Adventures in Peru: August 2014

by Christy

I'm glad we are back. Friends from work threw me a going away party, though I will only be working down the street. The food tasted so incredibly delicious. We have gone blueberry picking twice and out to eat at two of our favorite places. I worked in the yard. I keep getting tearful when people ask about the trip. I didn't reach my goal of speaking Spanish really well. I told Corvallis Clinic they can't write that I speak English and Spanish on my portfolio. Yet. I am going to keep working. I am reading Harry Potter in Spanish and am hoping to take a conversational Spanish class this fall. I will speak to my patients in Spanish, I just don't think I'm fluent enough to call it a second language. Not even close. And that frustrates me.

But the kids needed me while we were in Peru. They need me here too, but with all of the cultural differences and the lack of playgrounds where they could run off energy, they needed attention more than ever. And the cold was emotionally draining. So I am trying to let that go. Other goals were met. Both kids want to enroll in a bilingual school. We have put their names on the waiting list at Garfield and hope they can continue the work they started. That is such a big deal to me. Changing schools is a life alterning event that they WANT to do. This is because we opened doors for them. And that is really what I wanted- to show them that there is a really huge world out there. Language was the biggest barrier for them to enjoy it. They want to get rid of that barrier and I'm proud of them for it. I didn't have that goal until I went to medical school. And it is so much harder for me to learn.

Someday I would like to do another grand adventure like this one. But I think the next vacation might need to be something a bit more relaxing, a bit warmer, and for a bit shorter time. Until then, I start a new life challenge on the 18th when I switch jobs.

by Christy

We finished this trip in a pretty amazing way. We flew to Iquitos and then took a 3 hour boat ride up the Amazon River and then into one of the tributaries to the Amazon- the Tahuayo River. Here we stayed for 5 nights. We had electricity in our room- in the form of a single light in the bedroom and one in the bathroom. We could charge batteries during only 4 hours of the day. They said they had internet but it didn't work very well. The lodge was rustic. Very basic. But the service was incredible. Each family or group had their own personal guide, ours was Orlando. He grew up in the local village, a 5 minute boat ride away. He went to the Univeristy in Iquitos to study tourism 20 years ago. Now he speaks fluent English and knows the jungle better than most. We felt very lucky to have him.

Our family and Orlando.

This was our room. Mesh at the top and around the sides. Not a lot of privacy and not very quiet. But we were happy, none-the-less.

Despite soaking our clothes in permethrin and using DEET spray very liberally, we were eaten alive by mosquitoes. We took malaria prophylaxis and had yellow fever vaccines but that doesn't help with the itching. The temperature was in the 80s each day, but with 85% humidity so we were always hot. We reminded ourselves of just how cold we were in Cusco and it made it seem not so bad at all. The evenings cooled off and we had a mosquito net around our beds, so we were comfortable while sleeping.

Each day we had 2 activities, essentially. Something in the morning, something in the afternoon, the option for a night hike or a boat ride with a larger group. Anna LOVED the night hikes, Cole loved early morning fishing. We all went fishing for piranha once. I caught a barracuda, Cole caught a few piranha and Anna caught a Paco, a commonly eaten fish there. The boys went fishing two other mornings. One of those mornings Anna and I went for a hike to look for monkeys, the other we slept in after a late night hike the evening before. During that hike, a snake fell out of a tree at her feet. The guide swept her up off the ground so fast, she didn't know what was happening. It turned out not to be poisonous but it made me jumpy none-the-less. We saw a pink river dolphin one afternoon. We went on a 2 hour hike to see poison dart frogs and to collect the pieces required to make a blow gun. On the way back we fed some semi-wild monkeys. They were rescued from the black market and trained how to live in the wild. So they are extremely friendly around humans but know how to hunt their own food. This was a highlight. We did the zipline- Anna went first every time, Cole says he will never do it again. On our last day, we went to the village where our guide was raised and played with the children. First we went down a precarious mud slide into the river. I prayed as I watched my children fly throught the air to land on and under other children in the water below. The laughter and the fact that this was an activity our guide did 30 years ago prevented me from stopping it. Our kids played soccer with the local kids and then swam in the river again to wash off all the mud they got from the soccer field. It was a great last day to a pretty good vacation.

Early morning fishing trip on the last day in the jungle. They caught peacock bass.

Collecting some rubber from the rubber tree. A rubber boom is what originally put Iquitos on the map.

The Rivers Family plus our friend Chipa.

Making the blow guns. First you collect all the pieces. Then you hollow out the middle and tie it back together to dry with the palm fibers from a special plant. Tar is applied and then ash rubbed into the tar so it isn't sticky. A "lucky bean" and a pirahna jaw are tied to the top. The bean is the sight and the jaw sharpens the darts. All in all, a pretty amazing souvenir.