and then I woke up
1 hr. after the passing of Christmas Day, of the comfy floor of my parents' new house, I have a little more than 24hrs. to prepare everything for MOntreal. I ask myself if I'm really ready for the next step. I'm still peeling from the sunburn I got from our walk down the coast. I cannot imagine a more obvious symbol of change.
The leaving was difficult. I cried more than I wanted to when I gave them my goodbye "speech" I told them I cared about them and that they were lucky to be where they were, that they shouldn't take Posada de Belen for granted. I may not agree with all of the religious or political, or even social ideas and habits of the directors, but that home provides an opportunity for those boys that is rare in Peru. I called them today and got the experience to support my supposition that it'll be tough to stay in touch with a bunch of teenage boys. :) Well, can't hold on to anything forever.
In my last days in Peru, I celebrated my 21st, which was nice. Went to a bar and stayed out until 6. THe sun came up, the birdies came out, and I went to the sea with some of the friends who had come to say goodbye. I slept at the home a couple more times. I also got an infection and the opportunity to experience Peruvian health care. WE went to a governmentally subsidized clinic made of shipping containers used on barges. For about 1 dollar, I was able to see 3 doctors, 32 cents per consultation. My my. After a minor surgery and a week on antibiotics, I'm pretty much better.
So, Peru is officially over. I can't believe it. I had a toughish time getting used to ENglish again, made silly mistakes for awhile, but am pretty much back in the swing of things. I'm slightly afraid I"m going to forget it all in a month. :) I should really sleep, because, as my parents will attest to, I have not exactly done a great job preping for the trip to MOntreal over the past week...I've got quite a list for tomorrow. :)
This is a pic of us all from our xmas celebration
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selva
Yes, I have gone to the Amazon. I have seen it. SOrt of. I went to the beginnings of it. I drank straight from the rivers. THe purest, most delicious water I've ever tasted. I saw no monkeys, but one Tucan. LIke I said, I didn't go too far in. But, it was amazing. Amazing. Amazing.
This trip wasn't planned from the start. Made a friendwho lives in Tarapoto, the selva, who told me that I couldn't leave Peru wihtout seeing the jungle and then went to Macchu Picchu (beginnings of the jungle) and realized he wsa right. So, after getting back from that tirp, I started planning this one.
I left the 1st of December, by bus, at night, and headed to Chiclayo, a city of 800,000 people on the northern coast, where Rosa's (the woman I live with) parents live. I chose a seat in the first row of teh 2nd floor, because I wanted to see the sights. DUmb. 1)it was night and i should have been sleeping 2) there's less leg space in that row and so i was cramped and didn't sleep well. hm. one should learn from her mistakes. I arrived in the morning and we greeted by Rosa's short smiley father who'd apparently been there for 3 hrs. waiting for me. I had the majority of the day to spend with them and to get to know the city. We went to a small resteraunt and had turkey sandwhiches a coffee and then for a stroll through the town: to the cathedral where htey were having a special combined mass for an anniversery of some college, complete with mini marching band in the isle, and the frist communion of about 100 little girls all gorgeous in white dresses. Chiclayo is the second best place in Perú for archaeological ruins. I didn't go to any, but hey. It's hot there almost all year round, and the sun is intense. Her dad noted how the people on the street looked at me, from toe to head, stunned by my height. I've grown accustomed to this, but the Peruvian I go out on the streets with haven't. It's always funny to see them realize how the people stare. AFter our stroll, we climbed into a communal taxi and headed to Pucalá, the town where they live. THe ride was nice. The country there is flat, like NE, but with mountains in the distance. Fields of corn and sugar cane. We arrived, talked a bit, went on a walk to a nearby river, ate cebiche and goat (veyr very good) and then i took a nap, a shower, a coffee, and we went back to Chiclayo so I could catch my next bus, to Tarapoto. As we passed by the center of the town, I realized how many people there were just hanging out in the center square (people don't hang out outside so much in Lima because the weather is crappy and it's dangerous.) People here have less in their houses (computers, tvs, etc etc) to divert themselves with, and so they spend their time in the streets, conversing, socializing. My train of thought occured in the opposite direction (from how they have fun in the streets, to how we have fun in our own houses) and it seems to me that there's probably less depression in Peru as a result. They have less but are still happy. Hmmm. All in all, it wsa a really nice day. Great to get to konw Rosa's parents.
