Saturday, June 23, 2007

Iquitos-The Strike, The Chavezes, And A Lot of Beautiful "Coincidences" 6/03/07 - Present

Iquitos... Iquitos is a "small" big city in the Peruvian Amazon. While being a home to somewhere between 500,000 to 1 million people (depends on who you ask),it remains a safe, friendly place. As a matter of fact, it is the world's largest city not connected by road to anywhere. Giggling kids say "Buenos dias" or "Hello" (to practice their English) as you walk down the street. Old women nod as they look on you from their windows. Partying locals graciously invite you to dance as they celebrate little girls' birthdays. My heart is at ease. Locals merrily engage us in a conversation as I practice my broken Spanish. And Peruvians are proud to be Peruvians. And of course you will hear, "Peruvians are not friendly!", as we've heard some travelers say. Don't listen to them. That has been our running joke for the last 2 weeks. We arrived in Iquitos a day before the strike. Strikes are almost an everyday thing in Peru. For many reasons, the main one being that the government is screwing the people of course, Peruvians go on strike all the time. The unique part about it is that they shut down everything in the city. EVERYTHING! And through a string of "coincidences" we were introduced to a family which allowed us to stay in their home for 4 days to sit out the upcoming strike before we jumped on the next boat out of town to continue our journey. We stocked up on food and watched the strike begin: By the end of the 3rd day all the streets were littered with cut down branches, broken glass bottles, and ash. It was disappointing to see a beautiful city get so vandalized, but on the eve after the strike, the whole community got together and cleaned everything up. Everyone from little kids to old people were sweeping the streets, clearing the branches and all. It was beautiful.Of course, while the grown ups are marching, the kids are playing football, chasing each other, jump-roping, and having a grand old time in the deserted streets.
Naturally, we got in on some of the action...
Our hosts Alfredo and Loyda were more hospitable than we could ever expect. Alfredo, who has been in tourism for over 35 years, speaks impeccable English. And Loyda, while barely being able to speak any English, had absolutely no problem in making herself understood. Though barely being able to clear 5 feet in height, she is an imposing figure. I could not bring myself to challenge the location of the pots or anything in the house for that matter. She would repeat any Spanish word until I understood. And both of them have so much love inside them. As a matter of fact, when the street money changers ripped me of, she had no problem retrieving my money from those bastards in mere minutes. Really! I wish that I could take Loyda with me throughout South America.To thank our hosts and their friends for their hospitality, we whipped up a great dinner, which at first, they were kind of afraid to try. But they loved it. Gringos can cook.

After dinner, laughing, and trying to understand each other, we partook in an old Peruvian tradition... karaoke. Here the ladies sing "Cielito Lindo", which is also the name of Alfredo's boat.









Oh, I almost forgot to mention. One of the friends of the family is a D.J. at a local radio station and one day gave us a shout out on the radio and played some of our favorite songs. Can you ask for more?

Ever watch Fear Factor?









Alfredo is also a shaman in an Indian Ayahuasca Ceremony. Which we took part of. An amazing and cleansing experience. We'll tell you the details if you ask. Here he is with the two other shamans, exhausted from a full nights work:

The beautiful Cielito Lindo, Alfredo's boat.

If my Princess is not eating fruit, she is smelling flowers.

Ahh... I am so lucky!

Where have all the Beetles gone? South America!

Sasha holding my hand. I'm a hairy little beast.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

A Special Birthday Wish . . . 6/21/07

This is a very special birthday wish to my sister, one of the founders of vagabonding, at least in our lives. We love and appreciate you . . . and wish you the greatest birthday celebration . . . who´s the birthday girl??

Sasha´s Production 2007

LOVE, Sasha & Misha

Sunday, June 3, 2007

Brazil, Colombia, Peru!? Where the hell are we! 5/27/07 - 6/3/07

We arrived in Tabatinga, Brazil on a sunny afternoon in the end of May, excited by our proximity to Peru (one minute boat ride across the water) and Colombia (a twenty minute walk.)Yet we were still nervous about leaving the comforts of our Portuguese-speaking home of the last four months and the tasty Guarana drinks we were oh so used to . . . we knew that it was time for Spanish and Inca Cola . . . the neon -yellow "gaseosa" (soda) of Peru.
It even glows in the dark!

In about 3 days, we visited Colombia (mostly on foot) about 5 times, mostly for their fast Internet and their great sandwiches! Peru´s frontier city was this little island called Santa Rose right across the water! Makes you think how stupid borders are . . . how silly it all really is when you think of the big picture. For instance, here´s a picture of me standing in Peru and pointing at Brazil (on the left) and Colombia (on the right.)

Food for thought!?

When we finally managed to get our exit stamp out of Brazil, and still haven´t quite entered Peru "officially", we were "unacceptable" for two whole days . . . neither here nor there . . .just like Sofka´s dirty cousin . . . Blofka!!

Lucky as we are, we met some cool people from the area, shared some beers, and some laughs . . (and it is to no surprise, that when we arrived to Iquitos 3 days later, a warm smile was waiting for us to help us find accommodations . . . a brother of one of our new friends.) Joel helped us get our passport stamps, find a local salsa joint, and wished us a proper farewell with some crazy Peruvian rum concoction . . .Thanks Joel, that was just what I needed to knock out on the boat! Couldn't have done it without you buddy.

Speaking of sleep, it was good! Our handy dandy little hammock is living up to its reputation!

(what chainsaw massacre?)

Peruvian boats aren´t as glamorous a Brazilian boats (and they stopped about 200 times in 3 days to pick up or drop off,) but who cares when you have a working bathroom!! Makes me happy!!

Along with great company to talk to (and learn Spanish with)

new people to meet

flowers to smell (always)and great views to see

. . . all in all, another splendid good time!

While on the boat, we had an unfortunate event take place . . . on one of the many stops, an ant-eater was caught . . . The curiosity of seeing an animal you´ve never seen wears off very quickly when you realize that this animal will never know freedom again . . . that it will be sold to a local zoo for a good price and it will soon forget that it was ever free at one point. The ant-eater gave such a good effort to break free, to run away, to escape . . . but it was no use.

People have a way of destroying beautiful things . . . yet I know we have the ability to create beautiful things as well.Hopefully one day, we will learn to do more of the latter. (More food for thought.)

And so, the journey continues through South America.

Peru, here we come . . .