I can´t believe it´s really been 2 months ago that I wrote the last time... and at the same time I can believe it very easily, because so many things have happened here "in the lungs of the world".
We´ve been in Puerto for about 2 months now, and have lots of ups and downs, that I would love to describe in detail, but it would be too much. Twice in the last 2 months, to offload and afterwards upload, I wrote a long document on my laptop, but both times it was eaten by a virus (the same virus both time, what persistent cockroach-like resistance that digital worm had!) before I had a chance to publish it in elisemundo. More and more I´m seeing with my own eyes that things happen for a definite reason, so this worm must have been part of that process, and the time wasn´t right for me to write about Puerto yet. I hope this time it makes it online, because I feel the last few weeks have brought important changes, and the time is right to share them now.
We made it to Brazil in a slightly roundabout way because of bureaucracy complications, sneaking through Brazil to get to Bolivia at the right hour, to get Helard´s yellow fever certificate changed. The part of Brazil we´ve seen, Rio Branco, was way different than I´d imagined Brazil from my knowledgebank of capoeira friends, films and general reputation, and it surprised me how much richer it was in comparison to Peru. Very interesting to see the difference, which has made me understand Peru better more than it has made me understand Brazil better...!
But, mission accomplished, berimbau bought, new capoeira friends made, who 2 weeks later came to Puerto for a capoeira event with an alternative school that I´m working at. Yup, I´m trying out something that had been playing in my head for a while as a possibility: teaching. I also had a short stint at a regular English institute, which was cool, and much easier that with the littl´uns, but I had to set my priorities straight, and I realised that what I really wanted to focus on was developing my webdesign, and with all so much teaching it was too much.
So that´s what I´m doing now, webdesign and with 2 mornings of the week with the crazy small lot, and helping Helard with his videos. At the moment we´re making a tv commercial for the English institute in which I will feature as a gringa touring Puerto Maldonado. Life cannot possibly be the same afterwards!
Apart from the usual worky stuff, I should really be focusing on telling you about how amazing the Amazon is, although I´m not even quite allowed to say I know the Amazon, because the furthest along the river I´ve been is 1 hour, to nearby Monkey Island.
But what I´ve seen so far is really amazing.. the region Puerto Maldonado is in has more or less the highest biodiversity on earth, and I´ve seen so many amazing creatures, with mostly being in town, not even deeper in the jungle itself. Insects, monkeys, snakes, birds, lizards, caimans... and then there are the amazing plants, flowers and trees, of dazzling sizes, shapes and colours.
Mother earth is treating us well here, and being so much closer in touch with her, you can´t help but increase your awe and respect.
Salud a la pachamama!
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1 comment:
Hi Elise, it is good to hear from you. You appear to have had so many enriching (though not always easy) experiences lately, especially in the last few weeks.
Good luck with all your plans, I think of you a lot and will mail you soon.
Love from Gaia
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