Saturday, April 26, 2014

Today I woke up at 7:30. Ate breakfast. Then we went on the boats to another village. This was the village of a girl who is coming back to Lima with us. She is about to go on an exchange to the United States. It's really kind of sad actually.  She is going to know what a humble life she has been living. They live in shacks with no windows. No air. I'm sure there is no hot water. And they live in the middle of the hot jungle.

Water is pretty much everywhere. They have to walk through it to get from house to house. They have boards along the bottom I'm some areas. I guess so they know what they're walking on. 

I held a sloth.

I also took pictures of a dog that had a monkey on it's back.

And I held a bird for a long time.

The little girls loved me. 2 sat next to me and one sat on my lap. I miss my babies. I always think about them when I see little kids.  One of the little girls has something seriously wrong with her teeth. Maybe you can't tell. She is the little one in the top picture. I don't know what was wrong with them. But probably doesn't have a good dentist around. I came back from the village and only made in 1/4 way to my room before laying in the hammock and passing out for an hour or more. After that we had lunch. It was so amazing. Best lunch so far. There was this pork with vegetables. It was my favorite thing ever. The flavor just exploded in my mouth. After lunch we went on probably the most pointless thing I've been on since being here. It was also super hot. Super super hot. We went to go look at some lily pads. It was not worth the journey at all. But oh well. I didn't even take pictures of the lily pads. It's just floating vegetation. After that we came back and had a while before dinner. A long while. I was starving. Me and 2 other guys went swimming. And then I went and took an incredibly long hot shower. I just sat in the water forever. Then I went out and ate dinner. After dinner I was ready for bed. It was only 8 though. I changed into my pajamas and was just going to spend time writing in my journal. But then a girl knocked on the door and said we were going to have like a goodbye ceremony for one of the girls going home. We all had to say goodbye words in Spanish. I'm not even really friends with the girl. It is hard enough to think of random crap to say in English. But we had to say it in Spanish. I just made a fool of myself standing there and eventually said basically nothing in English. Whatever. I don't even care. We ended up dancing and stuff. I just felt like sleeping. Luckily it didn't last long. Now I'm in bed and I can hear everyone else still awake. I have turned into a different person since I came here. I am a silent observer. Always. I don't mind it at all either. My Spanish can't improve if I don't speak more though. So I should probably start speaking more. I hear everyone keep clapping for something so maybe the going away party isn't over.  Crap. I guess I'll have to get re dressed. Again. Maybe. I might not. Night. 

*I'm writing this later*

I ended up sleeping but then waking up at 11. The fans turned off. It was super hot. I stayed up until 1 talking with Kaylee and Erika. They are the 2 exchange students that I roomed with. Then I moved to the hammock on our back porch. Our back porch had a screen covering so it wasn't as hot as in the rooms and no Mosquitos could get it. I fell asleep in the hammock. A few hours later, in the middle of the night, I eventually moved back to my bed. 

Friday, April 25, 2014

What a long day!!!  We started at 6 AM this morning. We got up early to board a little boat. We took the boat out to go look for monkeys and birds. Some people saw a monkey. I didn't see it. It was super small and some people saw it with binoculars. I saw an iguana perched way up high in a tree though. It was crazy camouflaged.  It was awesome. We saw some little birds too. Those weren't too exciting. Except the fact that they live in the Amazon rainforest. That's just cool to say. The weather was nice. I actually enjoyed being up so early. The air was cool and the boat ride was nice. Then we came back and had breakfast. I had heaps of bacon, eggs, watermelon, and different types of breads. Then after lunch we were able to board another boat. This boat was huge though!  It was really cool being on a big boat. We sat on the second floor. After awhile going up the river we boarded a smaller boat that we had been dragging along. We took it out and went piraña fishing!!!!  That was awesome!!!!  The second you stuck your fishing pole in the water with some meat on it you received a bite!!!!!  THE VERY SECOND!!!  It was insane!!!  That means they are everywhere!! Those little buggers are hard to bring up though!!!  Our group ended up catching and trapping 9. Everyone obviously felt bites.  Some people, like me, were even able to surface the pirañas but then they'd jump off the hook. Our tour guide had the tip of his finger bitten off by a piraña!!!  Not today. But he showed us!  It was crazy. Those things are scary. I think I might have mentioned yesterday how they have the "teeth of a shark".   

