Planes, Motos, and a Birthday

So it's been about two weeks and since we arrived in Iquitos, and I don’t think I have stopped sweating the entire time. It’s so hot here. But when the sun goes down or a rainstorm comes through the temperature drops a lot.

We’ve been getting a lay of the land, learning the best places to eat, where to shop,...... etc, etc. We’ve also been spending a lot of time making new friends here. Everybody has been extremely welcoming and helpful. It feels like we have become a part of a bigger family here.

So vacation mode has persisted a bit longer for me here, as I am searching for work here. It’s not quite the same as looking for a job in the states. There’s not exactly a “Craig’s List” or a “CareerBuilder” here to access. So you gotta know some people who know some people. Fortunately I've got a boyfriend who knows alot of people who know alot of people. It turns out that private English lessons are highly desired but hard to find. So word of my arrival has spread and I am beggining to line up some students. So far I only have three, but several others who are interested. I've got two little elementary kids to teach and a university student. I am so excited, I start tomorrow! Yay! Wish me luck.

So I had a birthday about a week ago. It was my first time celebrating in the jungle, and it was amazing. Jorge and I took a long ride on a mototaxi out of the city to a place called Quistococha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:El_Chullachaqui_-_Quistococha_(Iquitos,_Peru).jpg) It was a zoo, a lake, and beautiful beach resort all in one. Similar to the zoo in Lima, you could get alarmingly close to the animals there. I could have hopped a little fence to join the alligotors, or I could have jumped right into the dolphin lagoon and swam accross to the monkey island. But don't worry, I didn't. So some interesting things I saw...well I have never seen that many alligators together, ever.

I have never seen a pink dolphin before. In a way it kind of looked like a regular dolphin that had a skin disease. But actually there is a legend here that goes along with the pink dolphin or the "Bufeo Colorado." Supposedley it is actually a wizzard that comes to the land as a good looking man to seduce women back to the depths of the water with him......hmmmmm.

I also have never been so nervous walking around the zoo. I was pretty sure one of those animals could escape at any moment, and that's when we came along a snake outside of its cage chillin on a bench. Well of course, there was a snake charmer guy who wanted to charge us to take photos with the snake. So Jorge, aka "Jorge of the Jungle" jumped at the chance to play with the snake. He held up to his mouth and put it around his shoulders just like Britney Spears. I can't say I was too excited, but I reluctantly played along and let the tail dangle around my shoulders. The snakes we saw in the cages were much larger and I assume they weren't quite as friendly.

The ants should have been in an exhibit of their own....but instead they were everywhere and they were huge. Some of them do bite so we had to be weary of them. But for the most part they were very busy carrying large loads and they reminded me of big trucks on a busy freeway.

Quistacocha was so beautiful. I felt like we had found a secret land that only a handful of people knew about. There was a big quiet lake with a white sand beach. There were little boats and restaraunts and people swimming.

I was surprised to walk to the far end of the beach and find a small group of our new friends. As a surprise Jorge rounded up some of the new friends and they joined us for the day. They even brought a cake. I am not sure who had to hold a cake on their lap for 20 minutes in a mototaxi, but I greatly appreciated it. We ate cake and lunch and then explored. It was a very special day and I enjoyed it so much. Later that night we went to the main plaza and had drinks and spent more time with friends.

One day we went to check out the new plane Jorge would be flying. It's a Twin Otter plane that takes off and lands in the Nanay river where it intersects with the Amazon. When the plane starts up the wind from the propellers blows so loudly and I felt like there was a little hurricane passing through. We watched as the plane did some test runs back and forth on the river. I have never actually seen a plane take off from the water like that.

Another day we went to check out a similar plane on the air base. Jorge wanted to study the plane and all its gadgets for the pre-flight checklist. And I just tagged along, but he let me sit in the pilot's seat while he sat in the co-pilot spot. Don't let the picture fool you, the plane never left the ground. But it was fun to pretend that it did. Jorge took his first flight today, over the jungle and to a small town on the border of Columbia. Tomorrow he flies to the border of Brazil. I am hoping for some souvenirs, but not expecting any...

This week we began riding around on a moto as my roomate left for a vacation and let us borrow it. So I'm not sure if you would call our first ride a total "success" but it was pretty fun. So some things we learned....Helmets may save your life but they will make you stick out like a sore thumb, if you see dark gray clouds in the sky...don't get on a motorcycle, and don't drive with sandals when you are operating a moto in which you need to shift the gears. So we wore helmets because the Air Force requires all officers to wear them. But nobody else here ever wears a helmet. You feel safe, but really nerdy. So we were the dorks with the helmets, wearing sandals and experiencing alot of rocky starts at green lights, and then it started raining, pouring. Poor Jorge he was in the front, and got the worst of all of it. But we survived, and now our moto rides are much smoother. We are driving like the locals. I can't believe what I see on motorcycles. The record number of people that I have seen on a moto is five people(it was four kids and a dad). I am so surprised when I see things like moms holding their little babies in one hand and sheet of glass for the house in another hand all while balancing on the moto. And we got upset at Britney for driving with her kid in her lap. Seatbelt laws aren't exactly a concern here. Sorry that I keep referencing Britney, I'll stop.

