I'm Home...Or Am I Visiting?

At the moment this is the burning question in my mind. My friends ask me if they should say “welcome home” or “welcome back”. I’m not sure how to respond, for of course, Michigan will always be the place I return. But in such a short time, I have to say that I feel my home, my life is most definitely in Iquitos, Perú. Maybe part of it is that I’m currently “couch surfing” at the homes of many generous friends and for that I am eternally grateful. A different bed, pillow, shower and computer, just about every day, makes one quite flexible! But I truly long for my own bed, my own space and the hot, humid weather I left behind, as well as the Spanish language.

Coming back to the States is always a shocking difference from where I’ve been but this time, it seems more so than ever before. Despite all the economic despair and reduced circumstances of many in the country and particularly in Michigan, it is utterly striking to me the wealth of this country! The clean and well-maintained streets and roads; traffic lights that work and signs that clearly tell you where you are going; road rules that drivers actually abide by; a post office that is fast, friendly and efficient; stores with so much stuff that it utterly overwhelms me the variety of choices and I can’t stay in them for very long; and huge green lawns and spaces between the most modest of homes. Plus, don’t forget, that every city, town, village and even the smallest house has access to clean water and a sewage waste disposal system. All these things we take for granted, myself included, but maybe during this time of lowered expectations, we can continue to find the great things about this country which make our lives so easy and carefree in our pursuit of happiness along the way!

I’ve had a couple of engagements to be the speaker at local Rotary clubs and a few more lined up while I’m here. It’s a great opportunity to talk about my current life situation and about the programs CONAPAC has to offer. I have enjoyed visiting friends and family, eating my favorite “gringo” foods, and spending time with my grandson, Jack. He’s quite the young man now and such an interesting little person. Although he doesn’t really know me well or remember much about me, he has quickly warmed up and we are planning some activities together over the next few weeks. Earlier this week I had an opportunity to join my friend Joanie in visiting a friend of hers who is from Colombia. Mercedes is a lovely person and she speaks no English. It was a great chance to get back into my Spanish conversation and listening skills. Although brief, it went better than I had expected and I hope there will be other chances to get together. Not hearing Spanish constantly in the background of my life—the radio, TV, on the street, in stores and on signs, and conversation with friends is quickly diminishing my Spanish memory bank. Once I get north and settled for a month or so, I must spend some time each day reading and, if nothing else, talking to myself is Spanish! Now everyone will truly think I’m a little nuts but that’s OK because I am!

Well, folks, I’ll check out now and catch up in a few weeks when I have some news from the jungle. Pam and I are continuing to work on CONAPAC business via the Internet so I can stay in the loop while I’m here in Michigan. I will let you know what’s happening there very soon. All the best to you and do wish me luck in my attempts to stay warm!

Leavin' Paradise

As I now come into the home stretch of leaving town, I can’t believe how quickly the last 9 months have passed. On the other hand, it feels like I’ve lived in Iquitos and Peru for a lifetime. As many of you know, I have to return to the States to get my passport updated and take care of other personal items which were left hanging at the end of 2008. Although I look forward to returning to see family and friends, I’m already missing the action here. I also worry about losing the Spanish skills I’ve acquired so far. Well, maybe this will be a good opportunity to stay in touch with my friends here but only by writing to them in Spanish! And maybe I can stop having my friendships dependent on Facebook as I'll have the chance to have some real "face time" with family and friends!

I just returned from three days in the jungle assisting with our first water workshop and although it went very well, I was thrilled to get home to my little home in the garden and back to my own bed. For this workshop, there were about 10 of us assisting and we stayed in the village for two nights. We were provided with mattresses, sheets and mosquito nets from Explorama and the village provided us with the floor of the school building. As you can imagine, it was quite grubby and as basic as it gets. I’ve mentioned before, the first question I ask when I come into a new village is how bad are the “baños”? Well, this one was pretty bad. The only good thing about it was that it was close to the school and it had a door. However, I still chose to “hold it” all night and I can tell you it was a painful experience! For breakfast we had salted fish, boiled manioc and plantains, bread and a cup of lemon grass tea. Our hosts provided us with the best they had and we were quite grateful for their hospitality.

