on with it

As those of you who have lived and traveled in Latin America know, it´s not exactly known for its efficiency...as such, I have had an interesting time trying to get this blog out...after returning from the jungle several days ago, I was updating, and the power for the entire block went out. This appreared to not fluster anyone else in the internet cafe, who presumably lost all their work too...this is just the way of things here. It´s nice in a way to not have too much of an attachment to an outcome, and to free yourself from the perpetual need to be making progress...in your work, in your day, whatever, but it´s not easy for a purpose-driven, fairly anal-retentive Gringa. But that´s precisely why traveling is great...it removes you from your comfort zone and makes you see value in other sorts of lifestyles and ¨purposes¨ and concepts of time and space...I´ll be damned if it doesn´t take an entire day to buy a bus ticket or complete one seemingly simple task like go to the bank or prepare a meal though....oh the steps that are simplified in our stream-lined culture. And if you just want the quick update of where I am now (you Gringo, you), I am in Lima...I thought I´d be in Cajamarca by now, but you know how it is...I had to spend 2 plus days literally just hanging out...leaving the house only to take a 3 hour lunch. And unfortunatley, I´m not yet accustomed to the long post-lunch siesta, so I spend even more time just hanging around, waiting for my host to awaken (I am couch-surfing...see couchsurfing.com if you´re in the dark about this fabulous form of cultural exchange-free place to stay).

It´s all about finding a sort of order in what may seem like reckless disarray. As such, I present you with several journal entries with some degree of meanderig...

18.08.08: I´m back from the jungle....and I feel like I didn´t make it clear exactly...at least not to myself, I sometimes forget exactly what´s really going on....I was in the AMAZON RAINFOREST. As in the place that crappy theme restaurants are based on, and fabulous movies like Fern Gully and The Jungle book reminise of.... Ok, I just have to ground myself in reality sometimes.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14.08.08:
Ahh the jungle. Neat 12 hour days. No electricity. You have no choice really but to retire at 8:30pm, and wake up with the sun. It´s a nice feeling to allow your body to syncronize with nature. And hot water? Who needs it when it´s approximately a million degrees outside with 100% humidity. I´d rather swim in the river anyway. Just when you think your body can´t take the heat anymore, that you´re going to dissovle into a puddle and evaporate (if only that were possible with the humidity...nothing dries here), a dip in the Tahuayo river, a tributary to the Amazon, refreshes your entire being. And around the dock, oh my gosh, there are about 45 butterflies, sometimes it looks like a thousand, and they are flourescently colored--pink, green, and yellow--flying madly and creating a visual something like a tornado...then stopping in the river bank to suck up the salt. I didn´t believe my eyes the first time I saw it. It only became real perhaps when one landed right on my chest and searched around with its snout, appearing to look for my heart beat. I stood there and watched it for several moments before it flew off.

Coming here, we saw several pink river dolphins. The males are bright pink on the top, and the females are more grey. Like birds and many other animals, the males are more colorful to attract their mates, and the women blend in more to protect the species (since women are more important of course). It´s said that the males take human shape and take human lovers...so if a woman unexpectantly becomes pregant, it´s said that she must be impregnated by a pink dolphin. I might have to use that one... however pink dolphins also tend to be the cause of birth defects.
We also saw a sloth, being pretty sloth, up in a tree. And oh my the birds...Apparently in Peru there are more birds per square (insert small amount of) area than in all of Europe together, or something like that... All I know is there´s a lot, and they are beautiful.

15.08.08: 740am-ish:
Lounging in a hammock, receiving a full body embrace that actually suspends you mid-air. Swaying back and forth ever so slightly, you get the feeling that maybe the earth is cradling you in her vast arms and allowing you to feel her axial revolution... slow down and notice the buzz of life all around...

16.08.08
It´s challenging for an American to live in the jungle, aside from the obvious lack of luxuries, you know, like potable water. The days are so hot that a siesta is basically required, and once the sun goes down at 6, that´s it! You´re ¨work¨ is done. And it´s quite clear, that you are not in charge. Not only does mother nature hold the ultimate trump card with all the animals, and plants, hungry insects, and rain, and whatever else the jungle wants to throw at you, but you also realize that the knowledge you´ve acquired over the last 20-60 years is completely worthless here. You don´t know anything about surviving. You are totally dependent. Whew, that´s uncomfortable for us, isn´t it?? It´s a good exercise in letting go of control and letting yourself just be a part of it. It´s a facade anyway that you can really be in control...much less exhausting to just give in to nature.

