First 2 Days at Iracambi

This is where I'll be living the next two months!

I woke up yesterday morning to bird and cicada sounds; a very different experience than waking up in a house in Davis. When I walked out of my cabin (above picture), I had my first view of Highlander, which is what they call the Guinea Fowl here. However, I have not yet determined if Highlander refers to the whole species or that specific individual.

Highlander!

I had a chance to meet Rogeria, the volunteer coordinator, before breakfast. She began to show me around Iracambi, a process that would take all morning. After a breakfast of oven-baked bread and jam, courtesy of Larissa, the cook, Rogeria continued our tour. She showed me the different buildings and explained the function of each. There is the kitchen/dining area; the Centro, which is a shared area with a kitchen and bathrooms; the four sleeping cabins; the office space with computers; the lab; a toolshed/workspace; and the Casa da Floresta, in which pictures and art pertaining to Iracambi are showcased.

Dining area, information boards, and the Centro table.

Rogeria and Deivid then took me and another volunteer on the "nature trail", which is a loop through the forest that is about a mile long (I think). We saw a large lizard, some armadillo holes and termite mounds, and tasted a root that makes your tongue go numb.

Deivid, who runs the nursery, gave me a tour of it in Portuguese (because he doesn't speak much English), and I am proud to say I understood the meaning of everything he explained, with a few clarifications from Rogeria. I hope to work with him at least a little bit so as to practice my Portuguese.

After Rogeria finished showing me around and explaining how things worked, we had lunch, and then two other volunteers, Nya and Sien, went to a waterfall that is a 15 minute walk from Iracambi. It was a warm day, and jumping into the deep pool by the waterfall was very refreshing. I didn't take any pictures of the waterfall itself because it is hidden in the rocks (where the water turns dark blue in the first picture). The property belongs to a farmer with land adjacent to Iracambi, and he built the little house and the fountain.

After returning from the waterfall, I helped Nya water the plants in the nursery. This must be done by hand and takes several hours alone, but about 1.5 if two people do it. The dog in the pictures is Thor, and the muzzle he wears prevents him from killing Highlander and lizards :).

Two more pictures of interest from yesterday: there is a cat who lives at Iracambi named Mia. I do not consider myself a cat person, but I LOVE this cat. She is very sweet, she comes and wants to be pet when you call to her, I have picked her up multiple times and have never seen her claws, and if you set her on your lap and pet her she melts into an adorable loaf. The other interesting revelation is that blackberry season will start in the next few weeks, which means that I will experience two blackberry seasons this year! I love having two summers in a row...

After dinner, Nya and I played a bit of ukulele, and then we met Sien at the common area and I had my first ever beer, which is legal because the drinking age is 18! It didn't taste nearly as bad as I expected it to. We played Phase 10, a card game, and then talked and listened to music until past midnight. They are both really neat people.

Today, after breakfast, we decided to hike up to a vista point. The hike up took about two hours, but the views were very rewarding.

And because pictures of people are usually more interesting than landscape shots...

I also saw some interesting berries as well as many frogs!

There was also a small waterfall, some interesting trees, and a mountain that looks like a face in profile. I want the make up a story about how that face came to be in the landscape; comment your ideas on how you think it got there!

After we returned we had a delicious lunch of rice and beans, as well as some amazingly spiced potatoes (and a salad). After lunch I handwashed my clothes, because I didn't want to wait for the primitive washing machine to do it. My hands were exhausted afterwards! I cannot believe how much work it was, and I have a new respect for the women who do it for a living.

My next blog post will likely be on Monday, when I find out where I will be helping out while I'm here!