Feels Like Home

Special Note: Internet problems. If this posts, it's a miracle, but videos and photos are going to take even bigger miracles. We will stay on it. Please forgive typos, etc. We have to capitalize on any connection we get and just post no matter what. That's what we are doing here . . . 

January 7, 2026

Unlike most DIRT groups of the past, we actually stayed in hotel rooms last night. Even though we were reluctant to take an approach so different from the norms of DIRT groups of yesteryear, we have to admit that doses of air conditioning, warm shower water, and relative privacy were a lovely introduction to our new habitat. 

We let ourselves sleep until about 8 and met at the 4^th floor restaurant for a breakfast buffet that included fruit, fried eggs, little sandwiches, breads, and lots of strong coffee. We loaded up our luggage and went down to the waterfront again to connect with the community boat from our soon-to-be home. On our way, we went through a huge indoor market full of fresh fruit, fresh fish, fruit, and even various natural medicines. Some of the fish were more than two feet long and a few had amazing patterns in their scales. 

We crossed the street and went to the riverside to find a fishmonger who put some of his discardable fish parts on a line and lured pink dolphins to the area right in front of us. Pink dolphins are unique to the Amazon region and are often very elusive. The DIRT folks who have gone to the Amazon have about an 80% success rate at seeing pink dolphins in the wild, but this method brought us all really close to them with no searching on our part. There will be pictures of them here for sure. 

We found our boat and started lugging our bags once again dropping them into the underdeck with the help of the various crew members on board. We reconnected with Dona Odila (pronounced like “oh-GEE-lah,” with “Dona” meaning something like “ma’am”), who is a primary force in the community and has been a longtime friend of DIRT (at least since 2014). We embarked on a four or so hour journey that showed us how vast the entire Amazon River system really is. Honestly, we didn’t go all that far; we just went slowly. We felt like we were crossing an ocean, though, as the waterways are bigger than any rivers that are familiar to us. 

We used some of the time getting to know Dona Odila and our other hosts. Ava had brought henna to create temporary tattoos on herself and others, so her artistry was one of our points of connection. Some people chose intricate designs, Odila chose a simple heart, and Shawny chose a question mark. People tended to their drying designs with quite a bit of intention and looked forward to them darkening as time passed. 

The hosts brought out a bunch of cut up fruit for us to enjoy, including super sweet pineapple and watermelon. We were surprised to be challenged to a watermelon-seed-spitting contest by our Midwestern professors and even more surprised to find out that they had special talents regarding this particular skill. One of our community agreements (our “rules” for how we are going to be with each other) is about appreciating and celebrating the mundane aspects of life, both in our own personal realms and in our understanding of our hosts. We noted that we will take memories of this simple seed-spitting contest in this highly unusual context far into our futures. 

Eventually, our boat captain started blowing his horn to let the community of Anã know that we were approaching. People started coming out of their homes to get down to the river beach to meet us. They helped us carry our heavy bags through shallow water to the beach, and then up a wooden staircase to our small eco-camp on the hilltop. They joined us for a late lunch (at 3pm or so?) of fried surubim (one of the beautifully patterned fish we had seen at the market earlier), chicken, rice, bean, salads, and a custard-y dessert. There is a small sweet item at the end of most lunches and dinners here, usually featuring a local fruit like cupuaçu (pronounced “coo-poo-ah-SUE”) or, in another case, pumpkin. 

We spent some time learning how to tie hammock ropes properly to stagger ourselves around the oca (our round screened sleeping hut). We each located a hook on the center pole of the thatch-roofed hut and another parallel one on the outer wall; those hooks become our hammock spot. Each pair of hooks aligns with a cabinet under a concrete counter; those cabinets are the places where our personal items (including our bags themselves) are stored. Because there are more such cabinets than we have people we have some extra spaces to store our extra luggage and to (eventually) organize our tools, tech, and meds. 

We gathered in our dining area (the pousada) to be welcomed by the president of the community (kind of like the mayor?) and the leaders of various community committees that establish the trajectory that the community will go. Ava spoke on our behalf and expressed how honored we feel to be welcomed hereSome of these folks have been working with SMC students for years, while some are new. Anã’s entire population is somewhere in the mid 300s, but the success of their community projects and their ongoing funding streams mean that new people move here at least as quickly as people move away. 

We toured the community and learned that while the fish farm that prior DIRT groups had helped establish was thriving, a couple of projects have fallen into disrepair, including the community garden (viveiro) and chicken coop (galinheiro). With members of the community, we are going to start tomorrow in reviving those two desirable resources. We also visited the health clinic, which has expanded since the last DIRT trip and in which we hope to establish a children’s playroom, complete with toy storage. We took a look at the community radio station as well, and started to consider plans for how to improve the facility that houses the transmitter. 

We walked back from our tour by staying on the riverfront, and most of us felt a calling to swim at the end of a sweaty and sticky day. Others opted for showers with soap, but whichever way we went, we got a moment of feeling refreshed. Those moments are fleeting, as it doesn’t take long to start sweating again. 

We had a fulfilling dinner and spent some time reflecting on our experiences so far. Each evening, the team assigned to camp cleanup organizes some questions, prompts, or thought provoking ideas to get us to think beyond merely what happened in a given day and really consider how it affected our emotions, our behaviors, and our overall thought processes. 

Tonight we spoke of the ways we felt welcomed in the community and the things we can do to express our gratitude. We also spoke of what we can do to make our already strong group even stronger. We’re all in a good place. We are hot to be sure, and we could always use a nap. But we are so excited and so stimulated by this place that we are ready and eager to give it our all. Let’s see how our first night in our hammocks goes . . . .