“And the words of the prophets were written on the studio walls……………….”
La Hora Verde. The Green Hour.
On Thursday, November 20 at 6PM, NYC time, the brand new radio station Radio Amazonas interviewed me on primetime news. With a listener base covering two provinces in the Ecuadorian Amazon, Radio Amazonas has quickly moved its way up through the ranks in the 2 short months it has been on the air. In fact, Radio Amazonas is the number one radio station in the county. It is also the only radio station in the county (and there are only 2 other radio stations in the province).
Anyway, the interview consisted of a bunch of questions about what I do as a Peace Corps Volunteer here in the Amazon Basin. The radio studio is very basic. It´s just one small room with a computer, a couple of tables, three microphones, and a radio that transmits the station live. The owner of the station is a lawyer who lives in Quito, but he´s a self-professed tree hugger.
The real fun began when I launched the world premiere of my new radio program La Hora Verde. The radio show, which is broadcast every Saturday afternoon is all about the conservation of natural resources, ecology and environment.
During the first part of the show, I read Las Noticias Verdes (Green News). I have been compiling environmental news articles from local newspapers and the internet for this portion of the show.
I am lining up interviews with local experts on sustainable agriculture, sustainable forestry management, agroforestry, eco-turism, silvo-pastoral systems, environmental education, etc.
The first show was a bit nerve-racking since I´ve never had my own radio show before. Plus, talking live on the air for an hour in Spanish is challenging. Nevertheless, it was quite thrilling, and I look forward to educating the people of the Amazon about environmental matters over the next 6 months.
Speaking of which, today I woke my ass up at 4:30 A.M. to travel into the bush with two guys, one of whom wanted me to see his rainforest cuz he wants to see if we can sell it to the Nature Conservancy. First we took a two-hour bus journey into the boonies (actually, I already live in the boonies! Where we went was just another part of the boonies), then we walked through the guy´s ranch until we hit the rainforest. Now, I´ve been to lots of different rainforests since I arrived to the Amazon, but this rainforest was different from the rest because it was kind of scary.
I mean, this guy was a nut! He was the only one with a machete (I didn´t realize we´d need machetes until we got there), and the vegetation was ridiculously thick. The ground was so humid that every time I would put my weight down on the leaves, my legs would plunge through the ground up to my knees. If I stepped on a log, it would just crumple under my feet. There was no defined trail. The guy just kind of made it up with his machete as we went along, and he cackled insanely as he took us through mud and rivers.
The trees were covered in thick, green moss, and there were big vines everywhere, not to mention scorpions on the ground. I´m glad I made it out of there alive.
He´s asked me to see his other rainforest in January. I´ll think it over while I sharpen my machete.
Happy Thanksgiving.
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