What did you do for spring break? Last fall I heard of a trip going down to the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest and I thought that would be a great way to spend my spring break — and it was.
While many of you were basking in the sun and trying to figure out where you were every morning after the previous night’s “adventures,” 19 N.C. State students, one Enloe student, one environmental technology advisor (Robert “Bobster” Bruck) and one emergency medicine physician were treading through the Amazon and learning about everything it has to offer. It took us about 30 hours to get to the remote location in the heart of the Amazon, but it was well worth it.
We went hiking in the rainforest and learned about its biodiversity and how intricate its development was. We could barely see 10 feet into the forest because of the dense greenery — and yes, it rained. We went Piranha fishing and swam with grey and pink dolphins in the Amazon River. We saw the canopy from the canopy walkway — the largest walkway in the world — and take my word for it, it was amazing. We learned about Amazonian medicines from a Shaman and about how tribes use local plants to cure illnesses ranging from PMS cramping to headaches.
We also visited two villages. The first was still very traditional; the people of the tribe still wore grass skirts and shirts. The indigenous people gave us a demonstration on how to use a six-foot long blowgun, and afterward we traded shirts for cool indigenous items. What I thought was interesting was how they would trade items like necklaces, blowguns, bows and arrows for T-shirts we got for $1.50 at the local Goodwill here in Raleigh. Then again, they probably thought we were the morons for trading shirts for something that is readily available to them.
Visiting another village, we got to see a modern view of how River people live. Our guide, Ari, mentioned something that stuck with me. Ari explained, “These people think that Americans have everything, but I always try and explain to them that your [American’s] lives are full of stress and it may take an hour just to get to work.” On a lighter note, we played the village kids in soccer. It was eight fully-grown N.C. State students against about 16 or so 6- and 7-year-old children. As you may have guessed, even though we had shoes on and they didn’t, we were beaten 4 to 3. That goes to prove that NCSU can’t win at any sport, even when we go international.
My point in writing this column is to emphasize the importance of Study Abroad. Obviously, I can’t write everything that the group experienced, but in the week that I was in Peru, I made 21 new friends and they are very close now in a unique way. “Yeah, I know them because we went to the Amazon together,” is not something many people can say.
The trip has also impacted Ryan Thompson, a buddy that went on the trip, and I on a more long-term basis. We were teetering on the idea of joining the Peace Corps before the trip, and now we both believe the Peace Corps will be good for us.
Much like a scene in Good Will Hunting, a book cannot tell you what is around you, what you smell or what it sounds like at any moment in a particular location. In the rainforest, the sun and the sounds of monkeys and birds wake you up. No one will be able to explain what it’s like to walk on the canopy walkway as the sun sets.
With this said, I urge all of you reading this to think about studying abroad. I also strongly urge you to complain and demand more funds to be given to the Study Abroad program so that the cost of going abroad will not give you a stroke. There is plenty of money out there, it just needs to go to a more worthwhile place, and the only way it will happen is if you complain and demand it as a student.
For those of you that are freshmen or sophomores, make sure studying abroad is a top priority. If you are an upperclassman, I sincerely hope you took the chance to go somewhere to enrich your life. If it were up to me, I would drop the literature requirement and make it a graduating requirement to study abroad for a semester.
E-mail Danny at [email protected]
