I’m feeling pretty bad ass (and blessed) today. Yesterday, I was in the Amazon jungle. Today, I’m in the Peruvian Andes. Here’s a short bulleted list of what I feel most proud of in the last few days.
- Yesterday, I was bitten by an Anaconda. Bad ass.
- I developed great little community relationships while in Iquitos — something that makes my li’l heart sing. I saw this when I returned to town last night after being in the jungle:
- The manager of my local cafe offered to throw me a going away party if I would move my flight and stay another day.
- The regulars and family that own a restaurant I visited frequently literally cheered when I showed up last night.
- A local who became a friend picked me up on his motorcycle and gave me a final beyond-tourist-view tour of Iquitos. He also offered to give me a plot of land on his lakefront vacation property if I ever wanted a second home there.
- The owners of both places I stayed at while in Iquitos gave me big hugs and said that I always have a home if I come back.
- I flew into Cusco with no plans and only an idea of where I would stay. (I usually like to at least have that booked.) I showed, got one of the last beds, and wound up in a room with a cute snowboard instructor from Colorado who gave me his sweater and helped take care of me when altitude sickness set in.
- Today I’m going out to wander the streets with him and a really nice female friend of his from London (who also happens to have a great list of cheap, authentic restaurants to try).
TO BE CONTINUED…
(I’m publishing this now so anyone interested – mom? dad? sis? friends? – can read it, but am planning to finish and post it properly later today. Gotta run. Peeps are waiting! XOXO)
