week, or any of the days of the next year. I think it is the length of time and the ambiguous nature of this particular journey that makes it so intangible. This year is not about a specific trip to a specific place with specific people or a specific purpose; instead it is a year long exploration of my passion for river conservation, whatever that means…
So what does a minorly OCD, recent college grad do? Well, she plans the initial details of flights and a hostal for the first week, packs the essentials, boards the plane, takes a deep breath and prepares to go with the flow. From thousands of miles away in Oregon, how can I ever know what delving into my passions in Ecuador will look like. How will I get to the river? How will I find people to interview? Who will I explore rivers with? How will I figure out what people think about rivers? I do not know, but like the flow of the river always carries me forward downstream, hopefully the flow of this trip will help me arrive at the answers.
And look! Against all the odds that my anxious brain could think of, I am here in Ecuador and I am pretty proud of myself for the balance of planning and going with the flow. My planning got me through 17 hours of airport travel, a night in Quito, and a 5 hour drive to my hostal in Tena. And during that time, without trying or planning or even really knowing it was happening, the flow of the trip provided me with the initial exploration into this year’s topics.
My driver from Quito to Tena told me that the top two reasons why he loved living in Tena were “la tranquilidad y los ríos.” He said the people of Tena loved their rivers and spent a lot of time playing and bathing in them. He also said that about three years ago the Ecuadorian government implemented a recycling program such that people who brought plastic bottles to recycling centers were rewarded with money. Because of this program, he said the rivers have far less garbage in them. To confirm this, along our drive I saw many signs that spoke of the river and recycling: “El río te da vida. Protegerlo. No lo contamine” “Necesitamos el agua. No lo contamine.” It was made clear to me on this drive that the government and the people are at least aware of their intimate connection to rivers and to freshwater.
This is just the beginning, a first impression, and I am confident there are many more intricacies and complications to come. But this seems like a good place to start. I am excited to learn, from the conversations with my driver and the sense that people have an awareness of river, that it seems like people in this area may be willing and excited to talk to me about their rivers. Vamos a ver.