After fishing for a while for pirañas we took the boat out to the deeper middle part of the amazon.  Let me tell you. Life doesn't get better than what I witnessed. I sat there and watched tons of dolphins jump throw the water. I saw PINK DOLPHINS. They weren't even that far from our boat either!!  Everyone except me was able to jump in and swim!!!  I was content sitting at the tip of the front of the boat though and just watch. The amazon temperate felt amazing, but I forgot to wear my suit.  

I thought how simple the life was. When we woke up at 6 am we passed people up swimming.  Some people were fishing too. But that is obviously not for fun. Well maybe it is. But I think it is more of a livelihood. They don't have tv or wifi or electricity. They go to bed around 7 when it gets dark because they have nothing better to do. If life ever was too much for me to handle and I just needed a break from it all I would come to the amazon. Wake up in the morning and catch myself a fish. In the morning ride we also so a man who had caught a ceviche. That is a fish that Peru is known for. I've eaten it serval times.

Life is just simple here. I have loved not having wifi here. It is like it doesn't exist and I don't miss it. Then we came back to the lodge and ate lunch. We ate fish, pork, rice, and vegetables. Not my favorite meal so far. But it was sufficient and not bad. After lunch I went to my room and slept for a little bit. Then I got up a played a card game with some exchange students. I laid in one of the hammocks for a little bit.

And then we got ready to board another boat. While getting life jackets my tour guild told me to run and get my tribal custom. He said when we arrived at my next destination he was going to paint my face. Our next destination is a library in the middle of the jungle. Kids come there after school to read and have fun after reading. No one has books in their houses. Reading for fun can only be done at the library. We brought tons of new books to add to the library. Then we spent a couple hours playing with the kids. It was super fun! We ended up playing a game outside and I was the first one to fall smack in the mud!!!!!  My other pair of modest kapris got a hole ripped in the butt. Now my only other pair of modest shorts were covered in mud. I didn't bring any more shorts at all.  All I had left are jeans. We kept playing. Several other people ended up falling in the mud. It was so hilarious and fun.

My friend, Kaylee, from Australia. She wis one of the only exchange students who will stay with me until I leave. 

Then we watched some kids scale trees!!!!!!  They just climbed up these huge tall trees like it was so easy!!  It was like something you'd see a movie. I tried to do it. Failed miserably. A lot of people tried too. I think only 1 or 2 exchange students could do it. It was crazy!  So cool!  It was like something you'd see in a movie where someone scales a tree to pick a coconut or something!  

There is a kid way up in that tree. 

