Garden of Eden for Saturday Lunch

On Saturday my husband told me he wanted to take me somewhere we hadn´t been before. I agreed to this plan of course. He said we were going to have to drive for a while but eventually we would find a lake with a restaraunt to relax for the day. So we headed out on the moto and somewhere between the Manatee Refuge and Quistacocha we found a bumpy muddy road which led us to our destination.

Neither one of knew the name of the restaurant or the location, but we nicknamed it ¨The Garden of Eden.¨ We decided that was a good name because its beautiful, there is fruit hanging from every tree, and you can roam peacefully among the animals.

   

When I first approached one of the lakes and saw these littles heads skimming the water I thought they were huge scary Amazon snakes, but they were actually just sweet little turtles.

The place actually had about 4 lakes, and there were little bridges and water falls flowing into each one. Here´s what I mean by fruit hanging from the trees. This is a jungle fruit known to only grow in this region called, ¨Aguaje.¨

And hanging from the trees we also found starfruit, coconuts, guava, and limes,

And then there were these little funny looking animals everywhere. They looked like big hamsters. I honestly don´t know what they are, but I know that they make a very strange noise when you get too close.

A couple of the lakes were covered in plants in way that made it seem as though it were land that you could walk on.

You probably noticed the threatening thunder clouds approaching us in the photos. If you´re assuming we got caught in a crazy rainstorrm, then you´re right. We thought about waiting for it to pass at the restaraunt but we assumed that muddy road would wash out. So we got hit by the storm while we were on our little moto and it felt like somebody was literally throwing buckets of water on us. But a little rain was totally worth the beautiful day we had at the lake. I hope we can go back soon.

Carnival

I will do my best to explain a unique Peruvian custom that I had the pleasure of participating in last weekend. It was pretty much one of the craziest things I´ve ever been a part of it. And I loved it.

All month has been the month of Carnival. The history about this holiday is a mystery to me and apparently a mystery to the Peruvians I assked. But I did google it and found this info written on a blog. It was the best explanation I could find. But what I saw of the holiday was that basically for the whole month of February and early March this celebration goes on and it involves hanging out on Sundays and throwing water balloons at each other, squirting people with water guns, throwing flour or paint on people, or worse. You might be wondering where this happens....well it depends on the region of Peru and it depends on each distinct neighborhood. But basically in Iquitos, no where is safe. As a gringa I was a huge target. So we didn´t go out much on Sundays, and if we did I had to hide in the mototaxi. And it doesn´t matter if you want to be a participant or not, you will be targeted. And if you have blonde hair, it will be worse for you. But I never took any of the atttempted attacks personal, plus husband usually blocked the water balloons for me. My hero!

So this whole celebration culminates on the last Sunday of Febrary or a Sunday in early March. Everyone gathers in their respective communities and gears up the water balloon and flour fight while dancing around a tall pole called an Húmisha which they ceremoniously cut down. As a community our little Air Force Villa decided to organize our own celebration and here´s how it turned out.

Here is our Húmisha. 

Here is how the celebration started out, mildly...... a few water balloons here and there with a little flour and foam.

And then things got ridiculous. There was mud. Colored mud. And Red Achote seeds which act as a natural dye for clothing, and then there were buckets of water, and then more mud, more seeds, more balloons, more mud. You get the idea.

And no one was spared. Young or old, holding a small child, dressed in nice clothes, holding a camera (don´t worry my camera´s ok), you were attacked.

It was actually pretty fun. It was like having a killer food fight when you were young. Everyone was acting like kids and everyone looked ridiculous.

 

 

And we did our dance around the Húmisha and performed the ritual of cutting it down. Then like a piñata everyone ran and violently gathered all the tupperware items that had been attached to it. I really wanted a pitcher but Coco and I ended up with an ice tray.

 

 

It was a great day that required a long shower afterwards, and alot of laundry. I love Peruvian traditions.

Gracefully 30, Forever 21

Coco´s birthday was a few days ago and he turned 30, even though he doesn´t look a day over 21. This was the first time since we had met each other that we would actually be together on his birthday. The other two birthdays occured while I was in California and he was in Peru. So I was thinking of a big blowout party to really bring in year 30 with a bang. But hubby was thinking the opposite, just me and him celebrating his graceful transition out of his twenties. Okay baby! I understand. No, party, just me and you. His special day included homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, a painting for his office made by me, some swimming and relaxing by the pool, some Mexican food for lunch (enchiladas), Mango Dacquiris, a trip out to our favorite Italian restaraunt for dinner, and lots of phone calls and messages from loved ones. We had a great day.

A note about our favorite Italian restaraunt, it´s beautiful and delicious. Its always dimly lit and everything inside is made from rustic wood and bricks. I think it probably has the best ambiance of any restaraunt in Iquitos. Plus, it´s one of the few choices we have when we don´t want to eat regional food. And they have these huge pizza ovens that I can´t get over. Ummmm I want another delicious calzone right now.

And.....Coco´s arm is healing quite nicely. He´s in physical therapy and should be flying be next month. We´re so thankful for that! I hope you´re all doing well.