So I realize that I still haven't documented much of the city. So I think that will be my next blog assignment. I will take you all on a tour of this city....some tim

Well I love you all and I miss you.

We Left on a Cargo Plane...

Okey Dokey, well we have officially arrived to the jungle. Yesterday we flew out of Lima at around 9 am from the air force airport. So we flew in a cargo plane, and I can definetely say that that was a first for me. Not exactly first class flying, but I can't complain at all because it felt quite adventerous.

The flight was only about two hours long, but it seemed to be a lot longer, mostly because I had to pee really bad for the last hour of the flight. Needless to say I don't think there was a bathroom for me to use, and even if there were I would not have been able to find it amidst all of the "cargo." There were boxes piled high all around us, a car, tons of luggage, and maybe about 60-75 passengers. Jorge and I found a comfy spot right on top of some big metal pipes, which we later saw on the bed of a truck being delivered off base somewhere. Some people were sitting on top of boxes, some people found a seat on the benches, and some were standing where they could find space. After all, who needs seatbelts right?

Here they are unloading the car...

The plane was pretty noisy inside, especially during take off. It was hard to hear Jorge talking right next to me. For as many people as there were inside, the temperature felt nice and cool. But that was before we approached Iquitos. I had no idea how close we were to Iquitos during the entire flight, but I did start to feel the temperature changing quite rapidly and I knew we had to be getting close. By the time we arrived it felt pretty hot and I thought we might be running out of air, turns out that is just how 85% humidity feels.

The landing was the softest I had ever experienced in a plane. Jorge boasted of course, "Now that's how an air force pilot lands." As soon as we stepped out of the plane it was like a heat wave just slapped me in the face. And I hadn't really seen or felt the sun for a month so I felt like a nocturnal creature that had just been shoved into the direct sunlight. I felt like I wanted to run for cover.

The runway....

The air force airport is on the outskirts of the city so we had to wait for quite a while for our escort to take us to the base. Really all the air port had was one waiting room, an outdoor porch, a big hangar, and the runway. So while we were waiting, it rained. A dark thundering cloud rolled in and began pouring on the tin roof above us. It was so loud and there were puddles and rivers and mud within just a few minutes time. So when our escort finally did arrive we began heading out on a muddy dirt road. We didn't get far because we got stuck behind a line of trucks that were stuck in the mud. So we had to take all of our things and flag down a mototaxi.

We finally arrived to the base, and now I am staying with Jorge and a few of Jorge's friends who are also transport pilots. Right now we are in a guest house with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Luckily there happens to be a random internet cable coming from the ceiling, and that is how I am here writing right now. I don't know if internet will usually be this easy to find, so I thought I would take advantage. I will be here for a few days and then we have to find another place for me to stay. Jorge has a friend that lives alone here on base and she said that she wouldn't mind having a roomate. She even has a bedroom to spare. Sounds like that could be the best possible living situation for me. However, she is going on vacation and won't be back for a month. So, I may have to find a temporary apartment for about a month. But we will see what happens....

Here's the view from the front door...

Another friendly house guest...

Tried some jungle food tonight. Everything is fried here in the jungle. Great. Apparently you can even have fried alligator meat. I didn't have the courage for that yet, but I will work up to it. Not exactly sure the names of the items we ate tonight, but Jorge's dish involved fried bananas and chicken, mine was a typical salad with the exception of a ribbon like vegetable that comes from palms. And we had some passion fruit juice to wash it all down. It was tasty.

Got my first real look at the Amazon River last night. What can I say? Wow. It's amazing. It's so vast and green and intimidating. It's something I only dreamed about seeing one day so I definetely felt pretty impressed to be standing there taking it all in. I have only really been here for a day so I haven't taken many pictures of the city, but there will be plenty of time for that later. For now, here is the view from the city's "boardwalk" that overlooks the Amazon....

For those of you who are wondering about the little kitty "Panda" that we rescued....he is safe and happy with Jorge's grandma. She took pitty on him the same way Jorge did and she agreed to take care of him untill she finds somebody who wants him permanently. But I am guessing she will probably get attached to him pretty quickly and she will end up keeping him. I think I might miss him a little bit.

Well that's all for now. I have to go find an apartment and a job....I love you all!