The water workshop itself went very well. There were two days of information presented to all age levels, games and songs, opportunity to see the difference between clean water and dirty water at the microscopic level. At the end, a new, clean 20-liter bucket was presented to each family who attended. All the children got their own new blue, plastic cup with the message to only drink clean water printed on the side. Joining us for this workshop was Christie Chatterly and Dave Sparkman. They are both from the University of Denver working on their PhD’s in clean water systems for developing countries. They have been a great asset, helping CONAPAC by evaluating our systems--plus they were just plain fun to have along! Also, this past month, there have been a number of medical students working in the area who are also from the University of Colorado. I met with them about possible collaboration in the future and they also joined us for the water workshop. What fun it’s been for me to have so many English speaking people working together in the rainforest. They all spoke Spanish, too, so the kids enjoyed their ability to communicate and I appreciated the interpreting they did for me!

Now for some animal stories: Lizards, rats and bats, & chiggers. What do these have in common? Well, perhaps many things but mainly they are interested in spending time in my life! A little over a week ago, I noticed a small, baby lizard in my living room (interesting color, almost an albino). Anyway, he was there for a few days but I kept expecting him to exit at some point because this would not be his natural environment for long. I’ve had lizards in the house before but they come and go quickly. Well, when I got back from my last trip to the jungle, I was relaxing in my “mesadora” and what do I see but my lizard--but now he's almost twice as big! (I know it’s the same one because of the odd color). And what do I see him do? He is busy eating dinner, running up and down my living room wall grabbing bugs. No wonder he’s getting bigger and maybe he thinks he can live there forever? I don’t know but as long as he stays out of my bedroom, I am considering him my pet. Any names suggestions? Now, I wonder where he poops??

As I mentioned before, I was staying in the village school, sleeping on the floor along with 10 other people. Both nights, after everyone was settled down with no more snoring or other “noises” (besides bats flying overhead), what do I hear?--Crunch, crunch, crunch…a family of rats had moved in to eat from the food stash we brought with us to share in the village. I’m not sure what they were the most interested in—dried beans or spaghetti—but I wasn’t going to stop them. The good news is I was at the opposite end of the room from the food and I had my IPOD. Needless to say, I plugged that baby in and cranked up the volume. Sometimes what you don’t know (or hear) won’t hurt you! And my last souvenir from Santa Teresa is my third case of izangos (or chiggers). As my previous readers know, this is not my favorite thing but I am optimistic this time they won’t drive me quite so crazy. Despite almost bathing in DEET, they do know how to find the most hidden corners of your body. Well, mosquitoes and black flies await me in Michigan so I will be well-prepared.

OK folks, I’m heading back to the States. Can’t say I’ll have much to say about the rainforest while I’m there but perhaps some reflections on the culture shock I’m sure to receive…stay tuned!

Peruvian 4th of July..It's Not The Same

Well, as I sit here in the office on the 4th of July, thinking of all the wonderful parties back home, I have to say my thoughts are with you! The only things red, white and blue here are the flowers, the sky and the rice! All things considered, not so bad. Although I won't see fireworks today, I did see some killer rainbows this week. (For those of you on Facebook, I posted a couple of photos.) I do hope that for each of you the weather cooperates, especially if you live in Michigan, and that you enjoy the freedom to eat, drink and be merry!

Last week was the visit from my daughter, Samantha. We had a great time and she arrived here with no trouble. One concern I had was that she was bringing into the country a contraption called a “Sun Oven”. They’re made in Illinois and sold all over the world, especially to developing countries. Unfortunately, they are difficult to get pass customs without added cost and hassle. Having Sam bring it as a piece of her checked luggage worked out great. These ovens have no power source other than capturing the sun’s rays with a set of foldout reflectors. I am going to experiment with it next week to make a stew or soup and maybe a cake. We are hoping this might be something viable to use in the jungle where every meal has to be cooked over an open fire thus burning more wood from the rainforest (not to mention the task of gathering wood, and the smoke, heat and mess it creates). I don’t know how readily the women of the villages will take to it but if it’s all it claims to be in simplicity and ease of use, I don’t see why not? I will post a photo of it once I try it out and let you know the results.