17.08.08
Everything is wet here. I hung clothes out to dry two days ago, and they might actually be more damp then before...I suspect mold is growing in everything here.
I haven´t changed my clothes or showered...There´s really no point. And in fact, it´s nice not to worry about what to wear, I go to sleep and wake up and go. Maintaining such a high level of sterility sure is exhausting... (that being said, I can´t wait to give myself a good scrub, pluck my eyebrows and clip my toenails--both of which are growing like crazy here! If I stayed any longer I´d be like that lady with the 9 foot long curly fingernails...but even scarier, with a unibrow).

Today we went to Tierra firma, which is the land that doesnt flood during the wet season. One word is all you need: THICK. It´s just fat with life. Layers upon layers upon layers. It´s impossible to be a bystander--walking through, you become part of the jungle--you find yourself mid-shin in mud, and your body becomes tangled into the intricate world of spiders´webs, leaves, flies, mosquitoes, giant ants, and an other host of unidentifiable critters that stick to your sunscreened (and bug sprayed) skin and become nestled into your clothes and hair.
We saw a red poisonous frog about the size of a quarter, as well as a fantastic flourescent pink and orange fuzzy catterpillar. I can only image what sort of magnificient creature he will become. I just love how obvious life is here...present in all forms, along all stages of the cycle.

Here I am continually reminded of 2 Buddhist films (whose names I´m not certain of):
1. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring
2. Woman of the Dunes
As well as the story of the American lawyer and the Mexican fisherman
Sorry, for failing to elaborate...if someone knows the story, share it in the comments section, would you... :)

Ok, I have much more, and I´d like to write about Lima and Iquitos...but for now, I think we´ll call it good. I missed the siesta today, and it´s way past bedtime.

mmmm, fond thoughts of all of you, and piles of kisses,
love, Rachel


Also, here is the link for that video about Belen and our work, en Espanol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOMuVBFsAOk

As always feel free to take small bites...

Wow. My fabulous adventure as a humanitarian clown has formally come to an end (for now). I am really going to miss my fellow clowns, who are by nature, a bunch of open minded, intelligent, passionate, revolution-fighting, and instantly intimate friends. I will be in hug/kiss/backrug withdrawl come the weekend. I feel like I am not quite ready to express my experience except for to say that I am thankful for the reminder that: In our daily lives, we have this sort of silly logic that says in order to progress and make our lives better, we have to do things for ourselves and be selfish, but in fact, by doing things for others and sharing love and connecting with others on a more horizontal plane, or lives actually better and further exponentially... Es la verdad.

Tomorrow I am off to the jungle for 4 days (too short in my opinion). Originally I thought where I was headed was 2 hours into the jungle (or ¨selva¨) by boat, but I am happy to report that it is actually 4 hours into the jungle from Iquitos, and I´ve also learned that the trekking group I am going with has been written up in Outdoor magazine as the best Amazon adventure group. I had been a little afraid of ending up with a Disneyland experience (unauthentic) like some of my peers experienced in Brazil during Semester at Sea, however I was lucky to avoid. So, YES! I am so excited! I am going to be taking some jungle survival courses and meeting with a midwife, shaman, and herbalist! ! !

