blow dart skillzzz

we were scheduled to visit the local healer here, and a group
      of us were up for an afternoon adventure, so we set off in
      the canoe again (which I do not think I have mentioned
      doubles as the school boat around here. yes, you heard me,
      school buses are impractical in the rainforest - thank you
      captain obvious - a school boat makes far more sense... and
      yes, there are designated school boat stops. duh). a short
      hike and we were at the healer's home on stilts (because
      flooding is so common here, and to keep snakes out of the
      house).
   

      we learned about the traditional healing medicine, similar to
      what we have seen before in ecuador. a few of our members sat
      through healing sessions, which involved the shaking leaves
      and blowing tobacco smoke on them and then whistling to bring
      the good energies to fill where the bad had left. we were
      offered the tobacco to smoke but Robert warned even one good
      inhale can put you on your ass, so I passed.
   
      once we were through with cute little medicine man, we moved
      onto bigger things - namingly, blow dart hunting. robert
      joked we were starting out with chickens but instead took a
      naranja (orange) and put it on a stick he stuck into the
      ground, our target. he first showed us the ropes -
      demonstrating how to hold and fire the 8 foot hollow stick
      that we would blow the dart through. he said we would each
      get 3 tries. he drew a line in the dirt and went first. miss,
      miss... and miss. embarrassed he handed off the weapon to
      misha, who on her third try, nailed the fruit target. I was
      blown away! (no pun intended :) and robert was clearly
      impressed. lo went next and despite good form, didn't have
      the accuracy (or luck) to hit the target.

I was third in line
      and stepped up feeling totally incompetent and doubtful I
      would even get the dart out the other end of this 8 foot
      tube, which was so long it was difficult to hold straight at
      the target. so while questioning form and logistics, I step
      up to the line and I guess my inner warrior took over because
      I blow darted (can that be a verb?) 2 of my 3 blow darts
      directly into the unsuspecting naranja!!.... annnddd I could
      not stop laughing after each hit. I was so surprised at my
      obscure hidden talent with the blow dart - and here I thought
      chicken catching was my strange skill. give me a blow dart
      and watch out!! Robert was laughing too, more because a
      second gringa had just shown him up than anything. we
      continued down the bench, and at the end me and the two
      gringos in the group had both gotten 2 in the naranja, so
      naturally we had a blow dart shoot out, which I did not win
      :( (but Robert thankfully decided there would just be 3 blow
      dart winners regardless)...
   
      after this the only thing that made sense was to paint war
      paint all over our faces. there is this special plant with
      these spiky pods that look like lychee but when you break
      them open they're filled with these red seeds and the red is
      just like paint and you can widle green stems into paint
      brushes and create warrior designs in red, which is what I
      asked for - boy did I look fierce!! as Robert was painting on
      my face someone asked how long it lasts, and straight-faced
      in perfect english he says "only 2 months" - even someone a
      fraction as gullible as me would have raised an eyebrow.
      thankfully (though I will admit there was a moment I was
      mildly disappointed), he was joking...
   
      we headed home after that, just in time for a workout then
      dinner. quick aside about the walk back to the boat. on the
      way there we had walked across this old, frail bamboo bridge.
      it looked unsturdy enough that Robert had us wait to begin
      crossing until the person in front of us had crossed.
      wonderful. well apparently his perception wasn't too far
      off... on our way back we came up to the bridge and... it
      was... gone? yup, a couple hours later and the bridge had
      vanished! fortunately we were prepared in our boots and
      crossed the stream below with ease.
   
      by 8 I was so exhausted I could hardly stay awake for my
      shower, despite how chilly it was. also, the tarantula on the
      stairs made it somewhat difficult to coordinate bathroom
      trips, but he hasn't attacked me yet and now I'm starting to
      think he's kind of cute.
   
      what is not cute is that every bathroom stall had some
      surprise creature bigger than my hand ready to pounce when
      I'm most vulnerable!! and what is also not cute (but more
      awesome than being ambushed by a frog when you flush the
      toilet), is the army ants that run around this forest in a
      swarm, 10m x 3m, destroying everything in their path. robert
      picked one up on our way home from medicine dude... he wanted
      to show us that they can be used as sutures (or more
      accurately a staple gun), if you have a big cut that needs
      closing. you simply lower the massive jaws over the wound,
      spanning to either side, and let the little guy chomp down.
      these ants won't let go, even when you cut off their bodies,
      which you can do, leaving a neat row of ant heads clamping
      your wound shut. robert accidentally got himself chomped on
      when he picked up one of the ants and I had to pry to jaw
      open to get it off of him - they are strong little
      dudes!!