A week of firsts...and seconds!

Well, my first full week here was busy. Each day you think this or that is going to happen but then always something unexpected happens instead. I started the week back in the office, cleaning, organizing and figuring out where I left off in May. It felt like I was back at work after being on a long vacation in the States! I’ve been sorting through much paperwork and figuring out what special projects need to get organized for the jungle villages. Many generous folks from the States (and elsewhere) send money to Pam for things other than just Adopt A School. Things like baños to be built, art supplies and murals to be made, soap/hygiene items to be delivered, books in Spanish to be distributed, fences and houses to be painted, etc. These projects fall a little outside the normal CONAPAC umbrella so we are working to streamline the good use of these generous donations.

I was able to see most of all my old friends this week. Over the weekend I went back out to the Lodge in the jungle where I lived for most of my time last winter. I saw many of my old students and others that I had met along the way. It was good for my soul to be back in the green beauty of the rainforest. I hope to visit more regularly on the weekends when it is possible to hitch a ride out with the tourists. The weather is quite hot here. It hasn’t rained since I arrived, which is unusual, thus it hasn’t cooled down much. Mostly in the high 80´s and low 90´s with humidity in the 80% range. But to cope, you just slow down and wait for nightfall, which happens around 6 PM each day... and, of course, tip a few cervasas!!

I went with my friend, Sheyla, to a rather dirt-poor part of Iquitos. Now that’s a relative statement, because to an American, all of Iquitos would look quite poor. But this part of town has no water or sewage services. Unpaved roads, thatch roofs and dirt floors. Sheyla is planning to provide hot chocolate and special bread to the neighborhood children, about 200, on the 22nd of December! It’s called a "Chocolatata" and I understand it’s somewhat of a tradition to provide this to children who will get nothing else for the holidays. Now the amazing thing about this is that Shelya herself doesn’t have a pot to pee in, she has two young children and she and her husband work quite intermittently. But somehow this young gal's heart is big enough that she still has room for others even in her reduced circumstances! Needless to say, I have volunteered to help with this event and donate some money to the cause. I will get photos and try to post them when the time comes!

Lastly, this was a week of "firsts". For the first time I’ve been in Iquitos I saw a man riding a bicycle! (Very dangerous thing in this town) I actually saw a dog on a leash, a young man (20- something) walking along with his pet chicken and then two Peruvian ladies asked me for directions! Now come on, I do not look like that much of a local, do I? And last but not least, for the first time in my life, I left behind my ATM card at the money machine. It’s gone and now I’m going through gyrations to replace it. I can charge some things but one really needs cash on the ground here. Pam is working it out with me along with my daughter Erin but needless to say, it was a stupid and upsetting thing for me to do! Oh well, lessons learned.

Peace to all, have a good week and I will write again soon. Thank you, too, for all your comments. You don’t know what it means to me as sometimes it does get quite lonely here :( Thank you friends and family, once again, for all your support. . . .