Things I love about Iquitos:
• Purple corn
• Different cumbia, salsa, and regatone music with every store front I pass
• Piles of heart of palm ribbons in salads
• Popsicles and ice cream at least once a day
• Potatoes at every meal (the national food of Peru)
• No high fructose corn syrup, so soda seems less evil
• Kaliente and Explosion—the two cumbia/salsa bands from here that feature back up dancers who wear g-strings and sparkly mid-drifts
• I receive at least 2.5 dozen hugs and kisses a day (Though clowning-related more than Iquitos-related)
• Abundant friends who want to practice English, and as a result- abundant bracelets and other random gifts, for example, one guy wanted to braid my hair with colorful string and beads for almost 2 hours so he could talk to me in English…and oh how he liked to tell me: ¨I love you so much…¨ yikes
• Women openly breastfeeding in the streets and restaurants (get with it America!)
• Beautiful pregnant women…though actually I´m a little unnerved by how many there are…where will all these babies go??
• Food surprises! In more than one way…but literally they love to wrap things up in things in things, for instance chicken on the bone wrapped up with olives (pits in tact) in a ball of rice wrapped up in a banana (or some other green) leaf
• Endless street food…and I´m notoriously fearless (thank God for probiotics)
• You can buy literally anything on the streets…from undies that say ¨stripper,¨ to DVDs and CDs unreleased in the US, knock-off soccer shoes, bath and body products, porn, traditional medicine, moon shine, fresh (still squirming) fish and meat, fresh (like literally on the branch fresh) fruit and veggies, cell phones, household products, backpacks, spices, handicrafts, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc
• They love the carbs…rice, potatoes, and some kind of banana or plaintain with all meals…if you´re lucky yucca and/or pasta too
• Being able to buy a single pill from the pharmacy
• Ceviche
• Chips made from sweet bananas, plaintains, yucca, and yams
• Crazy and abundant jungle fruits and juices…mmmmm maracuya, camu camu, guanabana, cocona, coca, and many many others whose names escape me
• Avocados and lime juice

Other notes:
• I ate a cocoon, which was still squirming as the lady at the market skewered it and stuck it on the grill.
• I am unable to get youtube to work on these crazy stupid slow computers, but I am told that PAHO (the Pan American health organization, a branch of the WHO) will be putting up a video of our project on youtube, which you can search by typing in PAHOPIN. It should have been put up this week. And by the way, how cool is it that our work is being endorsed by the WHO and huge Latin American organizations?
• I´m really starting to embrace sweating.
• The following photo links may or may not work…but there are pictures that people have posted on facebook, if you care to attempt to view: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=47249&id=603426244 (Wendy Ramos´s facebook photos)
• http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=691060222 (Rachel Sandler´s facebook photos)

Things I don´t like about Iquitos:
• Air pollution
• Kids selling stuff on the streets at 11pm…and let´s not even talk about the fact that there are 200 + child prostitutes in Iquitos
• Street kids asking for your food at restaurants
• Lack of trashcans and the resultant nasty streets
• Seeing women get manhandled on the streets
• I´d like to say that in a way it´s interesting to see dogs humping on the streets…it´s actually an uncommon sight, at least where I live…the first time I saw it here, I was like, Oh yeah! That´s how it happens! We never see that in the US since most of the animals get neutered, oh yeah! Nature!….however the resultant number of strays and abundant dog shit on the sidewalks, places this comment in the ¨things I don´t enjoy¨ section


thank you, thank you, thank you,
for your love and interest in my adventures...I have so much more I´d love to write, but as you might guess, I don´t want to spend too much of my day in a hot internet cafe with a circa 1994 PC at crazy slow internet speeds....especially when I can be fighting off cat-calls from moto-taxistas and jumping over potholes in the streets whilst juggling ice cream cones :)