As for my time with Sam, it was great. We headed to the jungle where we hooked up with Dave and Dottie Bonnet, their daughter Shayla and her two sons, David and Dylan. The Bonnets are one of CONAPAC’S most loyal supporters for the Adopt-A-School program and other projects in the rainforest. They come back each year for a visit/vacation and their timing was exactly the same as Sam’s visit. We all had a great time together and Samantha was able to visit a couple of villages in order to see the projects we’ve been working on recently. We played “tourist” all week then headed back to Iquitos. Over the weekend she met more of my friends, we went dancing, swimming, dining, shopping, cooking and generally just enjoyed each other’s company. It was a special treat for me, beyond belief, to have her here. I don’t think she fell in love with the rainforest in quite the same way I have, but then again, the girl lives in Colorado and that’s a tough act to follow! All in all, it was an experience we shared together which neither of us will soon forget. Now I need to get my other daughter here next….Erin are you listening??

Finally, this last week was the wonderful completion of the new CONAPAC website. Most of you who follow my blog have already checked it out but if not, go to www.CONAPAC.org to take a look. The old site was dated and no fun to poke around in. This new site was a collaborative effort between me, Pam here at Explorama and her friend, Nancy back in the States. It took about 8 months for this baby to be born but it was worth the wait. I hope you’ll agree! More marketing projects are taking shape for the program—a quarterly e-newsletter, post cards and posters for sale both here and in the States. I’m looking forward to my return next month as I have several Rotary Club meetings lined up where I am the speaker of the day…hmmmmmm, I wonder what I can talk about?

Have a great weekend and enjoy the beach, the beers and the BBQ's :)

The Ways of Iquitos

First, through the miracle of the Internet, I was able to wish my father a Happy Father's Day despite being over 6,000 miles away! And keeping in touch with you all is such a blessing that it can’t be anything other than a miracle. So talking about miracles, tomorrow is the day that I have been eagerly awaiting for weeks, months, even years because tomorrow morning, at 6 AM, Samantha arrives in Iquitos. I have been thinking about her all day, where she is on each part of the trip, as I know she will be changing planes many times. She will also be doing the usual routine of an overnight stay in the airport of Lima. But pulling “all nighters” should be no trouble for this gal! And hopefully, all the goodies I asked her to bring me (like wax paper, foil and WD40) will make in her suitcase and arrive in a timely manner. We head out tomorrow to the jungle for all the fun things it has to offer. I fully expect Sam to fall in love with the jungle and Perú as much as I have—watch out, another Snyder may be moving!!

Life in Iquitos continues in its continuous loop of routine activity. A gringo friend described it as “Ground Hog Day” because every day is the same--the weather, the food, the music, the people, the action on the street, the jungle and beat of it all seems to be a constant. Some folks would not care for it but thus far, I’m not one of them. However, I have to say that although I usually sing its praises, there are some things about Iquitos that are not pleasant. One of them is the endless public spitting that is practiced by every man, woman and child! It doesn’t seem to matter where they are or what time of day, nor does anyone bother to look around first before they do it, but someone is spitting. And it’s not done in a quiet manner, oh no! They have to start it all very deep in the throat and really work up a good one first , then they let it all loose (there’s a slang word for this that I’m sure you all know so need to spell it out here)! Thus far, while walking down the street, I have not been personally caught in the line of fire, but it’s been close! I know it’s only a bad habit which can be broken but someone has to start.

Explorama is constantly training its staff to avoid this practice when working with tourists. In the four yeas I have been staying at Explorama Lodges, I have never seen or heard anyone do it. It was only after living in Iquitos that I began to notice the difference. So I know it’s a habit that can be stopped—someone just needs to point it out and I have been mentioning this to my Iquitoan friends as often as possible! If you think of Iquitos as the wild, Wild West you get the picture. Stray dogs roam the streets, public urination is another fun pastime, and there are no road rules when it comes to driving. The street competes with pedestrians, motokars, motorcycles, cars, trucks, dogs and often kids trying to play soccer or volleyball. Sitting outside on the streets, drinking beer, dancing, gathering around a BBQ grill are as commonplace here as rain is each day. People here also have an incredible tolerance for a “live and let live” attitude which allows for everyone to pretty much be themselves and do their own thing. There is some petty theft, mainly from tourists and motorcycles are often lifted but other than that, there is virtually no violent crime. So, when all is said and done, despite some darker sides of Iquitos, I still love the place, the people and the life I have carved out for myself here “in this place, in time and space”. I wish for you all the same level of contentment, peace and joy at some point in your lives. My time here will not last forever, but when one day I return to the States, I will have no regrets about the choices I've made! I hope you can say the same :)

