For My Mom

In less than a month from now my mother will actually be right here in the Amazon visiting us and I can´t hardly believe it. It´s something we´ve been planning for about a year and a half now, and we were finally able to make it happen. I couldn´t be more happy that my beautiful mother is coming here to experience our life here and really see everything through her own eyes. It has meant the world to me to have parents that have supported my marriage and our plans to live in Peru during this time of our lives. I just can´t thank my mom and dad enough for all they´ve done for me. I think my mom is amazing and I have always been inspired by her desire to see the world, know about other cultures, her faith, her ability to love so selflessly, her sense of humor, her ability to be on time or like 4 hours early to everything, her work ethic, her sense of service to her community, and just her all around zest for life and desire to care for all those around her. Probably the most selfless person I know. I love you mom, can´t wait to be hosting you. I´ve secretely teared up just thinking about the glorious moment of your arrival and I´m gonna cry when I see you.........and squeeze you so tight we might burst. Get ready!

Everyone please pray for the safe travel of my mama. Thank you!

Happy San Juan

Today is the birthday of St. John or San Juan. And today is one of the biggest holidays in Iquitos. Saint John is kind of the designated Saint of the Amazon. It´s not a special day in other parts of Peru, it is truly a regional holiday special to Iquitos. While I´ll be working this weekend, everyone else will be gathered together enjoying people´s company drinking lots and eating Juanes....which actually represent the decapitated head of St. John, wierd, I know. But in order to celebrate at our Preschool all the children dressed up in traditional clothes and we created our own Húmisha in the back garden. We danced and threw corn flower all over each other. Then we knocked our Húmisha down and ate Juanes. I had so much fun playing with the kids. Usually when I´m there I´m in teaching mode, but this day was all play mode. And could my students be any more riduculously adorable?

Lazy Sunday Walk

 A while back Coco and I took a little lazy Sunday walk near the ¨boardwalk¨ area of the river. In that area there is a great view of the river and a street lined with old buildings and restaurants. Here´s a few images from our walk.

Sexy Witches

Yesterday was Father´s Day, and on Saturday we had our annual celebration for the father´s or husbands. Similar to last year, we put on a show with dances, sketches, and a video slide show. And of course there were lots of drinks and tons of dancing. The only difference is that we used a Moulin Rouge theme last year, and this year we decided to be sexy witches. The reason for that is because the men sometimes refere to us as ¨las brujas,¨ which means ¨witches.¨ I know that sounds pretty mean, but it´s said with a mild bit of affection. So we all dressed up like witches and created a witchy environment in our little rec center.

My favorite part of the evening was when I had the chance to imitate Coco on stage. He had no idea that I would be acting in the show as him and it turned out to be a pretty funny surprise for him. I had to dig up some dirt about him and found out about how he acts when he´s at work. Turns out he´s pretty normal and there´s not too much too make fun of. But one thing he tends to do is play video games in his office and or in the squad before he flies. So most of the jokes about him revolved around that. We had so much fun planning and pulling off the whole event. And Coco was a great sport....he laughed right along with everyone else. I hope you all had a great Father´s Day!

                                       
                                       

Garlic

So I think my little orange jungle kitty has finally got used to me shoving a camera in his face. These are his glam shots from this morning.

Sungaro Cocha

A while back Coco and I went with some friends to a big lake in the middle of the jungle. We hadn´t been there before, and we discovered that it required a long drive out to the spot and then a looooong walk through the trees to eventually arrive at the hidden lake and resort called Sungaro Cocha.

We stayed all day enjoying the pool, the gardens, the view, and the drinks until the rain clouds rolled in as usual. I continue to be surprised by all the things hidden in this jungle.