Coming home

It’s the beginning of the end. Little farewell party last night. Tomorrow I take a bus to Tarapoto, visit one family, spend the night with another. Flight mid-day to Lima, spend afternoon and evening with friends there. Direct flight to SFO leaves at 1 a.m. lands at 7:30 a.m.
It’s been an amazing trip, different, more like visiting family than an international tour. Will write more about that when I’m home on my Mac instead of this sticky keyboard.

This and that

No big news, just lots of little daily life.
We went to Juanjui Friday afternoon (2.5 hours in a small bus, then 2 hours in a car) for the weekend and what amounts to the annual family reunion of Edward’s family — 8 living siblings! The family honored birthdays and anniversaries, then had ceremonies for Fernanda and another family baby. I was expecting something mystical, tribal, instead it was mostly Catholic. The group recited several prayers, all familiar but the only one I recognized was the Lords Prayer. Then the aunt who led the ceremony read from the book of John. Finally she used a brush made of local leaves dipped in holy water to make a cross atop each baby’s head.
This was followed by toasts with a creamy coffee liqueur that I’d help make earlier in the day, then dinner and dancing until the wee hours. I checked out around 1 a.m.

Earlier in the week, Maribel got word that a hospital here was hiring nurses, the deadline was the next day. She and Edward worked all day and filed her application at the last minute. Then came word of a test Thursday. Then a possible interview on Friday or Saturday (complicating plans for Juanjui). But she didn’t do well enough on the test, so no interview and off we went.

Monday we got a car back to Tarapoto at 4 a.m. so Edward could get to work. Maribel and I planned to spend a day in Tarapoto, but midmorning she got a call from the hospital saying they wanted to talk to her Tuesday at 8 a.m. That meant returning to Yurimaguas later Monday, cutting short our plans.

Here we are Wednesday and she’s spent time at the hospital both days. Edward and I cared for Fernanda for several hours each day. She’s starting work, part time, on Saturday. Some of her schedule will allow Edward to do childcare, but she doesn’t have anyone firm for the other shifts. Getting work is very good news, they really can’t survive on Edward’s salary alone. Her work will let them buy a washing machine and other quality of life upgrades.

What I’ve seen in this job application process is so typical of business practices here…delay, delay, delay, then hurry, hurry, hurry. Lots of paperwork and bureaucracy.

Frustrating

I’ve been taking lots of pictures, as I anticipate returning to the US in less than 2 weeks. I’m anxious to share but the internet and computers so slow that it’s impossible. When I get home, I’ll write some new posts — I’m writing down ideas ” and will add photos to what I’ve already written.
Yesterday we went to a market that is closer to the jungle, with unusual products and lots of native people. Many 12-year-olds (or so I guess) with babies. Much more interesting that the downtown market where I usually shop. Not that it’s boring!
This afternoon, we’re all going to Edward’s family home in Juanjui. Tomorrow is his mother’s birthday and Saturday night there’s some sort of ceremony for Fernanda. More to write about. Sunday we hope to go to the chakra — agricultural field — of Edward’s father. But maybe not as it’s on an island in the river and the water is very high and dangerous. I went there for a party the day after the wedding. It’s beautiful. Thatched houses for shade and cooking. Cacao, oranges, carambolas, pineapples, more crops all mixed together. Probably returning to Yurimaguas Tuesday or Wednesday, so probably no posts until then.

The latest

Maribel, Fernanda and I spent a few days in Tarapoto and environs late last week. Those two had medical appointments — Maribel says the care there is better and worth the 2-hour trip for routine care. All’s well, Fernanda weighs almost 8 kilos at 4 months, a heavyweight.
While they did that and visited family, I went to Lamas and stayed with Omar’s family. They’re such delightful people. His oldest sister has returned to Lima since my last visit. But there’s always a bunch of people around the house. I also visited with Francis, who I stayed with in prior visits. She’s made some remarkable changes in her life, going from dependent young mother to an organized woman, studying accounting, caring for her family and making a future for herself.
Saturday, I returned to Tarapoto and we visited with Fabricio and Piedad, other mutual friends. Then returned to Yurimaguas just before heavy rains started. Sunday it rained hard until around 2, slowing just in time to go out for a nice lunch to celebrate Maribel and Edward’s first anniversary.
Today, I’m the true Peruana. I shopped at the market and cooked lunch — spaghetti with tomato sauce, spinach, toasted (in a pan) garlic bread. Washed my underwear by hand during free moments.

Update

Haven’t checked on my computer, assuming its status is the same. So I’m struggling with strange PCs in internet cafes with slow, insecure connections and keyboards that have been configured for Spanish writers.