June from the Jungle

Well, since I last wrote, the office has been completed revamped with a new cement wall and a new color. So far we have neither seen nor heard any more rats so hopefully they've found a new home somewhere else! After many weeks of disruption, we are all back together in the same area and enjoying our cheery new space. There are many new projects on my plate: helping create a new CONAPAC website with our good friend Nancy Cowal; a new e-newsletter for AAS with Claire Lannoye from the Detroit Zoo; and creating some new "voluntourism" programs for International Expeditions, a tour company who regularly sends business to Explorama. I am excited about all these new opportunities to spread the fun of international volunteering and the help it can bring others in the world.

I had a somewhat difficult Mother's Day this year knowing that my own mother is no longer with me. Also, I was not able to see or speak with either of my daughters, Erin and Samantha. But my Iquitos "family" once again came through for me by making sure I had something to do that day and providing me with little gifts. By the end of what was a perfect day, weather wise, I was feeling a little better. But I guess the best thing that came out of my melancholy mood was an IM conversation with Samantha the next day. After we both proclaimed how much we missed each other, it became clear that something had to be done. I asked her to check the cost of flights, then one thing lead to another and now she's booked to come for a visit. She will be arriving on Monday, June 22nd, in less than three weeks and I couldn't be more excited!!! This will be the first visit I receive from any of my family so it's really special and she will stay for 10 days. We will go to the jungle for about five days then back to the city to check out my crazy life here in Iquitos. Pray that her trip here is safe and uneventful :)

I had a couple of routine experiences last month but with a few differences being in Peru. First, I went for a yearly dental check-up. I had my teeth cleaned by a very nice doctor who gave me what I consider one of the best cleanings ever! She did a great job in about 45 minutes. The final cost? S/60.00 or about $20! This month I'm going for my annual Pap smear and mammogram which will cost me substantially less than in the States. Since I no longer have health insurance, it will be close to unaffordable for me to purchase these services in Michigan. Better take care of my health as much as possible while I am here!

My second routine experience involved a funeral. Sadly, our education director, Alberto Vela, lost his 45 year old wife to stomach cancer. It was quite sudden and a huge lost for his family and the school in which she taught for many years. Pam and I arrived at the house Saturday. There where at least seven large buses full of people heading to the cemetery, along with the hearse, a pick-up truck for the family members, and many motorcycles. It was quite some distance to the cemetery as it's located outside of the city limits. This was my first time to see this part of Iquitos since so much of it is developed. (Iquitos is on a peninsula surrounded by rivers and then the jungle. As you know there are no roads in or out of Iquitos to any place else so finding "countryside" was quite a novelty for me). We finally got to the cemetery--by the way, there was not an orderly funeral procession as you would have had in the States but rather a bit of a "free for all" going down the road. But we all made it to a beautiful, well-tended, well-designed cemetery--really an oasis in the middle of the jungle. As I entered the main burial area I was completely struck by a vision of pure fun and joy. There are no headstones but instead, small metal plaques. On each grave was a miniature umbrella stuck in the ground in all kinds of patterns and colors. Then draped over each umbrella and underneath were silk flowers in all colors and styles. The terrain was slightly rolling so as you glazed across, it looked like a fairyland or happy place--a complete delight to the eye and heart! Although the final words of the clergy and family were ones of loss and grief, there was a note of possibility in the air. With over 300 hundred adults and children in attendance, our friend, Irma Cruz, was sent off to her next life with much love and affection by those left behind on that glorious day. I was quite honored to be able to attend.

