Proyecto Carey 2015

This trip was definitely something I will remember for the rest of my life. The good parts were that almost every single person I met was friendly, and there was a good support system. Our group leader, Pablo Riba, you could tell he cared about us. It was all over 18, so we had a lot of freedom which was nice. I wasn't 100% sure what we would be doing in terms of conservation work, but I guess I didn't care. Until I got there, and I realized it wasn't very fun field work. Which was okay! I didn't sign up for a vacation in a luxurious suite. It was hard work. By the end of my work for the day I was drenched in sweat and humidity, covered in red mud and bug bites, and absolutely exhausted. I wasn't exactly prepared for it, but I got through it. I guess the one part of the trip I didn't really like was the lack of food. I don't need all that much to keep me going, but I can honestly say we were not fed enough. 3 meals a day, 6 hours apart each and with no snacks in between. There was a shop inside someone's house in our village that we could buy some cold drinks and chips or candy from, but it was tiny, and the supplies were limited and if the man was asleep you couldn't get anything. The closest actual store was two hours on foot, or you could pay the same guy who owned the little shop to him have take you by boat, if he wasn't busy and there were enough people going. I was hungry most of the time. If I would have known it was going to be like that I would have stocked up on snacks in my luggage. My host family was very very sweet and the mom cooked for us the best she possibly could with what she had, but the problem was that she didn't have a refrigerator that works properly. ISV should spend more of the money they get from "volunteers" on getting the host families everything they need for hosting the volunteers that ARE PAYING to stay there.