Sidekicks & Rediscoveries

Fun Fact No. 73: Individual Platters. At lunchtime - the big meal of the day here in Iquitos, like dinner is for us - they carefully serve each and every plate according to its consumer. In the US, we tend to throw a bunch of stuff in the middle of the table in the dishes they were cooked in and it´s each for him or herself. There´s a lot of care put into each plate here, which is kind of neat.


Well, just under a week left and SO much to do! Randomly, an Argentine named Nico has dropped by to stay at the house for an indetermined amount of time. He´s remarkably cool and easygoing for an Argentine (j/k MSOB!) and I´ve had a blast bebopping around town with him. Honestly, it´s been kind of neat to show off my "other Austin" while I´m getting ready to leave it. It´s nice to say goodbye to the old places and even discover a few new ones. My last fish kebob at El Zorrito Restaurant. My last jaunt to a port on the edge of town. My last dance with Explosión and my first with Los Niches from Cali, Colombia. I played with Explosión one more time last night, by the way. Lots of fun. Anyway, Nico is a good sport and is willing to try new things and hasn´t yet died of fear while riding on the back of my motorcycle. Plus we´ve been pal-ing around with Roy, this muscleman guy who is surprisingly sweet and enthusiastic about everything, from ice cream to puppy dogs.

But the real goodbyes have begun. Fernando, my friend who is a pianist, cellist, and violinist who is single-handedly starting the first orchestras of Iquitos, is leaving tomorrow for a vacation in Lima, so I had to say goodbye to him today. Yesterday my friend Angel Paz, the director of the Polyphonic Choir of Loreto, took off, and that was tough. I bought my ticket the other day and nearly freaked out- I´m actually leaving. I find it quite hard to believe.

I´m having a going-away party at my house on Friday. It should be quite the blast with over 50 people. A bit scary, but I think it should be fun. I´m afraid it´ll be a sob fest on my end, but what can you do? Speaking of sob fest, it´s going to suck leaving Iquitos, but Mario and his mom, Dina, are going to accompany me to Lima. Dina had to go anyway for a doctor´s appointment and Mario´s going just for kicks. I´m going to need them!

Happy Anniversary to Me!

Fun Fact No. 72: Sugar daddy says what? Apparently it´s all the rage here to set up your young (betwen 14 and 18 year old) daughter with an older (between 24 and 60) guy so he can pay for everything an she doesn´t have to work. Nasty.



So today´s my 10 month anniversary in Peru. I got here on Monday, September 25, 2006. And I leave on Monday, August 6, 2007. Whoa! And today I had the most revealing interview of all my time here. If only I could stay about another 10 months...just kidding! I´ll be home soon! Although I can´t imagine the wrinkly skin I´ll have when I´m 40. No matter how much I protect my skin with sunscreen and long shirts, I´m still brown, brown, brown. Alas alack...damn motorcycle.

Speaking of motorcycles, I think I´m going to hold off on selling it so that I can have my ride waiting for me when I (hopefully) come down here in December. I´m not sure if it´s a good idea or not, but I think it´s what I´m going to do for the time being.

It´s National Book Week here in Peru, and that means book fairs, author signings, concerts and parades. It´s great fun and fantastic because there are still a number of books left to buy before I leave.

I´m trying not to depress myself. But I know I´m going to miss my people here so much. But at the same rate, I´ve missed my people there so much that I think it evens out. A few things things I can´t WAIT to do are:

1. run on Town Lake with Karla
2. drink wine at home with my girls
3. eat a spinach salad at Mother´s
4. Barton Springs with everyone and anyone!
5. ride my bicycle
6. eat more greens in general. And strawberries. No strawberries in this part of the jungle.
7. Flightpath chai. yummy....
8. smbc

and a few things I´m going to miss doing are:

