Bienvenida a Iquitos!

Finally I arrive! But first, Fun Facts.

Fun Fact No. 2: Yuca accompanies every meal in the Amazon. Yuca is a starchy root kind of like a potato, but heavier and more carb-loaded. And it is made a thousand different ways - boiled, broiled, baked, fried, grilled, smoked, mashed, fermented, dried...

Fun Fact No. 3: Limp handshakes. Iquitos is the land of limp handshakes. I don`t know why, but it`s the dead fish thing. Kind of weird.

Fun Fact No. 4: Colectivos are safer than combis. Colectivos are buses about the size of school buses that have their destinations painted on the sides. Combis are kind of minivan sized and also have their destinations painted on the sides. You`re three times as likely to die in a combi than in a colectivo.

FINALLY IN IQUITOS! My flight got in last night at 11:30pm and Mario Sr. and Kirle (his oldest daughter) were there to pick me up. It was SO good to see them. Wonderful really. We went back home, Kirle and I shot the bull for a bit, and I hit the sack.

Today I went to the airport to get a suitcase that I shipped as cargo. Lo and behold, surprise surprise (please note sarcasm), it wasn`t there. O ye sweet bureaucracy that is Peru, thank you for your inefficiency. Oh well. It was a great way for me to start to learn the bus system. And I use the word system liberally. The destinations are painted on the sides but that doesn`t necessarily mean anything. They only cost 20 cents to ride, which is great, and they`ll let you off wherever whenever. But they`re also rickety and unpredictable. Quite an adventure.

Anyway, Mario Jr. feels about Iquitos the way I feel about Austin. He loves playing tour guide and he knows his city very very well. So today we tooled around on his motorcycle (I know, I`m crazy) and ate ceviche and ice cream and we reaquainted me with the city. He`s very proud of Iquitos and it makes him very enthusiastic.

Quick notes:
- the family is raising cui, small gerbils that you eat.
- there are now 6 dogs, 4 cats, 2 rabbits, and various chickens in the house. I`m always tripping over animals.
- i missed my family & they missed me. It`s good to be here despite the fact that I miss everyone in Austin terribly.
- it`s not as hot here as it is in Austin but there isn`t air conditioning, so I think it evens out.

Fun Facts

I decided that I am going to begin every blog with a Fun Fact about Peru. This category will most likely be flexible, so be patient with me.

Fun Fact No. 1: Peruvians love to gamble. Well, I use "gamble" liberally. They like slot machines which are called Traga Monedas which literally translates into Coin Swallower. I can´t imagine how much money is blown daily on the good ole coin swallower.
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Today´s is going to be short. Last night Elsa & Wilder took me to eat anticucho, a delicious treat for the carnivore that hits the spot and makes you sleep like a baby. I´m not a big meat eater and I LOVE anticucho. It´s basically the leftovers of a cow skewered and grilled and then drizzled with a spicy chimichurri, a garlicky yumminess. Sounds icky but it´s YUMMY. I couldn´t eat it every day, though. All my veggie friends are probably throwing up right now.

Tonight I fly to Iquitos and my vacation will end and the real work begins. I have to revise my prospectus and read a bunch of stuff, and then turn it in and THEN get rolling on the fieldwork. Good news is that the family I stay with in Iquitos has an extra house that they don´t use, and Dina offered it to me for free! I just have to pay electricity. How´s that for luck?

Sad Wednesdays

Yesterday I bought my ticket for Iquitos. I paid $73 which was a heck of a lot better than the average $108. But lo and behold the travel agent held out on me. Turns out there were deals at around $38. Needless to say, I´m annoyed. Alas.

After I bought my ticket yesterday, I called my "family" in Iquitos to tell them what time my flight gets in tomorrow night. The dad, Mario, answered and is super excited to pick me up at the airport. But he told me his wife, Dina, was in Lima and would be here until November. I asked why and he said that she would tell me herself and he gave me her number here in Lima. I excitedly called her, hoping to see her before I leave. It turns out she´s here because she has breast cancer and they have a good hospital for chemotherapy. Talk about a blow to the stomach. Dina is how I came to love Iquitos in the first place. Her family takes such good care of me and they are such wonderful people. I can´t tell you how difficult this is for her family because she is the glue there in Iquitos. She has boundless energy and she´s creative and thoughtful. She takes care of everyone and is an absolute sweetheart. And now she´s been struck. She´s doing well, and her hair has grown back (I told her short hair is all the rage, as you can clearly see), and her spirits are high. But she´s tired and I am so sad for her and her family and for myself, because it´s going to be different in Iquitos without her.

So today she came over after a radiation session and we hung out here for a bit and then went to her sister´s house on the other side of town for lunch and to hang out with her sister, her husband, and their kids. They´re super sweet people and we had a terrific time. It´s weird because it´s cold and cloudy where I´m staying with Lissette´s family in a neighborhood called Jesús María and it´s warm and sunny just 10 miles away where Dina´s family is. This is a perfect time for me to talk about Lima. Here´s the thing about Lima: It stinks. Literally and figuratively. Peru is a great place but Lima, even with the charms that it has (that are few and far between), is dirty, grimy, and just plain icky. It reminds me of a cloudy LA that just isn´t half as hip. It´s spread out really far and it´s just so polluted. Even when the sun comes out (which is a rarity until December), the haze is so thick that it refracts the light in a weird way. It just makes me appreciate Iquitos even more. And it´s probably not fair for me to rip on Lima considering I´ve spent altogether like two weeks here, but still. Bad first, second, and third impression. But I know good people here, so that makes up for some of the grime.

Here´s a picture of Dina´s niece dressed up in her finest Cusco gear. Tomorrow night I head to Iquitos and to see Mario Sr., Dina´s husband, and their kids, Mario Jr., Kirle, and Veronica. I´ve missed them terribly, and I´ll report on the reunion and the state of Iquitos. Hooray!

Lima & family

So here I am in Lima. After a relatively harrowing (and exhausting) journey, I made it safe and sound, and Lissette´s parents and older brother were waiting for me at the airport and just laughed when they saw the three giant bags that I had with me. It was only supposed to be two giant bags, but they were 93 pounds each so I had to check three (and pay an extra $100). The thing is, I don´t even have that much stuff! It´s mostly clothes and toys for the village. Grrrrr!!! Regardless, I slept like a baby last night, despite the snores of this giant bulldog that lives next door, right across from my room. The poor guy just needs to be walked, and I think he´d cut down on the snoring and the incessant barking during the day.

Lissette´s family is as wonderful as always. Her mom Elsa is super funny and adorable, and her dad Wilder is quiet, but has a great sense of humor. I´m so lucky to know them, and I love spending time with them. Her brothers Wilder, Rudy, and Martín are super sweet. Rudy´s actually in Mexico right now on business, but I´ve been hanging out with Martin this morning and he is just a doll.

On the plane I met a sweet woman named María Jesús who was lovely to talk to. We´re going to do lunch tomorrow. Today I have to buy my ticket for Iquitos and head out to the pirate mall to get some more voltage converters. I´m heading out right now to visit with my friend (and ethnomusicologist) Raúl Romero. Woo hoo!