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!