1. ride my motorcycle. I can´t believe how much I love it!
2. go dancing every weekend
3. grilled plantain balls (tacacho)...so good and so greasy!
4. fresh squeezed juice every day
5. rivers. looking at them, dreaming of them, swimming in them, canoeing in them, loving them. The Colorado is nice, but then there´s the Amazon and its tributaries.
6. pirated goods. wow.
7. tooling around town with my friends and randomly hitting up a swimming hole on a hot and lazy sunday.
8. ceviche with Mario


Austin wins, but the things I´ve seen, lived, experienced, loved, hated, learned here in Iquitos make it that much more dear to my heart, even though there are lots of things I won´t miss like:

1. motorcycle exhaust (black sleepies and black boogers every day when I get home)
2. lack of green vegetables
3. icky men that make icky noises every time I come within 50 meters of them. I´ve taken to slapping them in the back of the head if they´re within range.
4. no dairy products. I miss cheese.
5. lies and scandals
6. computer viruses - EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7. too tight clothes with butt cleavage.
8. pushy people

Jungle Fever

Fun Fact No. 71: Can I get that soda in a deposit bottle to go? So as many of you who have traveled outside of the US know, soda usually comes in a glass bottle that you can't get to-go. You have to give it back, because the bar/restaurant etc., gets a deposit back when they return the bottles. What to do when you want that tasty Inka Cola to go? Dump it in a plastic bag with a straw and roll.

Yes, tis true. I have a fever. I hope I'm not getting the flu! It's generally warm in the Amazon, but it really sucks when you have a fever. It's WAY hotter. I think I got it from my sheer exhaustion. On Friday night I took some sleeping pills and slept 10 hours (praise the Lord!) and I needed it. Saturday night was rough and amazing at the same time. So here goes!

We had a cook-out at the house during the afternoon on Saturday, and then Monica and I went to the Olympic pool for a little bit. I got changed and went to the chapel where our concert was. Everyone sang and played beautifully. And my crying got going because they brought me flowers and a beautiful plate with the names of everyone in the choir. It was really emotional. I then went to Monica's to change out of my black dress and into my black "i'm playing with a cumbia band" top, with lots of sequins, and my skinny jeans. I got to the Complejo where Explosion plays every Friday and Saturday and as the VIP, I got let right in with my own personal bodyguard. Exactly why I need a bodyguard is kind of beyond me, but he's a handsome guy, so I didn't complain.

And then...to the stage. Dancing salsa with the band and then...my turn. A complete blur, but I have pictures to prove I did it. And then I did it again on Sunday night at a different venue! Holy smokes kids, wouldn't I love LOVE to be a salsa flautist. Bad-ass! Seriously, I would dig it, but I need a whole heck of a lot of practice!

The Salsa Lesson

Fun Fact No. 70: Boondoggle rules. Remember boondoggle? Sometimes referred to as gimp? Neon colored plastic rope to make cute keychains? Jamie Freedman recently made some. Anyway, it´s way cool here. People make chairs, rocking chairs, bookshelves, and other random things out of it. The mototaxi drivers use it to make the divider between them and their passengers.


So I´m playing this fabulous salsa tune with Explosión on Saturday night and it is SO stressful. Not the playing in front of 1,000+ people. Honestly, gringa on stage = a success no matter what. But these musicians are really incredible and playing with them has been a thrill and a terror - they are so damn good that I totally suck next to them. However, I have learned so much musically. They are really patient with me and I´ve been getting these quick private lessons here and there and it´s done me a world of good. And to top it off, turns out the best way to really get in with everyone in the band is to show that you´re a musician too (regardless if you´re mediocre). If there was any barrier between me and some of the band, it´s dissolved. I even was invited to beers with "the guys."

Earlier tomorrow night, I have a concert with my choir. And there´s a bit of a surprise here. Turns out that one of the members of the choir from back in the day was stuyding voice in the Conservatory in Lima and got a scholarship to study opera in Paris. He happens to be in town this week to visit his family and he´s singing with us. Dude. The boy can SING. It´s going to be a great concert - just one of each (SATB) in the choir, a few flute sonatas (including 2 by my best student), and some vocal solos. I´m excited for it.