Like an idiot, sat in the first row again, and, again, did not get a good night's sleep. 14 hrous to Tarapoto. But, when the sun finally came up and I could finally appreciate the view for which I sacrificed the whole night, I realized I had arrived in paradise. Palm trees. Green green green everywhere. Fruits. Jungle. I arrived in Tarapoto, and looked for my friend. He wasn't there. Hm. Well, that was fine. He hadn't responded to my emails and I was starting to feel a bit nervous about staying in the house of a single guy I didn't konw that well, so I jumped in a taxi (in tarapoto there aren't really taxis, only carts pulled by motorbikes) and started looking for a hotel. Ended up in the Mirador...the most expensive. They gave me a huge discount, but along wiht it a huge lie about how you can't find a hotel for elss than...blah blah blah. It's amazing how hard it is to find to truth if you're ablonde tourist. NIce place, though. That day, I headed to Lamas, a nearby town with little to offer except the "distrito nativo, wayku" I went to a museum, wandered around, and then headed down down down the hill to the wayku. THe difference was uncanny. Unpaved streets vs. the paved ones at the top of the hill. MOre houses, less stores. People chilling on front steps. I felt slightly strange just walking around the residential area as a tourist, but had nothing else to do, so kept on. That town is pretty cool because it's nearly purely indiginous and they seem to be getting on okay. They have their own plaza with statues of different rituals of theirs, ones they still practice. I found a little store of theirs and entered. After buying some things, I asked where the other museum was and a little boy named Jorge said he'd show me. WEll, we didn't find the musuem, but he stuck with me the whole afternoon. We wandered around somemore, had an ice cream, went tup to the Mirador of Lamas to see the view, had a coke, and just chilled. He played games on my cell phone while I wrote in my diary. He wants to be a tour guide when he grows up and likes to accompany the tourists around. It was nice not to be alone. I went back to tarapoto, bought a couple of mangos inthe market and headed back ot my hotel. That hotel is called the Mirador because it has a great view. I climbed up to teh patio and watched hte amazing sun set. Bright bursting oranges and pinks. Very very intense and beautiful. After, I chatted with some of the other guests. A lot of them were there to participate in a 15 day seminar/camp of self cleaning, with the help of halluciongetic plants from teh jungle. Apparently, if you take the plant, called ayahuasca, along with a shaman, the shaman can see all that's lacking in you. It's a plant to "expand the conciousness". After, i went to sleep. :) Humberto, my friend, called my later that night and explained to me that he'd just arrived fromt he jungle jungle and hadn't gotten any of my emails until just hten and that he wanted to meet me at 7 inthe morning to talk things though. very good.
So, he showedup at 6. Apparently he has a son and had been with his son in a village called San Roque de Cumbaza, where his son lives with his mommy. Humberto told me he couild take me there, but that he had to go to CHiclayo for work later that day. Perfect, I thought! Into the jungle jungle. See, Tarapoto, while it is inthe jungle is a city and the majority of the jungle has been destroyed near it. I arrived and immediately felt disappointed with the landscape and the options for exploring because every answer i got was a standard tourist answer. So, we left. Communal taxi to San Antonio, another village in the same valley as Son Roque, about 1 hr away walking. So, we walked. Ithink we needed 2 hrs. Haha. But, we entered it. Jungle jungle. I started to get really excited. THis was why I had taken this trip. So fabulous. Palms and ferns. Totally cool. We arrived and I met the mommy and one of her other kids. SHe lives with her 4 kids and husband in a house made of boards, sugar cane (second floor floor), and palm leaves (roof). They don't have a stove, but use a fire (which makes the food taste delicious!) There's a river about 50 meters from their door and trees full of fruit. Jungle paradise. We spent the day just hanging out and relaxing. They're wonderful people and when Humberto left, they took very good care of me. They helped me find a guid for the hike I was going to take the next day: to the waterfalls.
