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 excite
d 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.
d 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!
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