I´ve been incredibly sleep deprived for almost 2 months. I have been sleeping really restlessly and not all through the night. This is agonizing for me, and I can´t handle it anymore. I think it´s just stress about the stuff I have to get done before I leave, but I need it to stop, because I can´t enjoy my last weeks if I´m constantly exhausted.

Monica leaves on Sunday and I´m a bit crushed. She´s coming back to Iquitos in a month, but by then I won´t be here. Tomorrow we´re going to hit the beach during the day and then she´s coming to both concerts tomorrow evening. I´m trying to enjoy every last minute with her!

Oh, and I finished the new Harry Potter. I didn´t realize it hadn´t come out yet. I knew my version was pirated, but I didn´t know that it was THAT pirated. Anyway, it´s great. REALLY great.

2.5 weeks and going nuts

Fun Fact No. 69: Teenage pregnancy. Well, I thought I´d go ahead and roll with the sexual implications of the number 69 for this session´s fun fact. It´s not that fun of a fact, but teenage pregnancy in Iquitos has only decreased 5% in the last 2 years. There are 12, 13, and 14 year old mothers here, and it´s mind-boggling. I was in girl scouts and marching band as a teenager and was not privy to that which constitutes as baby-making activity.


Well, 2.5 weeks to go and I don´t know if I can get it all done. The most recent news is that I´ll be giving a recital on Saturday followed by a salsa tune with Explosión on Saturday night. Yes, I´ll be on stage in front of 1000+ people and no, I´ll not be wearing the requisite thong. Just a mini-skirt. Ha!

I´m growing my hair out...for now. We´ll see how it looks in a few months. Above is a sampling of what is called motorcycle hair. Dude, out of control!

They call Montana Big Sky Country but really, it´s the Amazon. The skies are gorgeous every day, rain or shine, and I´m constantly amazed. Here are some samples:

Me v. Technology Gods

Fun Fact No. 68: Salsa ain´t fancy. It´s not that they can´t do the fancy stuff, it´s just that they prefer simplicity. Peruvians LOVE salsa (as in the music) and they dance it very, very well. And while there are those who will bust out the crazy turns and flips, most prefer a solid rhythm, no tricks. And DAMN these people can move. You would think that Americans were born without hips compared to these people. Seriously. I always feel under pressure dancing salsa in the States but here, I´m a lot more comfortable with it and my hips are slowly but surely latinizing!


OK, who´s read the book American Gods by Neil Gaimon? It´s about all the gods that the various inhabitants of North America have brought with them (Native American, Nordic, Christian, Asian, etc.) and their all out war with the recently empowered gods of technology. The neat thing about the book is that the American gods have their secret meetings at roadside attractions. Anyway, I´m losing my technology fight. I know that I haven´t had it nearly as bad as Michael O´Brien (ask him about it...scary stuff), but I have had a grand total of 3 (brand new Dell less than a year old) computer meltdowns. As luck would have it, my hard drive on my desktop at home in Austin also managed to completely crash, allegedly irreversably (although a friend brought it down here to try to fix it with this amazing tecky guy I found). I only had about half of that stuff backed up, thinking (stupidly) that because it wouldn´t be in use that it would be ok by itself for 10 months (it crashed in February).

The point is, I really believed that technology was infallible. I´m not sure where I got this silly idea, but even my external hard drive has been having issues lately. I´m realizing that hard copies of everything is vital if you want to really keep all that info. But isn´t that impossible? And undesireable for a packrat trying to reform herself? But what else should I do? Nothing is safe. And that is crushing. I feel like I felt when I realized there´s no Santa.

Luckily (knock on lots of wood!), my Edirol Roland 09 is still kicking strong. Here´s hoping I can maintain it until I get back! But if I lose all those interviews that I have as mp3? Well, we can ask Michael O´Brien how that feels and I garantee that it sucks. Royally.