Lots of activity the last few days, also lots of quiet time…reading Moby Dick and playing Scrabble on my Kindle.

Sunday, we went out with the group that gathered in the plaza a few nights before — my friend Danitza who I met in Rioja 2 years ago and is from Yurimaguas, her friend Tatyana and her husband. Taty is from Trujillo, on the coast, where Maribel and I went for a few days of vacation from Chiclayo. Her husband is a nativo, from a village some 3 days by boat from here. More if you take the slow and less expensive boats. He has a fascinating story: he was approached by a priest who was impressed by his intelligence. The priest offered him an education beyond the primary years that were offered in his village. So he went to schools in Chiclayo and Trujillo. Most nativos are very timid; they often don’t speak much Spanish and prefer to stay among themselves. But not this man. (BTW, I don’t know his name, it’s very common to introduce people by naming the relationship. ‘I’d like you to meet my cousin/friend/husband, etc. Sometimes people say their name as they kiss cheeks or shake hands after the introduction, sometimes not.) From living in the mestizo world so long, he’s very open and friendly. So interesting to hear his life story!

 

We went to a ‘recreo,’ a kind of multi-purpose entertainment site. There’s often a pool and playgroung for kids, music and dance floor and food. We ate well, drank lots of beer and danced to a live band.

Yesterday was Fernanda’s 4-month birthday. So we had a little party in the house. Just Edward’s boss and 2 neighbor kids came for evening snacks, cake and a couple of beers shared among us.

In the coming days — really the rest of my trip — I’m going to be out and about. Thursday morning Maribel, Fernanda and I are going to Tarapoto. The two of them have medical appointments there — quality is better than in Yurimaguas, Maribel says. I will probably go to Lamas for a couple of days to get away from the heat. (Most days it gets up to 95 and rains off and on. Rain is nice because it cools us off. A couple of time lately it’s rained VERY hard. Including much of last night. Really loud on the corrugated tin roof. Funny, the city has a campaign to help people replace traditional palm thatched roofs with tin. Sure, they’re drier, but the noise is heard to bear.)

Sunday — Maribel and Edward’s anniversary – morning we’ll return to Yurimaguas. I’ve promised to take them out for a nice lunch.

The middle of next week, we’re going to Juanjui. Lots of celebrations there. More on that later.

Goodnews, Bad news

The bad first…my computer is out of commission for the rest of my trip. The keys that don{t function…all between F and L on the keyboard, won’t even let me enter my password. So I’m stuck using internet cafes and my flash drive. It also mens no pictures. I’d planned two posts, pictures and description of house and neighborhood and another of unusual fruits of the jungle, but can’t do until my return and I visit the Apple Genius Bar.
The good news is that I’m fine and happy. Edward returned last night from 10 days far into the jungle…days and days of travel by boat on the rivers. He’s an agronomist, working with an NGO to establish a cooperative of farmers to better market their cacao, peanuts, etc. But his presence in the house changes the dynamic of just Maribel, Fernanda and me. So I’m figuring it all out.
Small world story… In Rioja 2 years ago I slightly knew a woman who worked in the phone booth store and knew that she was from Yurimaguas. When Maribel and I were in Rioja a couple of weeks ago, I went by her place of employment…totally different. A couple of days ago I was in the internet cafe at the plaz and heard ‘amiiiiga’ and there she was, working in the appliance store next door! Through her, we’ve already met a couple who I think will become friends with Maribel. Tomorrow, we’re all going to a Recreo…place with food, pool, dancing, all sorts of activities…for the midday meal and fun.

Sorry, that for now, words will have to suffice.

Arrrrgggh…..computers

On recent trips, I´ve taken my my Mac, plugged it into the ethernet at an internet cafe. Sometimes slow, but it´s always worked well enough. Here in Yurimaguas, nothing but problems. There´s an internet cafe just a block from our house. It looks good, clean and bright (Many are dingy holes-in-the-wall, with beater keyboards from kids playing games and connections that remind me of my first phone-line modem.) But such a slow connection there.

So I tried a cafe in the center of town, which has a fast connection. But without the owner´s consent, I can´t connect my laptop. And the owner is on vacation.

To make matters worse, my computer is having problems; none of the keys between F and L work. Hard to write without those letters! So I´m working like a Peruana, using a flash drive to transfer stuff from my Mac to the PC in the cafe. (Generally works, but today, there appears to be a virus among the photos I intended to upload and write about. Hard to believe since the flash checked out OK at the cafe yesterday and all I´ve done is move some pix from laptop to flash.)

Maribel & Edward know a techie in Tarapoto. I´ll take it there when we go in a week.

Let´s see what happens! Otherwise all is well. Keep your comments