Jungle Fever

What a great weekend I just had. We scheduled an excursion near Puerto Maldonado, a town on the eastern side of Peru in la selva, the Amazon/rain forest region of the country. From there we took a 45 minute boat ride, and hiked for aobut an hour to get to the lodge area where we camped. It was a great break from “city life” in Cusco. It wasn’t really far into the Amazon, so it wasn’t super-intense or anything. I enjoyed it because I like the outdoors, and I don’t really get bothered by insects or other creatures. We spent 2-3 days sleeping in cabins without electricity, hiking, canoeing, and learning about plants and animals in the area from our tour guides. It was a lot of fun! The bus rides to and from Cusco were a little less fun though. The bus itself was pretty nice, but the roads were full of sharp curves, and the bus didn’t slow down much for them. But, I took Dramamine which helped fight off any motion sickness I could potentially have had, as well as helped me to sleep during the two 11 hour overnight bus trips.

The weather was extremely different there than here in Cusco. In Cusco, it is pretty cold at night; I think it gets down to 40 degrees or so. Between 5pm-10am or so, a jacket is a definite necessity, with scarves, hats and gloves being helpful as well. It is warmer here in the afternoons, while the sun is out, since we are so much closer to the sun than what I am used to. But in Puerto Maldonado, it is hot and sticky all the time! The humidity is so strong-and this is coming from a Nebraska girl who should be used to humidity. It gets a little cooler and fresher feeling at night, but it still pretty humid. It was a nice break from the cold here, but I don’t think I would like to live somewhere like that permanently. I don’t exactly enjoy sweating profusely while simply sitting down or taking a nap. But, I suppose you could say it was getting me ready to go back home, because it will be much more humid and hotter than when I left at the end of May. Which brings me to my next point,

Wow, I have only 6 days left here!

Where did the time go? I swear it was just yesterday that I arrived in Lima, and had 5 weeks of adventure ahead of me. I think, however, I am starting to look forward to going home. I would be fine staying here another week or two, but probably not for several more months. I think that 5 weeks is pretty much the perfect amount of time. Enough to do and see lots of different things, but not too much to get homesick, or to feel like you are going to be in a strange country for-ev-er. (taken straight out of the Sandlot). However, I think that if I was going to another South American country for a couple weeks that would be nice too.

It has been an awesome experience so far. Having a family to live with really enhanced the experience. It has also been really fun to go with 27 other Rockhurst students and our awesome profesora, Dr. Duncan. I have gotten to know many of the students much better on this trip; we are having a lot of fun together.

I shouldn’t reminisce too much too soon though, I still have nearly a week here to enjoy! To enjoy the culture, the food, people-watching, shopping, going to my classes, exams every Friday (Well, okay it’s a little tough to enjoy that last one). Look for another update near the end of the week before I fly out. Until then, here are a few recent pictures:

Me with my host mom Maria Elena (it was laundry day so please ignore my outfit):



Some of us (Lizzy, Beth, myself, and Anna) being goofy with an odd manequin in a Cusco store:



Katherine, Abby, and I on the boat ride to our adventure for the weekend:



monkey!



A picture of some of us on a canoe adventure one evening:



I love reflections off the water:



My 5-star luxury hotel.....jungle style. Gotta love the bug net that wraps all around the bed for nighttime.