I got eaten alive while playing these games!!!!  My legs are incredibly uncomfortable now.  I am trying not to touch them not think about the itch though. After we got back from the library I thought we were done for the day. So I washed my pants off in a shower and hung them up to dry. I put on my swim suit bottoms and tank top and went to go swim.  I hope you caught how I said tank top. The bites burned but it was heavenly. I could feel a headache coming on from lack of water. The water felt so good on my head. Then I was informed I had to get ready cause I was leaving soon. I wouldn't have swam if I had known we were leaving!  Now all my bug spray was washed off and my clothes we went!!  I've almost used my host moms whole bottle of bug spray. Bug spray and sunscreen are ridiculously expensive here in Peru. I will have to buy her more bug spray. To be polite. I hung oh my wet clothes and put on my last pair of jeans. I put on some rubber boots, and I long sleeve shirt. By this time it is dark. We boarded a boat. Then we headed out to look for tarantulas!!!!  They come out in the night. We some TONS. More than tons!!!!  It was insane!!  I wasn't scared. I was just kind of sitting there. It didn't bother me. Some people were freaking out though. All these trips we go on are only with 12 people. We have 3 groups that we are broken up into. We are the only group who went out tonight though. We were supposed to get to an area and go night hiking in the jungle. But by the time we arrived we had to turn back because we would be late for dinner. On the way back our guild tried to find an alligator. He was trying to call it. We never saw one though.  I enjoyed our conversation on the boats with the exchange students.  We got back 15 minutes late for dinner though. For dinner we had rice, chicken, some type of beef I think, vegetables and fruits, and some type of cake. Peruvian cake is nothing compared to American cake. They always look nice. But they never satisfy my cake crave. They don't taste that good. We always drink some type of fruit juice too.  They always taste amazing.  Everyday they are different. After dinner headed to a room in our lodge. There was turned off the lights and listened to story's. My guild told funny stories about people who had visited this lodge before. I understood everything. Completely. Then another your guild started telling scary stories. By that time I was done listening haha. I got up and left. Took a HOT AMAZING shower at 10. It's now 10:50. The fan will turn off in 10 minutes when the electricity is turned off for the night. Then I will try not to touch my bites and fall asleep while being hot. I figure sleeping with wet hair is a good thing though. My Australian friend, Kaylee, is up writing in her journal too. This is an incredible experience. We are so blessed to get to be here. She writes hers in Spanish though. Well, she attempts. The Australlians came here 2 weeks after me. There are only 2 of them. The other exchange students will leave in July. It will just be me, the 2 Australians, and the new kids that come at that point. I really like the Australians. So that's good.  One is... I think the word is esentric...  She is a little weird. So some people get annoyed by her. But I like her a lot. And the other one is super cute and I like her too. The always have positive attitudes too. Which I love. Well. Better get to sleep. 

April 24, 2014

WI would like to start by saying I haven't forgotten Austin's birthday.  We have no wifi out here in the middle of the jungle. So I can't tell him happy birthday. That makes me sad. I love him. He brings so much happiness to my life. I'm so blessed to have so many wonderful siblings. Now. Anyways. Yesterday was the first day of viaje. I woke up at 4:15. We left the house at 4:30. We picked up Henry and Charro and then headed to the airport. Charlene, another exchange student, had stayed the night at my house so we could go to the airport together. We got to the airport and through security with about 3 minutes before we all left the airport and loaded a little bus. The bus thingy took us to the plane. Before I left the USA I'd never been in a plane were you walk down the stairs of the plane, like in a movie. Usually it has those big tunnels to board the plane. The bus took us right to the plane and we climbed stairs to enter it. The flight was FREEZING. Even though I knew we'd be in the jungle and it would be hot and we weren't supposed to bring anything we didn't need I knew I would need a jacket. Luckily I brought one. It was so cold. I was so tired and I was starving. I eventually remembered I had a towel packed in my carry on. I was able to get that out and use it as a blanket. It was still cold but I was comfortable enough to finally sleep for about 5 minutes. We were fed bread with ham and a brownie on the plane. I inhailed it and was still starving.  We arrived in Iquitos Peru. There was no food that I saw in the airport before we boarded another bus to take us to our hotel. Another flight was coming later with more people imcluding Henry and Charro. So we got our rooms and I slept for a couple house. Now about the city. The only way to get to that city is by boat or flying in. Because of that it is hard to get cars to Iquitos. Everyone drives motor taxis or motorcycles. It was really cool to see. We went to several different zoos and saw different types of animals.  I held a baby anaconda. That was scarier than I thought it was going to be.

We also played with a baby monkey. It loved to jump on us and play in our hair. I got a picture of it in my friends hair but no one got a good shot of it in my hair. It was really cute though.

We had the best fish in the world for lunch and good chicken for dinner. I don't know what type of fish it was. But it was heavenly. I forgot to get a picture of all the motor taxis. So I will google it. I'm sure there are good pictures on google. Today was such a long day that I'm actually having trouble remembering what else we did last night. Oh yeah, we went to the plaza de armas. Every city in Peru has a plaza de armas I think. It's just a big city square. I always like that about cities here.  

We went and looked for Peruvian pants to buy. Didn't find any. I'll definitely buy some before I go home.  I saw a restaurant from based on Texas!!  All the workers were wearing texas longhorn shirts!!!  I told them I was from texas and we all took some pictures together!  It was so exciting. I had to tell everyone about it because it was so cool. 