heaps of hugs and kisses,
Rachel

http://www.livinginperu.com/blogs/features/543

squeek

I don´t know how to make this more brief, without just bullet-pointing…I could talk for hours, and well, I´ve got living and sweating to do here in Iquitos! Oh my god, it´s hot… One of Rachel S and my favorite things to say is from Guns and Roses´ Welcome to the Jungle….¨You´re gonna die!¨ Yeah…read on.
I´ve felt pretty dirty in my life, but this could perhaps be the dirtiest I´ve felt. It´s interesting how at first it stresses you out having paint, and dirt, and kid germs, (different from US kid germs I might add…these kids have parasites and have been itching their buttholes), and bug spray, and sunblock, and so much sweat, monkey saliva (yeah I got bitten by a monkey, but it was in a preserve and apparently they have been vaccinated), and stray dog, and dirt, and most likely sewage…all over…but then you sort of settle into it, get used to it, and it´s ok. You see kids in torn and dirty clothes, walking around barefoot, playing soccer with a ball that just bounced into the puddle of god knows what, and you have to think, it´ll probably be just fine. And truely I haven´t gotten sick until today. And today, I don´t think it´s sick so much as an allergic reaction. I ate fish yesterday, which I suspect to be the culprit, and now have a bright red rash covering my arms and legs. Benadryl has helped though…so yes, I´m dirty and smelly and red.
Today I had the opportunity to walk around by myself and enjoy the little intricacies of the town. I was left on accident when the group went clowning and I had run upstairs to grab the Benadryl, so I instead decided to venture out and take in Iquitos with a different perspective—you certainly see more when you´re sola. The town is mad with people. There´s humanity seeping out of every corner and block and within every interaction. Babies holding babies, people sharing cigarettes and snacks, people selling everything you can imagine, people everywhere….it´s like the farmer´s market on crack, but with a million motorcycles and moto-taxis (kind of like rickshaws but less enclosed), much more noise, and it goes on for miles.

Belen: A district of Iquitos: this is where we are doing the community work. It´s one of the most impoverished towns I have ever seen (mind you I´ve also been to India, but I have to say it´s worse off than towns I´ve seen in Kenya, South Africa, and Venezuela). The houses literally have nothing in them. They are just stilted platforms with a few hammocks for sleeping. That´s about it. The streets are more like muddy/raw sewage-y paths, which become canals during the rainy seasons, and are positively littered with junk. You are constantly looking down to avoid stepping in fish bones, poop, broken plastic objects, fruit rinds, etc. There are 70,000 inhabitants, 40% of whom are children (wow wow wow!). They have problems with domestic violence, street violence, prostitution—adult and children, and HIV (the rate is 45%!). And as a result of AIDS there are many orphaned street kids, who in turn take up prostitution, get HIV and become pregnant and the cycle continues exponentially…

Clowning: Each day we visit different hospitals, shelters, prisons, or other sorts of places lacking in cheer. Adorned with red noses, fake hair, crazy hats, sparkles, stickers, tutus, tights, silly shoes, rubber chickens, stuffed animals, and a slew of other nutty paraphanelia, we take over these places. Unfortunately I have only gotten to go once, to a hospital. It made me appreciate the often freezing hospitals in the US—hot hospitals seem even more disgusting than they are (Even though our super sterile and cold hospitals probably harbor superbugs that could eat the germs in these hospitals alive.)
Clowning is not only a means of making people smile and bringing them momentary cheer, but a social change force. We are building friendships and working to nurture the community by painting houses, teaching workshops to empower the people and improve their lives in sustainable ways, eg teaching girls about how to stick up for themselves when their dad or uncle wants to touch them, and teaching non-violence to boys. Clowns are different from other volunteer workers—they inspire change within individuals to help themselves and their community, while having fun. The clowns also have developed a group of young boys and girls who are community leaders, who act as positive role models and points of strength in the community the other 50 weeks of the year when we are not here (often I feel groups come to impoverished areas and pat themselves on the back for doing some, albeit good, work for a week or two and then leave, and the community more or less remians the same…I do not feel this is true in this case). The clowns are under strict rules to not give anything but friendship, hugs, and love to the people. It´s hard because people are always asking us for our left-overs from dinner or begging for money on the streets, but it is our commitment (at least for this trip), to forgo handouts (which only help in the short-run), and instead offer hugs or play a game with them. Our role as clowns is as a friend. It´s really interesting, and we´ve had a lot of feedback from the community leaders about our positive impact.
The house painting brings cheer to the neighborhoods, and involves people in their community. Kids are estatic about it, which is great because not only are they having fun, but they are getting an early sense of working and helping their families and neighbors. The workshops too are fabulous. I know one of the classes was teaching women to turn all the thousands of discarded plactic bags and bottles into useful household objects or things. I am teaching a dance class for 8-14 year olds, which I suppose is more for fun than anything, but we are putting on a show at the end of the week, which I think will be really great for them to have the opportunity to show off to their families.

