The Great Kapok Tree

Standing at the base of a Kapok tree

Just like in the famous children's book The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry, I was able to see an actual Kapok tree in the rain forest. It was huge! Here I am standing next to it. It reaches so high into the sky, the top of it can barely be seen from down on the ground. It was an amazing tree..

Not Just Animals in the Rain Forest

The Amazon 2010 Group and friends at CECCOT

Before I left home for this rain forest adventure, I was a little nervous. I was getting ready to head into the jungle with 19 other people that I didn't know. Traveling across the globe to meet up with complete strangers and then trek into the wild is a situation that's fairly unusual. I certainly felt it would test my ability to adapt and make friends quickly. Would I have the mettle? Even as an adult, I always have the fear that no one will like me and no one will want to be my friend. It's amazing how some of those schoolyard insecurities hang around. Fortunately, on this trip, they were fears that were completely unfounded because most of the people in the group found ourselves in the same exact situation. We all needed to make friends quickly. We all had to adapt. We all had to step out of our comfort zones a little bit. It helped that we were all educators, so we at least had one thing in common. I think this was a good exercise for me. It stretched me, made me grow.


What's interesting about teachers is that we tend to be slightly obnoxious at times. Most teachers are take-charge kind of people. We're used to being in control and giving orders. We like to talk. It can be hard for a group of teachers to acquiesce to another authority. However, in this group, we did, and it worked amazingly well. We got along great, we got along well with our leaders, and everyone seemed focused on the common goals of learning and growing. As a group, we were a well-oiled machine, and that's saying something.

I am grateful to the people on this trip who spent time with me, got to know me, and even tolerated some of my quirks (like my fear of bats). I never would've survived without my "bat buddies" who shielded me from the winged beasties. I enjoyed the conversations we all had about school, life, and the awesomeness of the experience we were having. Traveling is great, seeing the world is awesome, but it's even better when surrounded by people who make it memorable. The people on this trip helped to make it memorable for me, and for that, I am truly thankful.