I got up early, excited for teh hike. Had breakfast, part of which was a yummy concotion of coca flour and maca (for energy) put on my 39 size rainboots (i'm a 42) and headed off with Henry, my guide. I don't really know what to say except that with every step I was amazed and tired. hehe. We slowly got deeper and deeper into theforest. At times we passed through farms, at times we saw smoke rising from pure forest int eh distance where someone was clearing a space for a new field, at times wer were surround by vegitation only. In that part of the jungle, as it's the beginning of the forest, there aren't many animals and there's quite a bit of human activity. We saw piles of boards people had created from the trees of teh forest and Henry explained to me that the marjoity of the people who are living and farming in the forest now aren't from that part of peru, but from the Andes, where the land is overfarmed and underproductive and wehre there's little water. THey come and destroy the jungle in order to farm and the government does little or nothing ot stop them. There are all types of crops: coffee, coco, corn, peanuts (we tried some raw ones from Henry's dad's field yummy). We drank water from the rivers. Pure delicious water. And after about 3 hours we entered teh "tall jungle" or rainforest. And the difference is clear. That's the jungle I was expecting. THat's the Amazon I know from book. Huge tall trees (although smaller because of deforestation) Vines thick heavy air that smells of plant life (not of animals like in the lied jungle hehe) Flowers. BUt, without petals, or wiht petals made of wax like material. Soft earth. Quiet. Bird calls. It's cool there becauseof the shade. So many types of trees. Paradise.
WE arrived at the waterfalls and, again, I was totally impressed. There are two in one spot: one that falls freely, like a tap, for about 150 200 meters and antoerh that falls along a wall of rock for about 400 meters. Both are absolutely stunning. There's a thatch roofed shelter there (tambo) where we slept. We went down to waterfall, and spent about an hour admiring its strength. Back int eh tambo, it began to rain. The clouds came in fast, and obviously, like nothing I'd ever seen before. THey were at our level. LIke clouds of smoke. So thick. It rained hard for about an hour. We had a fire, ate some sandwhiches, Henry made me a puzzle out of a bamboo rod and we just appreciated it. That's all you cando. Immense and mystical it is. So tranquil.
The next morning we headed down to the other waterfall, the one that falls down the rock wall. I felt liek that moment was my goodbye Peru party. We headed back and after two hours of walking, it rained again. Luckily, we had just arrived at a bridge with a roof, so we chilled there, waiting for the rain to stop. It didn't. Two hours and dance in the rain later, we were still wating. It was cool...but also cold and so we decided just to go. Put a plate on my head and my REI jacket on my back (haha) and we headed out. THe rain stopped soon after. We met some farmers who were totally stunned that I had walked all the way there. Don't know whether it's because blondes can't walk, or what, but they were stunned. Spent the rest of the day hanging out wiht the family in San Roque, and slept at their place. THe next moring, I had to go bright and early by means of a 4x4 truck, in the bed of truck, standing up and staring at the landscape with locals. I very much did not want to leave. Very very mcuh., The lifestyle in teh jungle is so different. You remember how little you need all the items of the world you live in and wonder how you can combine the two world. I honestly don't know if I could live in the jungle (lots of mosquitos) but I surely want to go back.
BAck in LIma, I've been spending my time with my boys. I slept over on Saturday and realized that i should have been doing htat from the start. We chatted for acouple hours at bed time. Duh. GO when they don't have to do homework. ON Sunday, we took a nice long walk along the cost from Miraflores to Chorrillos. IT was a religious thing for them. THey walked praying with each step. I felt odd being a part of a religious procession like that. I know what I'd think seeing a group walking and praying (outloud) in the States. We got some support rom the public, nods and salutations. Others laughed. I dind't know what to do. I just stared at teh sea and at time followed along wiht the one prayer I know: santa maria. At teh end, we went to a mass a the top of a hill, at hte end of lima. from there you can see soooomuch of the huge city. You see the richness and poornes in one glance. It was very moving for me to see it all in one bite. AFter, we had some cebiche adn went to the beach. Even though Ididn't havemy swimming suit, I jumped in: my only chance ot swim inthe southern pacific while at the beach. it was really fun. today, i went ot he museum of art. slowly, i'm getting ready to leave. slowly preparing everything. tomorrow, i think we'regoingto the movies and i think i'll sleep there again. man, i do not want ot leave those boys.
This is a pic of us all from our xmas celebration