Other notes…before my brain melts and I collapse in a sweaty red and dirty puddle:
Pat: I hugged a few little ones, with you in mind
Salsero/as: I went salsa dancing here, and it´s much different….mostly they dance apart from each other, so not all the turns and dips and patterns, etc. I definitely missed dancing with you all. That´s all I´ve got for now…I´m waiting to go dancing in the big city of Lima!
Buddy: Happy Birthday!!!

I´m thinking of you all!

Love, Rachel

And PS…if this made you think I don´t feel safe, or that I am really ill, or sad, or anything, that´s not true. I am doing quite well. Thanks for your lovin!

Iquitos

I arrived in Iquitos today and was overwhelmed with emotion—I´d forgotten how much I adore this type of setting. I was in love with the jungle as well as its main city at the opening, Manaus, in Brazil. The two are very similar. And the streets of Iquitos evoke such strong memories of Bali that I felt like I was going to either cry or explode or giggle my head off. The smell of exhaust and smoke and food in the streets and trash in the alleys, stray dogs, rickshaws and motorcycles everywhere (piled with families), and so much commotion. It may not sound nice, but it has an odd homey feeling to it…with all the warm people, it´s hard not to feel an intimate connection to it all…it helps that I was wearing a crazy hat, flowers around my neck, large earrings, and was with a pack of other clowns (literally). Everyone was hugging and greeting us on the streets and wanting to take pictures. This is the groups 4th clowning trip to the town, and they have done fabulous work in the community—painting homes, building community structure, teaching skill workshops, bringing cheer, and fostering education and leadership in the youth. Oh my, me encanta.
So indeed, I met up with Rachel S today. We finally united at the airport and it was a glorious reunion full of kisses and stories of our solo adventures. She rode a bus 7 hours east to Huancayo, which is in the mountains, to visit her old weaving teacher and the clinic she volunteered at. I stayed in the dirty, gray, capital city of Lima. Lima is daunting with its bajillions of people, carros—the vans that drive around and pick people up and drop them off everywhere, it´s like an incredibly fast-moving, swerving, taxi-bus packed as full with people as possible. It´s not uncommon to have a stranger basically sitting on your lap, or to hold something for your neighbor who has an armload of groceries, or perhaps their child.
So far, I have had a very interesting time…the first night I crushed my plan of slowly re-introducing meat and bread into my diet (I´m vegetarian and allergic to yeast), as well as avoiding fresh fruits and veggies until my stomach was acclimated. Well immediately upon arrival to my new friend’s home, we feasted on salad (lettuce being the hardest thing to wash), and sangrecita sandwiches, which of course were on bread and from what I gathered, are made from chicken´s blood (sangre) and potentially parts of chicken. Yum Yum. The same for breakfast in the morning. But fantastically enough…my stomach is fine, however I have quite the rash from reintroducing the yeast after being yeast free for an extended period of time. They eat bread with everything…. And on the note of food, I have discovered the wonders of Chifa, which is Chinese-Peruvian food. The Chinese were brought here as indentured servants to work on the sugar plantations, and now there is large population of Chinos, as they are called. Chifa is very similar to our Chinese food but in my experience has been more greasy and of course with out the American fortune cookie…I have to say we have a better rendition for the latter reason. Other things I have tried include: Inca Kola, the soda of Peru…it tastes like bubblegum, but is an electric yellow color. Pepino, a tasty apple-sized fruit you can buy in the street carts. Granadilla, a slimy, seedy fabulous fruit, you eat in one gulp…peel it open and let it slide down your throat. Pisco sour, Pisco (the Peruvian liquor, or as Pepe, my friend´s husband called it Peruvian tequila), lime, sugar, and raw egg white (I figure…why not? My stomach seems well cultured at this point, and it´s apparently a saying in Peru that one should drink Pisco to disinfect your system). Papas Huancayina, potatoes smothered with a creamy delicious sauce (potatoes are the national food).
As you can see, my new family treated me well. Vilma has 8 brothers and sisters, all with kids, and they all took me in (I slept at her sister´s home one night, and the other 2 nights, her god-daughter gave up her bed so I could sleep in it at Vilma´s house), they spoke to me in Spanish, even though I was never really able to fully reply, gave me countless kisses and good wishes, and took me (all of them) to the airport. I am so blessed.

Back to my magical world of Iquitos….
Love, Rachel