I have found myself the owner of another cell phone! As I've mentioned to many of my friends, I could hardly bear to have a cell phone in the States and now I'm on my second one here in only seven months. But my first one was dropped in the toilet (don't ask!) twice. I was able to have it repaired but then it died again. There are two service companies here, Claro and Movistar. I had Claro the first time and was never too happy with the reception. I decided to try the other and so far, so good. Tomorrow I leave for the jungle for a week and my understanding is that Movistar will work while I'm at the Lodges. We shall see how good it really is! But the kicker to my story is that after I bought my new phone and was trying to retrieve my address book off the memory card--Eureka!--my old phone started working again. So now I had two working phones, two different services, and one big headache--what to do? But since nothing goes to waste here, I found someone who needed a phone and I gave it away. My friend, Maruja, who is helping me with my Spanish, now has my old phone--so far, it's working great! Hopefully, she won't be dropping it in a toilet anytime soon as I think three strikes, you're out!!

Final notes and thanks to all the volunteers and other jungle visitors who have kept in touch with me. I've met many new friends from all over the world and they've been just great about staying in touch. I know that once one returns home, despite the best of intentions, it's difficult to remember the passion felt while here in the rainforest--but overall, everyone has been great and I really appreciate it. The door is always open and I'd love to see you all again!

Ciao for now, Sintia

PS...See new photo posted below!

Jungle fun....

Dearest friends and followers of my crazy blog...I apologize for such a long delay between postings. I have finally come out of the "black hole" of Adopt-A-School and just now able to do something besides eat, sleep and breathe books and school supplies! The good news is that it was another successful year with much fun and hard work accomplished by all concerned. This year we had two weeks set aside for our volunteers, the first week to delivery the supplies then the second week with fresh volunteers to finish deliveries and do service projects. I have to send a "shout out" right now to all my volunteers from the first week: Ray, Erich, Mary, Noah, Joe, Jan, Deni, Kristin (especially!), Bonnie, Bev, Nancy, Sarah, Ron, Claire, Carla and my "bud", Michael! During the second week, our new group of volunteers assisted in the building of a mini-water treatment plant and a small, sustainable bakery in the village of Irlanda. We had quite the challenge in our work as it poured down rain for two days which created mud bogs in the midst of everything we were doing. But at the end of the week, we took this dirty, muddy river water one day and the next day turned it into clean, clear, tasteless drinking water which everyone in the village and our volunteer group shared in drinking together and celebrating. This was the 4th water plant built by CONAPAC and we will be building at least three more this year. As for the bakery, it was not quite completed as the bricklayer, who builds the oven, will need to come another day. But a great start was made and we hope to have bread baking there by the end of the month. Of course, another "shout out" to my second team of volunteers: Sally, Bill, Kristin #2, Stephanie, Mary Frances, and Claire and Carla, too!

Prior to the delivery week for AAS, by friend Bonnie Gornie from Michigan, came a few days early to stay with me in my apartment. It was the first time I've had family or friends come to visit me here and I was so delighted and so excited that I could hardly wait. Then poor Bonnie arrives the first day (Tuesday), gets settled in and we spend the day together catching up sitting in my beautiful garden. But that evening, about midnight, I woke up and proceeded to vomit and have endless diarreha for two days! So Bonnie, ever the trooper, not only helped me out at home but went to the office and handled my work for two days so that the AAS schedule, with all its 1,000 details, could continue on and be ready to go by 8:00 AM Saturday morning. Plus, Bonnie had been gracious enough to bring me some "comforts" from home and pack them along with other goodies that I had ordered on-line. She is a dear friend, willing to do so much for me. I truly couldn't move on with my stories until I thanked her here!

Among many memorable activities during the last month, a few stand out. The first day of our service project activities, as I said, was rainy and muddy. I really can't remember being that wet, dirty, tired and cold since I was a kid. At the end of the day, the sun finally peaked out and it began it warm up. Right now the Amazon River and all its tributaries are quite swollen and even higher this year than in most years past. Where we were working was in the village of Irlanda, although the village is about 1/4 mile off the Napo River, the water had reached all the way back to the edge of town. As we were leaving all dirty, muddy, sweaty and tired, I just couldn't stand it...I asked them to stop the boat (well, the dugout canoe) and I jumped in the water with all my clothes on. It was just wonderful...so refreshing and relaxing and silly and funny all at the same time. Many of the village kids joined in for the fun along with several others in our volunteer group. Finally, I got out and guess what? Those wonderful tourist, jungle clothes that everyone wears (and I really don't like), they had come completely clean and by the time we got back to the lodge, after riding on the boat for 20 minutes or so, they were dry, as well! And the final good news, I didn't encounter any piranhas!

