Here I Am Again

So yesterday was the "jungle trip". Not really much of a jungle from the animal point of view, but LOTS of jungle from the plants, trees, creepers, vines and generally wet point of view. The only wildlife we really ran into (unless you count the small band of monkeys we saw on the bank of the river on the way home) were a couple of dogs that barked at us as we entered the jungle. Strangely enough, they appeared to belong to the family that lived in the hut, there in the jungle on the banks of the lake. Hard to grasp, seeing a whole family living there, literally in the middle of nowhere. Even funnier to see that they hang their laundry up to dry on a vine, in a jungle so wet that the air sometimes just drips.
 
We climbed off the little boat (that went "chug-chug-chug-chug" - loudly - all the way there and back), and spent the next hour-and-a-half panting up and down hillsides, ducking leaves and branches. The humidity was such that my sweat literally dripped into my eyes, and my glasses actually steamed up to the point that I couldn't see where I was going. Eventually we arrived at a beautiful waterfall, disrobed and jumped in. The more prepared among us had actually brought a swimsuit, but others such as myself, who do not plan more than five minutes into the future, simply took off our shoes & pants, and dived in. At some point, someone told me that the water would turn my hair green (to which I replied that I really didn't care) - but it didn't (sorry, no freak shows yet). We had our meals at the side of the waterfall, off of banana leaves. Would you believe that the ashram is so ecologically minded that we actually brought our own little plastic bucket for inorganic waste? I was so proud...
 
I'm getting used to life here, even beginning to accept the fact that THERE ARE NO HOT-WATER FAUCETS ANYWHERE - we shower in cold water! Interesting how your concept of luxury changes with the conditions - right now I can't think of any greater luxury than a hot shower, which I probably won't be seeing until well into February... Can't think of any more brilliant things to say at the moment, so I'll sign off.