Part 2 of a long 3 weeks

so then we headed to the jungle! aka the amazon!

we took a short flight to Pucallpa, in the region of Ucayali, the region that houses the majority of Shipibos (the ethnic group I'm working in). It's a very interesting place with very little tourism. and it's full of little mototaxis!!! i think i was only in a car once while i was there! and don't tell my mom, but i road on the back of a couple of motorcycles too....

we met the lovely Jeiser and Paiva (Nestor) in Pucallpa, the close contacts of our advisor's in Lima, and we quickly fell in love with them (and them with us i'm sure!). we went all over town for our 5 days there, doing interviews (I got my IRB approval right before starting, yay!!), eating amazing fish, taking boat rides to indigenous communities, trying shots from the amazon, and getting to know some very interesting and passionate indigenous men (and some women too).

We had a blast! I myself had so much fun that i am going back (aka i totally didn't finish with enough work, to it's a good excuse to get myself back to beautiful weather and lovely people!).

here's some pictures: getting a head massage to cure my caffeine withdrawal induced headaches, eating the scariest boiled fish in the community San Francisco (which is nothing like California), the amazing shipibo artwork on the buildings in the community San Francisco, our two research assistants in Pucallpa, the display of the amazing tragos (shots) from the selve (amazon), erin and I enjoying our boat ride, downtown pucallpa and the strange modern church at night.

Part 1 of a long 3 weeks

hi!

i've been bad, really bad...
i didn't keep you all updated, since i know you have been waiting at the edge of your seats for about 3 weeks now. don't worry, you can get up and use the bathroom now, i'm back!

so i'm going to recount everything from the last couple of weeks, i'll title them clearly so you can follow them (but feel free to just skim around, especially if you are an anti-establishment, rule-follower type).

so i left off with when i got back from my little vacay down the southern coast of peru, well i got back safe and sound of course, and waited patiently for my IRB approval as well as the homecoming of my good best buddy, Lucho (aka Luis for all you global healthies).

Lucho got home on June 30th, and we started off a wonderful week of home-coming celebrations, including a lovely saturday lunch where we had an amazing criollo dinner with great plates from the amazon!

I also did a little bit of traveling around in Lima with Lucho...he showed me all the best parts of downtown as well as in Miraflores.

I had to say goodbye to my sister in crime, Erin for a few days as she went to Bagua, the sight of some of the worst killings in the Amazon during the aforementioned strike. You can see some of her pictures here:::: http://picasaweb.google.com/erinkatehurley/BaguaJulio2009?feat=email#

otherwise, i sat at home, doing lots of great reading (28 stories of AIDS in Africa, and The 3 letter Plague, you can tell where my mind's at), and took salsa classes with the only cubans in Peru (i'm getting better, but there is a whole lot of room for improvement). and then my fam and i went to Pachacamac, an Inca ruin in the desert hills outside of Lima. It was very beautiful and interesting.

Then when erin finally got back, we arranged ourselves for our trip to the Amazon, and also went to a soccer game! anyone who's anyone knows that soccer games are crazy, especially in latin america, and this was pretty crazy! lots of fun, and the family favorite one the game (La U). then erin and i left at 2:30am for the amazon (Pucallpa first, then Iquitos), and that's where the story continues!

some pictures...from the top: at the soccer game, in pachacamac with mommy aida, in the center of lima, fam and friend's at Lucho's welcome home lunch, the amazing lunch that aida cooked!!!