Later in the week, we headed to the Canopy Walkway which is an experience unequaled in the rainforest! At a height of over 35 meters (115 feet) and extending for 500 meters (one-third of a mile), the Canopy Walkway provides a view of the rainforest from the treetops, the best vantage point for observing Amazon wildlife and vegetation. It is one of the longest in the world, as well. I have been to the walkway twice before but this time was the best. Not only was there just nine of us on the whole walkway, but half way through, it began to pour down rain. It was so beautiful to see the rain from this prospective and experience it through sight, sound and touch. As we moved along, of course, there was the most glorious rainbow in the distance and we all counted it was a most fortunate day.

Toward the end of the week, we headed back to Ceiba Tops, one of the Explorama Lodges. There on the hill as I came in, was Nemecio! Nemecio was one of my best English students last year and he was so kind to me when I lived at the lodge. After I left last May, he was laid off from Explorama and I found him working in a chicken place in Iquitos when I returned in November. He was hoping to get back to work for Explorama and finally he did. I asked him what he was doing--cleaning rooms, working in the kitchen? No! He is personally caring for and raising a baby tapir and a baby jungle deer for the owner of Explorama, Peter Jensen! The animals are only about three months old each but already getting aquainted with all the tourists. Nemecio has to feed them milk four times a day and then keep them busy roaming the paths and boardwalks of Ceiba Tops. The tapir is called Luchito and the follows Nemecio around like a dog. Nemecio is a master at the right whistle or sound Luchito makes and I imagine he'll be figuring out what works for Juanita, too (the baby deer)!

Well, my last story also involves animals but not my favorite kind. As I mentioned before, the river is quite high right now. I live very near the river in Iquitos and now and then I've seen rats in the yard. Well, two weeks ago, I woke up to a funny little scratching noise. I turned on the light expecting to see something OUTSIDE my screened window, but NO, the rat was inside! So I freaked and it freaked then ran out my bedroom door. I quickly opened the other doors of my house and closed my bedroom door. Since it was only about 4 AM, I finally fell back to sleep and it was gone in the morning. So, the next night, about 4 AM, what do I hear? The same little noise! I turned on the light and once again, another rat only this one was three times as big!!!!!! OMG...it ran under my bed, I got the broom, poked it and it ran out the door screeching all the way. (Now this is when I'd really like to have a man in the house!) But I handled it and decided to keep all the doors and windows closed and for the first time ever, simply turned on my air conditioning rather than my fans. This was just before Bonnie arrived so I didn't tell her exactly what kind of "critter" problem I had been having but I'm sure she guessed. Anyway, I got my landlord to do some reinforcement at the bottom of the screen so since then I've had no more midnight visits. Bottom line: Give me bats in the house, any day!!! When I returned from the deliveries to the office, what should I find but the whole office upside down. Turns out that all those rats we've been seeing and hearing in the office over the last several months had finally starting dying. However, they were dying in the walls which you can guess doesn't smell very good. So Pam made the executive decision to tear apart the walls and completely patch and rebuild them in cement. No more rats for the moment, now only drying cement and fresh paint soon on its way. :)

Well, gotta' go. Thank you, again, all of you who stay in touch with me and connect either by email or Facebook. I would be lost without you all and I appreciate each and every one of you! Have a great May :) PS I will be posting some photos on Facebook soon from the last couple of weeks so stay tuned.

Life goes on...

Life goes on...

