August 9th
by Kelsey

Aug 9, 2009

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeew! It’s a blazing hoe summer day here in the Peruvian Amazon. Im sitting in the dining room waiting for my breakfast to cook so I thought I’d make a blog entry. Last week we had another full house and it went smoothly. It was a fun few days. The first group was a bunch of Peruvians from Lima who were all very kind and polite. The Machis felt comfortable with them because they spoke Spanish so we played a huge game of soccer with them and me and the Machis won by a landslide! They made me play goalie though because I don’t play so well. A bit boring for me but I didn’t mind. Id rather play goalie well than disappoint the Machis with my inferior skills in the field. Jose Luis demonstrated how to use the Machi bow and arrow and the tourists were stoked. After they all tried it out they pressured me into demonstrating as well because I was “experienced.” I was nervous. I hadn’t been practicing and they put me on the spot. However, I nailed the target second try and felt good about my self. The second group was three women from Spain. They didn’t talk to us much but were also very polite and friendly. The third group came with Vanessa and was a mixed bunch of Germans and Spaniards. One night the tourists from Spain (Catalunya to be exact), Vanessa, Jose Luis, Miguel, and I sat outside the office and talked for a while. That was cool because Jose Luis and Miguel were very talkative and not shy at all. They were joking and laughing and asking lots of questions of the tourists. I was happy to see them so animated with a group. Well, my exit is rapidly approaching and I must say I’m not looking forward to it. I don’t want to leave my new friends who are now like family. A few nights ago, I was talking to Jose Luis and Miguel and Jose told me that he was happy I came and that we had been treating each other like “ige (my brother).” That made me so happy. I felt very close to my Machiguenga friends. Its been amazing here. I cant wait to come back. The jungle is totally different than other tourist destinations like Cusco or Machu Picchu. You don’t have a bunch of people running all over the place trying to suck up every ounce of experience, just a vast, lush territory full of exotic plants and animals. I must say I really prefer it to any of the other places I’ve been in Peru so far. You must come and check it out for yourself. Come see what the world was like before concrete, shopping malls, and television. It will blow you away.

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