My Soul's Rebirth

The Aftermath

For a couple of weeks, I had been staying at a lovely hostel in Tena, that I will leave unnamed for now. The owner was a wonderful woman and it was her teenage daughter who gifted me with Tequila. The police quickly drove me to the hostel and explained to the owner that I will call Sarah, my horrible situation. They spoke for approximately 10 minutes and the police officers gave me a "you poor soul" type of sympathetic smile and left the premises. Sarah asked me to sit for a few as she made a telephone call. A friend of hers knew decent English, and Sarah was hoping to have her translate for us. After about 10 minutes passed, a lovely woman entered the hostal and greeted me. "Hello Jason" she said in very clear English. "My name is Anna and I will translate for you and Sarah. Sarah thinks highly of you and would like you to stay here until you feel well enough to leave." There are some amazing, very caring and warm people in Ecuador and these two women are at the top.

"Thank you so much for translating, Anna" I croaked, as speaking was very difficult due to the damage to my throat. I turned to Sarah. "Gracias Sarah" At this point I sit down out of pain and exhaustion. Both the two wonderful women rush forward in support and slowly lead me to my room. After a few minutes of hobbling, I was taken to one of the closest rooms available and assisted onto a chair. Keep in mind I was caked in grime and blood, and hadn't taken a shower in three days. I can only imagine how stinky I must have been to these amazing women. I reassure my friends that I was going to be okay. After another minute or two of fussing over me, the women departed. So for the next day and a half I slept. The pain was excruciating, but luckily the doctor had given me some pain killers to help dull the pain.

Finally after a good day and a half of sleep, I felt I had the energy to both eat some dinner and head to the internet cafe to let my friends and family know what had happened, and to let them know that I was going to be okay. Limping around town was a slow process and I had a very large number of people stare at me due to my right eye, and my limp.

One of my first stops was a little tienda that sold sun glasses. I found a nice little pair, and pay the merchant $3.00(great deal!). The rest of the evening included a drink at the Spider bar(nicknamed Spider bar due to the black tarantulas hanging around the area), dinner and the internet cafe. Hobbling back to my room, I climb back into bed and sleep away another day.

Due to my injuries, the pain had been miserable. The doctor only gave me painkillers to last a few days, so I tried to use the ones I had sparingly, especially when I was trying to sleep. My throat was by far my worst injury and it was constantly throbbing. My speech was still heavily impaired, and all I could really do is croak when trying to speak. In addition to my throat; my right eye was in horrible condition as well. It took close to a week before I started regaining my vision, and close to a month for a full recovery. A side affect of my eye was a strange flashing that occurred every ten seconds of so. At first I found it interesting due to the novelty of it; but it quickly grew old, and after awhile downright scary. My biggest fear was that this flashing would occur for the rest of my life. Moving on down my body, we have the scores, if not hundreds of nasty ant bites. I had a small reaction due to the amount of ant venom in my system, but like all of my physical injuries, time heals wounds.

(looking back)*While I made a full recovery from most of my wounds; I still have trouble with my throat; primarily affecting my voice. I always had a deep, somewhat raspy voice, but it has grown worse since the attack. You will probably experience this on my videos in my video adventure blog; when you follow it.(hint, hint). My apologies ahead of time. *

I went through a few periods of shock upon waking; wishing the whole thing was just a nightmare, and that I would wake up with little Tequila happily at my side. Over the next week, I had a few bouts of depression with tears flowing. I can't stress how much I had grown fond of him. Unfortunately, due to my nomadic lifestyle, I was known as the guy who had a lot of dogs. It is really hard to keep a dog when you can't settle in a single place for long. To my dogs Kodiak, Quest, King, Venture, and definitely last but not least, Tequila; I love you guys! I always made sure they went to wonderful, loving homes though and I still have contact with the owners of most of them. I had plans for Tequila though; since he loved to be with me at all times without complaint, and unlike my other dogs, he was a little guy who could even travel by bus. I just hope he died relatively happy, and at peace with the short life I had given to him.

About two weeks of recovery passed, and it was recommended that I travel to Quito and give a report of the attack to the US Embassy. Once I felt capable of travel; I proceeded to make the trip. Unfortunately, besides "taking note" and offering condolences, they did nothing. A friend of mine lived in Quito at the time, so I spent some time with him until I was fully recovered. It was great getting a chance to sit down and really get to know him. After about a week with him, I made the long bus journey back to Vilcabamba and to the rest of my life.

In the next few paragraphs, I am going to explain a couple of events that happened to me and that has led to my current course. A few months after the attack; I was feeling a bit lost and was in a muddled stage. Over about a week, I experienced some very vivid dreams consisting of vines shooting heavenward. They would burst out of the ground with amazing speed and shot up with a spiral motion. You guessed it; the same type of vine that saved my life during the fall. These dreams were recurring and I had them every other night for about a week. The dreams were simple and very short, but very clear.

I remember explaining both my life-saving experience with the vines; as well as the dreams to a friend of mine. This was the magical moment in which she said this; "Those vines sure sound like the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, which is the main ingredient in the sacred Ayahuasca brew." At the mention of Ayahuasca, everything fell into place. For the first time since the actual attack, I felt an inner peace. Ayahuasca is the key; the sacred brew is the answer!

This realization hit me full force. I was saved by the Banisteriopsis caapi vine, and I was being called by the vine of the souls; Ayahuasca.

*Authors note* My two assailants were never found, but I did hear through the grapevine that they were most likely from a nearby village, which was about ten miles away. I am a full believer of karma, and believe they will lose in the end. Fast forward 3 years from the day of my attack, and I honestly feel I am a different person. Horticulture, sustainable living, activism, natural medicine and lastly indigenous shamanism have become very important parts of my life. The rain forests of the world, and all the stewards guarding them, must be cherished and protected.

Over the last few years, ideas have come to me, eventually leading to a huge project based in the Amazon rainforest of Peru. The Amazon Sustainability and Awareness Project(A.S.A.P) will be based near Puerto Maldonado, which is only about 50 kms from the border of Bolivia. If you would like more information about this amazing project, we have a group in Facebook of the same name. The fun will start in the end of March, 2015.

For those who have helped me, physically and emotionally, a very grateful thanks. All questions and comments are greatly appreciated and please vote if you enjoyed my story!

I would like to dedicate this story to some close friends of mine; Mohan, Nina and Cort Rao. You guys have been wonderful friends for the last three years and have helped in so many ways. Thank you.

To my friend and business partner; Juanea Rucker and her husband Terry Rucker. Thank you!

Then we have my wonderful family. I might not show it well, but I love you guys!