Then we went and bought water because Henry said it might be expensive once we left for the jungle. We left for the jungle this morning at 9:30. We boarded a boat with all of our things. First we stopped in a village. Really, it was just a look alike. Apparently there is a village where the workers families live that is 4 days boat ride into the amazon. They had a replica of it there for tourist and to earn money. They did dances for us and we were able to dance with them. They spoke their own language. It was really cool still, though I would have liked more to see the actual village.  Yesterday I learned about how vicious pirañas are in the Amazon River.  They had pirañas on a key chain. I love collecting key chains. So I bought one. I also bought a bracelet made with anaconda skin and a top that all the village women were wearing. Over thing was way over priced and definitely a tourist trap. But I regret not buying anything when I went to Ecuador. So I don't care.  

These roofs are so cool!!  Our hotel, which is a lodge in the middle of the jungle, has a roof like this. They work so well. Super impressed. 

The kids were just so cute there. It made me miss my babies. 

One of the ladies isn't even wearing a shirt. 

Then we loaded the boats again for another hour down the Amazon. Everything is so lush. It is super humid.  Luckily if it wasn't for the humidity it wouldn't be that hot. Don't get me wrong. We are still sweating ALL the time. But it least it's only in the 80s and humid and not in the 100s and humid. But we are in winter here. It was amazing being on the Amazon. I'm in the amazon rainforest and the amazon river. Not everyone gets to say that they've done this in their life. After awhile I fell asleep on the boat. When I woke up we were at the river lodge where we are staying. There are only 2 other families here. We are in the middle of the rainforest!!!!!!!!  Rainforest is covering us!!!  We walked through the rainforest for a couple hours today. A man taught us all about different animals and plants. God is great. It's amazing how many different types of things you can do with these plants for our benefit. There must be a cure for cancer in that rainforest!!!  There are so many plants!!!  It's just so dense!! And green!!  I can't believe it!!  It's amazing!!  It is very very wet. Often we are walking in water.  And if not water always mud.  We didn't see as many animals as I expected to see in the jungle. Tons of insects though. Our guild pulled some vines out of the tree and some leaves and had me hold one end of the vine while we wove it. He made me a crown out of it. I was the only one. He called me "la reina de la selva" which translates to the Queen of the jungle. I was the only one who got a crown. It's going to be an awesome suvineer, if I can keep it in tact. 

Tonight it got dark pretty early. And when I say dark. I mean pitch black. At 7 we loaded boats and took off down the river. We past houses that didn't have lights. You could see people with flashlights. That is how our hotel is. It only had electricity for a couple hours a day. We were spotlighting the jungle looking for animals. Still didn't see anything. We ended up in a place that was breathtaking. Breath. Taking. Picture this. Pitch black. Millions of stars. The sounds of the jungle. Floating down a river. Surrounded by vegetation. It was incredible. I can't even describe it to give it justice. I couldn't capture the moment in a picture either. We had 5 minutes of silence just to listen. I read my scriptures on my phone while laying in the boat looking at the stars. God is good. I am so blessed to be having this experience. He is good to me. Maybe there was no other reason I felt like I needed to come here to Peru than to see that. It's just so pretty!!  To be reassured God is real. The bugs here are insane.  I cake myself in bug spray. Still itchy though. And it's only the fist day. Dinner and lunch were good. Better than good. It's a buffet. So that's nice. Kevin obviously stayed at the wrong place in the jungle. Because the food here is amazing, and they told me it was nasty.  I laid in a hammock after dinner for a couple hours. Maybe 2. And listened to a kid play the guitar. There is a big area that has a pool table, bar, a card table with different games, some game that I don't know the name of, hammocks, and a guitar in this room. We all hung out in there.  I just wanted to here the guitar and relax.  Then I took a shower and am in bed now. I'm sure I won't be expecting more people for about 40 minutes because that is when the electricity turns off. It is 10:20 right now. My tour group has to board a boat at 6 tomorrow though. So I could use the extra sleep that the others don't need so much. Hopefully I'll have time to write more tomorrow. Night!