What´s the solution? Any ideas, let me know.


On another, unrelated note, I really love the American collage artist, Joseph Cornell. There´s an exhibit in Salem, Mass this month and then in San Francisco later on. I´ve seen so few of his works in person - at the Menil Collection in Houston and at the Art Institute of Chicago - but I´m in love. Here´s a beautiful piece:

Political Action

Fun Fact No. 67: Stubble? Peruvian genetics permit very little facial hair. If you see a guy with a beard or mustache, he´s probably been growing it for at least 10 years. So imagine my surprise the other day when I see a creepy, Prince look-alike who´s got the whole face-lined thin beard. I thought it was painted-on at first, but then I realized it was real. Here´s to the 80s generation and Peruvian creativity!


Well, the whole public university system of Peru has been on strike since June 12. Remember, since we´re a bit south of the equator, the seasons are flipped as is the school year. Classes should be in full swing right now, but unfortunately due to disagreements on professor and administration salaries, it´s been a full month without classes. Students are bored and are either turning to getting a job for the time being or to delinquincy. Honestly, the professors should go on strike for the crap pay they make in a university system that is hardly better than a really good high school in the states, but in years past, strikes have lasted over a year. Imagine having your education interrupted for so long! And it´s not like these kids have the cash to go to the private schools (of which there are many, including three here in Iquitos). So nothing is learned, nothing is gained because the Ministry of Education seems to be deaf to these please and they´re trying to privatize education anyway (sound familiar?), so everyone seems to be screwed. Just as I was typing this blog, a parade went by with about 200 people carrying signs and protesting. And this is shortly after tentative agreements were made between the federal government and our regional government to better the primary and secondary education salaries. Whew!

I´m just running around like crazy but in between craziness (last minute interviews, concerts, library and radio station visits, the whole nine yards), I´m reading the new Harry Potter, but in Spanish. It´s just as riveting in Spanish as it is in English except that some of the names lose their irony or significance. Other than that, I tell you what, I am sad to finish it because I know it´s the last. And I´m a slow reader in Spanish and yet the 650-odd pages are flying by. And I´m afraid that Harry might be a Horcrux himself. Aaaarrrrgggghhhhhh!!!!!! I know I should be reading something else more productive and related to my studies, but an hour before I go to bed and when I wake up in the morning can´t hurt, can it?

Da Boyz

Fun Fact No. 66: Not for individual sale. You know how cigarrettes, small packages of chips or oreos or something and candy all say that they´re not for individual sale? Well, Peru says poop on that because Peruvians go ahead and sell them individually anyway.



Well, today was just lovely. I really enjoy Sundays in Iquitos. I woke up to an empty house - all my roommates are out of town so I decided to clean the floors and wash my clothes. It was a scorcher today, so it felt good to take a cold bath after all that work. Then I went to visit my friend Milton who was in a pretty horrific motorcycle accident yesterday. His head split right open and his shoulder popped out of its socket, among other things. We are lucky he´s still alive, so it was really good to see him almost walking today. The crappy thing is that today is his birthday. At least he´ll never forget it!

After Milton´s I headed over to my friend Upi´s house where Mario and 7 other boys were drinking beers and shooting the breeze. It took me right back to high school when I was "one of the boyz" and no one thought twice about telling a dirty joke or just being stupid. Not to say that that doesn´t happen with my girlfriends too, but often here in Peru the boys are on guard around the girls and don´t quite let loose as easily as we vulgar Americans do. It was just so SO much fun until...we (Peru) pathetically lost 4-0 to Argentina in the American Cup. Dude. Not that I play soccer but a 4-0 loss? Against a country that in general has it out for Peru? Sad, sad, sad. Alas alack...

