Round II, Living In Peru!

Well, 2010 starts my second full year living in Iquitos, Perú. As most of you know, my "old life" is very different from my current circumstances. Many people ask me if I am happy with the decisions I've made to move to South American? I have to say, I'm still waiting for the day I wake up and say to myself, "what was I thinking?"! But so far it hasn't happened and if one is lucky enough to live two lives in a lifetime, then I think I'm one of them! It's never too late to follow your heart--just do it!

Life is nothing if not ironic. I've faced this reality often in my life and always have to chuckle. My latest observation is the magnificent mango tree in the garden area where I live. In fact this tree is so big that the owner designed the apartment building around the trunk and upper branches. I am lucky enough to live somewhere where fresh fruits and vegetables are available every day. I love veggies but by and large fresh fruit is not my most favorite thing. I do like a few things like pineapple and berries but not too much else. However, mangoes are another story. I used to love them so much and they were always such an exotic treat. But about 3 years ago, while here in the jungle, I had a terrible allergic reaction to eating mangoes. It seems the skin of mangoes is related to poison ivy and I suppose here in the rainforest the skin is even more potent. My face swelled so badly that I had to go to the clinic for a quick steroid shot before the swelling reached my throat. Since then I have not eaten a mango but many times I have been sorely tempted. Well, I guess it was mango season here right after Christmas. The tree outside my door ripened and for over 3 weeks, mangoes rained down like bombs all day and night. Some of you who live in Michigan know the feeling of dodging acorns in the fall? Well, imagine dodging mangoes! And in the night, when they would fall on the metal roof outside my door, I thought a gun went off! The irony of all this is that here I am, living in paradise where not only are fresh mangoes as common as potatoes in the market, for a few weeks each year they are literally falling on my head only to be collected and given away! As I said, life can be ironic! Now why couldn't it have been a canoloupe tree, which I happen to dislike with a passion?

As I was doing a little Christmas shopping, I found my favorite new store--a Radio Shack! Can you believe it? There is not a single chain store in all of Iquitos except this Radio Shack. It only opened about 6 months ago and I sure hope they can get enough business to stay open. It is so fun to go into a store that feels like something in the States. Clean, bright, cool, with the items hanging on pegs so you can touch them and look at the details on the packaging. Most stores here have all the merchandise behind glass counters and you have to find someone to take it out for you to examine one at a time. Radio Shack has all kinds of fun electronic gadgets which up till now were not available in Iquitos. I've bought a new travel alarm and a radio with an IPod dock. I love 'em both! I find it interesting that Radio Shack has been around in the States, it seems, forever and well before computers were common. As other giant electronic stores have come and gone, RS has changed with the times and carried on but never gotten so big with their "bricks and mortar" stores that they went out of business. Anybody got stock in Radio Shack? If so, I suggest you keep it!

While doing some Christmas shopping this year, I was in a store one evening and there was a blackout. Although common, it is a particularly scary thing as they do not have emergency lights (only candles) and when the power goes out they quickly shut all the doors to keep down thefts. The stores and the street lights are not on separate circuits so everything goes black, inside and out! You've heard my stories about the horrible sidewalks in Iquitos with holes, cracks, uneven payment from store to store, steps up and down, manhole and electrical covers missing, etc. Trying to avoid these hazards when there is light is tough enough but in a blackout it's something else! Then you have to worry about personal thefts although I never carry a purse so I feel very secure. You will rarely see woman wearing necklaces of any kind as they regularly get ripped off with a quick yank. Unfortunate, but the trade-off here is that the only real crime is petty theft. Violent crime is virtually unheard of and rarely, if ever, do you see road rage--although it is well-deserved. I can live with this level of security to be safe in a city with almost 500,000 people.

I went to my first Chinese restaurant here for dinner one night. When one first comes to Iquitos it's striking how many Chinese restaurants there are--called "chifas"--which I understand to mean Chinese food. Apparently, there is quite a Chinese presence all over Peru and much of the cuisine has been influenced by that culture. Well, things are not very clean here and even in the States I'm not all that keen about eating out--especially after having worked in plenty of restaurants in the past. And,of course, in the States, Chinese restaurants have an even worse rap but for good reason, I'm sure. So I'd been hearing about this one restaurant in Iquitos that had the best Chinese food and supposedly the cleanest reputation. A friend talked me into going one night and it really was very good! The wantons in particular where lovely. So as we were eating I told him that I rarely eat in Chinese restaurants and that this was my first time in Iquitos. He asked why and I told him about the bad reputation they have for cleanliness in the States. He laughed and said that he thought that was only true in Perú as everyone here feels the same way!! So there you go---watch where you eat no matter what country you're in.

The War On Rats & Ants: Well, in reality the "battle" with these two facts of my life since I will never win the war. The rats have returned and last week they completely upended my kitchen! I thought I heard some strange happenings in the night. When I got up, my kitchen was tossed--bottles and cans tipped onto the counter tops, a glass off a shelf broken with glass on the floor and general mayhem. I did not have any fruit out on the counters that night like usual (which they like to nibble on) so they must have been upset and ransacked the place looking for something to eat. Then I could hear them inside my stove. Apparently they like to curl up in the insulation to sleep! So the next day, it was back to the landlord to get him to button up more holes in the screens and put chicken wire on the back and bottom of my stove. As for the ants, they are relentless and when I cook or bake, no food can stay out for long. I have a very small, under counter refrigerator so I have to be careful how much food I can have around the house at one time. I've tried sprays and I keep things meticulously clean but alas, it's a losing war as they will never go away. I've decided to accept them in a small area of my kitchen. They stay in one corner and seem to come and go only in this place if I leave them a small offering of sugar. As with the rats, it's not a matter of getting rid of them completely--it's simply not possible. I can only "manage" their presence in some way that is acceptable to me. I wonder if we all shouldn't take some lessons from the "pests" of the world? Just like our dubious "war on poverty", "war on drugs" or "war on terrorism" we really have to accept that some things will never go away. We might be better served by managing them within boundaries which we can reasonably live with. Some of life's lessons come in the smallest forms!

I'm off to the mountains next week. It will be a lovely change of scenery and climate plus the joy of seeing old friends. I'll be in touch with my next adventures very soon--xo to all!