Well, I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last posting. As I looked over my daily journal, so much has happened on a daily basis that I don't know where to begin this posting? Although we've been working on AAS preparation for some time, last month was the real start of getting the Adopt-A-School parts and pieces organized. Several thousand dollars worth of school supplies were sent down river to the lodge where I met with a group of high school volunteers from Scared Heart School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. They were here to experience the jungle and do 20 hours of community service. I filled their time quite well and we got a lot done. Four days later we had sorted, organized, counted and filled over 150 rice bags with paper, tape, chalk, pens, crayons, etc. This week we've started making over 4,500 individual packets of notebooks, pens, markers, etc. for each student and their teachers. Behind the scene, there is a mountain of paperwork and organizing going on that is never seen by anyone but the office staff. We have less than 3 weeks to go with a lot left to do but one way or the other, on Monday, April 20, along with about 15 volunteers from the States through the Detroit Zoo, we will begin the delivery process for one more year! Donations this year, as expected, have been down from previous years. We were not able to buy as many classroom textbooks as we would have liked, but our donor base is a loyal one and enough funding was received to continue providing individual packets to each child and teacher in the program!

Two weeks ago I went to my first fútbol game (soccer). There is a really nice stadium here so it was a professional match between teams from Perú and Brazil. It was held on a Sunday afternoon and the stadium is so close to home I could walk. The weather was quite hot and the place was packed. It was the first time I've actually sat through a whole soccer game whether professor or on a amateur. I really don't know anything about the rules and such but I came away feeling like I had watched a hockey game! All kinds of action and fights with lots of close calls for goals. But in the end the score was 2-1 (we lost)--just like hockey. I think I could learn to enjoy the game but I need to watch it with some English commentary so I can pick up the nuances of the game a bit more. There is absolutely no other sport here that anyone plays or follows--it's fútbol 24/7/365 :)

I read a very interesting book called "The New Earth" by Echart Tolle. Although his writing is decidedly "new age" he uses passages from the New Testament repeatedly as reference and I found his take, if you will, on the passages refreshing and insightful. Although I am familiar with all the verses he quoted, his writing and unusual framing of the subject helped me see the words of Jesus in a new and enhanced light. His final analysis in which there are only three states of acceptable emotional existence--Acceptance, Joy, or Enthusiasm--was a great step forward in understanding how to chose to live in the now! I know of two people in my life that I think embody this--my grandfather, OM Smith and my lovely friend Dorothy Calmes. Those of you know (or knew) these two, know what I mean. I would recommend the book to anyone looking for a fresh point of view on a familiar subject.

Lots of interesting sights and sounds continue in Iquitos. I've come to realize that the people who live here LOVE three things: Concrete, plastic and re-bar (or re-rod). And I could say they have a little bit of a love affair, too, with "white out". At another time I will write more on these subjects so stayed tuned. I saw a beautiful double rainbow across the river one day on my walk home from work--absolutely huge but I think that here, rainbows don't quite have the same positive feeling we get from them. Then you've heard of someone "ending up in the gutter", figuratively speaking? Well, on my way home another day from work there was a man quite literally sleeping in the gutter on the street. I often see people sleeping on park benches and the sidewalk but not right in the street with refuse and water and who knows what else running along underneath the guy. At first I thought he was dead but then I did see some movement. I haven't seen him since so hopefully some good turn came his way.

Well, yesterday was my 53rd birthday--Yikes! How did that happen? But you know what? At this moment in my life, I feel physically better than I have since I was 23...can't say I look 23 but on the inside, I sure feel great! I got many nice emails and a couple of phone calls from home. My dear friend, Lynn Cluskey sent me a gigantic bag of Tollhouse chocolate chips in the mail! I can't believe they made it here and in less than a week. Then she called me on the phone, too! What a great treat to catch up on the Brighton news. Last night, several of my friends invited me out. We went to a bar that is owned by Pam (my boss) and her family. Even though it was a Tuesday night, things don't start too early around here but by 10 PM there was lots of good beer and dancin' goin' on! They were all so generous with gifts and I received the most lovely, most delicious cake, as well! I really was quite touched and even though none of them speak English (and you know how pitiful my Spanish is still) we all had a very good time. It was one of the best birthdays I've had in a long time and I won't soon forget it! Check out my Facebook page and you'll see some photos of my big night on the town!

So, Happy April! And thanks to you all who have consistently followed my blog. I'm not sure anything terribly profound is coming out of my postings, but just knowing you all are out there thinking of me (as I am of you) and wishing me the best, makes my life a daily joy and I hope a blessing to others as well!