Weighty nostalgia

Fun Fact No. 65: Tourists in the Amazon are unfriendly. Strange but true. You smile or greet a foreigner here (and tis the season, so there are about a gazillion more than normal which means about 50 new people a week but they only stay for a few days before heading off into the jungle) and they either look the other way, pretend they didn´t see you, or just plain frown. Mean. It´s as if they think that this jungle experience is JUST FOR THEM and no one else. Well poo on you!



















So I´m in this weird moment right now. I´m between wanting desperately to see everyone (and everything including an iced chai from Flightpath and some pad thai from Thai Noodle House) because I know that my departure is right around the corner and wanting to just stay here where I´m finally completely comfortable and in a research groove. I am between nostalgic and depressed and anxious and sentimental...it´s a weird place to be and I´m trying to juggle it all. I remember how difficult it was to leave Spain back in 2000. But I adjusted and I maintained friendships ever since (did I tell y´all? One of my best friends from Spain, Iñaki, is coming to Austin on September 10 for a week! Hooray hurrah!) as I know I will with my friendships from Peru. But still. It´s weird to even think about not driving my motorcycle, eating tacacho, seeing my friends and dancing with Explosión.

On another relatively personal note, I´m having troubles with my weight. As in, I weigh too little (due to a variety of factors including change of diet, constant heat, depression back in spring, and a recent stomach bug), which I know in theory is bad for me, but in a culture where skinny is good and a little paunch is bad (I haven´t weighed this little since high school but I still have a paunch as should any of the female persuasion and everyone points it out to me), I actually like being this skinny. I would probably gross myself out with this ridiculous adolescent weight if I were in the US, but for the time being I guiltily love it. But then I feel weird - I constantly think about my weight whereas in the states it was rarely an issue (only in the last few months before I left because I had gained a bit too much to still fit in my pants but nothing traumatic). I like food and I like eating but now I´m way more conscious of what I eat and not necessarily in a good way. Way, weigh, way, weigh. It´s no wonder English is so hard to learn. Besides the point, I know. Anyway, we´ll see what happens when I get back, I guess.

Civilizations

Fun Fact No. 64: People are nicer in the jungle. I don´t normally like making essentializing comments, but honestly, people are nicer in Iquitos. Lima, Chimbote, Trujillo...people just aren´t as friendly or helpful. It´s kind of like people are nicer in Texas than New York. Must be the fresh air.

So I´m back in Lima after a quick jaunt to Trujillo. This vacation has been WONDERFUL! I got into Lima on Wednesday and on Thursday bebopped around with Elsa, Lissette´s mom. On Friday with Wilder, Lissette´s dad, I went to this way cool used book district to look for an out of print publication that I need for my research. I found it and so much more...Lima ain´t all bad! Friday night I went to see Explosión with Finita, Lissette´s cousin and it was a blast and strangely completely different from their shows in Iquitos.

Saturday I spent tht day with my friend Luís, a professional trombonist who I met in Iquitos in November. We went to the catacombs (I love collections of bones of dead people!) and back to the used book district. Saturday night Elsa and I hit the road in a big bus to Trujillo.

Sunday in Trujillo we went to the beach (it was cold. No swimming...) and then went to see Explosión. Also quite different from the Iquitos experience. And a bit chillier...

Monday we went to the Huacas del Sol y de la Luna from the Moche civilization that came about 200 years after Christ and long before the Incas. It was quite badass, and I´m not usually into ancient civ. Seriously, it usually bores me but this art was really incredible and the tour guide was really good. In the afternoon (after eating goat for lunch), we went to the city of Chan Chan, founded about 500 years after the Moches. Also pretty damn cool. Quite impressive architecture. And a nutty guide named Clara who pretty much popped out of the movies. Last night we hopped a bus to come back to Lima and got back this morning at 8am.

Elsa´s a good travelling buddy and we had fun just us girls. Today, however, I´m tracking down some Spanish friends I have here in Lima to eat tapas and drink wine. I so rarely go out in Lima that it´s about time. Back to Iquitos tomorrow.