Vida Selva...

Hello!
I know it has been a while, and I could write a lot about all that has been going on in my day to day seminary life, but there are much more interesting things to hear about! I am in the Jungle! Every four weeks, we take a trip. After the first four weeks, I found myself in Shell, Ecuador. This is the city that is most famous for the story of the five missionaries that were killed trying to reach the Waodoni tribe. To this day, the Waodoni tribe lives in the Jungle, about a 20 minute plane flight from the city of Shell. I was privileged to meet one of the men who participated in the killing of the missionaries. His name was Dewey and the first thing I heard him do was pray for me our group. He prays for every group that comes to visit his community. This story is told in the movie "The End of the Spear" I would recommend watching this movie if you want to be amazed. Also, there is a more informative documentary called "Beyond the Gates of Splendor" that tells the whole story. I got to spend a few hours with this tribe, that has a completely different lifestyle now, than 50 years ago when they speared 5 missionaries to death. This was truly a once and a lifetime experience that I could never forget!
We have done several other things in Shell, we hiked to see three waterfalls, one of which i got to swim in! It was so fun! Also, I got to eat a fish whole, skin and all. (for any of you who know my relationship with seafood, you know this is highly rare) I also ate an ant out of the Jungle that tasted like lemon. We got to canoe and white water raft down the Pastaza river, which is one of the largest tributaries to the amazon river. It has been an amazing trip. Several things I never imagined I would ever get to do!
This trip has been amazing so far. The people here are so wonderful, and different that the people in the states. It is just such a rich culture, with so much to learn. I don't think I can get it all down before I leave! The other students I am studying with are great, and the students and staff at the Seminary are some of the best people I have ever met! I do miss things about the States, don't get me wrong, but this is for sure the experience of a lifetime!
Talk again soon,
Kalyn