Jungle Adventures Part II

My apologies to all of you blog readers! I recently made a trip back to the States to do some wedding planning stuff and have completely neglected the blog! However, as promised, part 2 is here and we'll star by kicking it off with that video you've all been waiting for -

So, yes, it is true that people eat lice, and it is a very normal thing to do in the jungle! This video did not actually take place on the boat, but it was the video that best captured the view. The family of four that slept in the hammocks at our feet were the first ones we actually saw eating lice out of each other's hair, and it was a daily routine! After the discovery that lice were practically breeding at our feet and probably crawling all around us, we decided it would be best not to shower so as to lessen our chances of getting lice! The jungle does weird things to you....

Mark, Heather, and Carolina ventured out in the rain to buy blankets, as we quickly realized the first night on the lancha that we would be needing them! Luckily we were still in the port for 3 more days to figure out all the things we didn't know we would need

Moto-taxi's in the rain!

Me being super happy because they brought me back breakfast and a rain jacket! While they were gone I people watched and discovered our lice-eating friends one hammock away

This is what we felt like after having been on the boat for 3 days without moving from the dock area!

We finally started moving and we were able to see the beautifully brown Amazon River!

This is the cargo part of our boat, and part of the Amazon

We met these two little cuties on the boat and hung out with them during the day

On the top deck of the boat enjoying a nice sunset with our new friends!

At one point, we stopped (on the river) next to another boat from the same company and shared fuel! The people took this as a chance to trade items with the people on the other boat...hilarious!

Sleep time! Can you guess how many people are on the boat?! We have no idea....

A camera crew was filming a documentary about "life on the boat" and Carolina did an interview for them!

Our room quickly became the hang out place on the boat

These are some of the girls we met!

God's creation :)

I believe we finally showered this day (using the muddy, sewer-esque, smelly water) and were happy to take a picture (Day 5!)

We found this guy on the boat

We got massages from our little friends

Group picture of our friends from the week! So we actually did meet a group of about 20 American college students that were doing a study abroad/research in the jungle program, but for some reason have no pictures with them

We made it to land on Day 6! Finally!

This was what the sleeping area looked like on Day 1.... we thought we were going to be SO comfortable and have plenty of space

On Day 2 we took a break from the boat and went to a natural park in Pucallpa with Carolina's family that had all sorts of animals

On Day 3, maybe?, we met Carolina's aunt as a break from the boat, and then went to her house and slept in rocking chairs all afternoon

This was the room we rented on the boat so that we would have a place to put our things so they wouldn't get stolen! Because we had this room (which, by the way, none of us would have EVER slept it...it was disgusting!), we didn't have to go through the line to get food, but rather had our food brought to us on plates. Everyone else had to receive their food at every meal in a tupperware container from a big huge line that went through the kitchen

Now how many people do you think there were?!

The food line is on the left

One thing I personally enjoyed about being on the boat for a week was the amount of time we had, because there was literally nothing you had to do - didn't have to clean, cook, do work, etc. I read a lot, slept a lot, and listened to a lot of music! Sleeping in a hammock is pretty awesome as well! It takes about a day or two to get it all figured out, but after that I would say it's just as comfortable, if not a little more, than a bed. Everyone slept layered on top of each other...I was so grateful I had a small,  petite grandma next to me that didn't move very much! My hammock was literally halfway on top of hers at night when we slept.

During the night, the boat would dock at small pueblos to reload on supplies or to unload supplies. One night we became a little restless and I had this extreme craving (for 2-3 days) for a regular banana, which are apparently extremely rare in the jungle (who would've thought?!), so we decided to get off the boat when it docked. We had heard stories of people getting off the boat and taking too long and being left behind, so we were determined to not miss the boat, but to find a bunch of bananas! As soon as our feet hit land, we began running down the streets of this small jungle village, asking if anyone would sell us some normal bananas. We soon noticed that the camera crew was following us, recording every bit of our adventure! We looked mad (as in crazy) and decided to end the search before being left behind. We came back empty handed, but no worries - we look like lunatics on a Peruvian documentary somewhere out there!

We enjoyed the boat, but were definitely glad to be off when the time came! In case you're wondering....from the boat, all of the Amazon River looks pretty much the same:  muddy water and lots of trees surrounding it. When it rains it's extremely strong and keeps the air fairly cool!

The travel-by-boat experience was great and I am glad I did it, but I will definitely never choose to do it again!

Intern Jungle Adventures Part I

What do you get when you send 4 girl interns into the jungle for two weeks on a survey trip? A collection of just under 1500 photos/videos and 1+ memory to go along with each one! That being said, this jungle update will be coming in parts...

Remember in 2 Corinthians when Paul is, as the title would say, "encouraging generosity" to the church in Corinth? Yeah, I couldn't seem to pull those 10 or so verses out from memory either until I had two weeks to think about it and just happened to read the verses while sitting in a hammock on the Amazon. So, I've taken the initiative and saved you two weeks of time and a trip to the Amazon:

2 Corinthians 9:6-15 says...
Remember this:  Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written:


"They have scattered abroad their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever."


Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 


This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, people will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!


Part I (the one you're reading...) (out of an undetermined number of parts) is about the 3-5 days we spent in Pucallpa. *NOTE:  if you're interested in why I said 3-5 days, knowing this is not an itinerary, but rather, an account of what actually happened..keep reading*

The verses from Paul's letter that I wrote above describe so perfectly the people we met in Pucallpa. We were welcomed and very well taken care of by Carolina's (a fellow intern) family and an incredible group of Christian Peruvian women involved in a really cool ministry in Pucallpa. These friends we made sowed more than generously. They were such cheerful givers. They were generous on every occasion and thankful to God always. They supplied more than our needs. They were true servants of the Lord. Carolina, Heather, and myself were blessed enough to be the ones receiving their generosity! Now we (I am confidently speaking for the other 2) are the people praising God for their obedience, for their sharing, for their blessings, and for their confession of the gospel, because we have not only been blessed, encouraged and refreshed by those things, but have seen the impact our friends/family are making in Pucallpa. To that we say, "Thank you, God, for your indescribable gift!"

We arrived in Pucallpa on about 3 hours of sleep on Monday, after having all 9 bottles of bug repellent removed from our checked bags by security in the Lima airport. Dreading the bug bites that were to come, we walked out of the terminal in Pucallpa and our attitudes immediately changed because of the crowd of sweet, sweet people there to greet us!

L to R:  Heather, Co-Madre, little kid, grandma, Carolina's "abuela", Carolina, myself, Mark
We hung out and ate some birthday cake for Carolina's 23rd birthday!

Not even joking...I caught this, later killed it, and we ate it! Notice....I nearly choked this rooster to death first, oops!

We rode around in the back of a truck - can't do that in Lima!
As well, nobody thought to inform me that it was ok to put down the rooster, so I carried this filthy, stinky thing around for quite a while, as his "stank"/odor little by little rubbed off on me. Gross, I know.

We rode around in mototaxis alot. Eric, Co-Madre's son, served as our personal mototaxi driver the whole week!

Hung out with the super awesome Co-Madre after getting separated from the rest of the group! I would hang out with this lady any day of the week! One of my favorite memories of her is her showing us how she dances/worships the Lord in church. She can't move one of her legs (lost it in an accident and has a prosthetic), but I know the Lord smiles down on her when she starts "dancing" 

Bought hammocks to sleep in for S/. 28, which is about $10

We spent time at the church we were staying at and hung out with the kids in the neighborhood. Is this girl not the most beautiful girl you've ever seen?!

Heather, Carolina and I were walking to buy a coke and invited Andrés along. Andrés (I'm pretty sure that was his name) wants to be a preacher and was so fun to hang out with us! He quoted some of his favorite scriptures, and we attempted to quote some of ours back in Spanish (probably one of the hardest things about learning Spanish is not being able to literally translate Scripture). We had a coke together and sang a few worship songs together. What a precious moment with a sweet little kid!

Took a boat ride out to a nearby village where we hoped to see native tribal garb, but instead saw people playing soccer in Adidas shorts and t-shirts. We had a great time just relaxing and enjoying the scenery and company!

A fruit called "sapote" that we ate often! This fruit should be sold with a string of dental floss, but is delicious!

Posing for a picture in the village under a gazebo made into the form of a turtle

We took naps

We prayed. As well, as the Tuesday night service for the church we sang a couple of songs for the church, as requested. 

On night #3 we went to eat ice cream with the ladies from the church to celebrate Valentine's Day, which is better-known as "The Day of Friendship" in Peru

Shirley was another awesome and super fun lady we had the privilege to hang out with all week!
"Chevere"

Us with Jennifer, the missionary in Pucallpa, who generously let us stay at their church house and fed us and helped us out with anything and everything! This woman is the real deal and is someone I can look at and say, "I want to have a faith like hers"

We learned, thanks to an exhaust-pipe burn (Carolina), that lime is the Windex of the jungle. Lime fixes everything. I will admit to being skeptical at first, but when I had a massive canker sore inside my mouth and held a lime on it for a while it no longer hurt and was healed within 48 hours! In case you're wondering, lime also works to eliminate the "itch" of a mosquito/bug bite

"The Henry 9" is the boat we took from Pucallpa to Iquitos and it was rather large! The entire bottom floor was for cargo, the second for people, the third for people, and the fourth was the captains' area.

We thought we were going to have SO much space. This was Wednesday, the first day we got on the boat/the day the boat was supposed to leave

The boat was delayed for a day because of rain, so we went and checked out a zoo

Lookin' like true missionaries!

More of an accurate picture of the lack of space we had on the boat...this was the day we actually left Pucallpa, on Friday, after having slept on the boat for 2 nights thinking it was going to leave at any moment!

We completely enjoyed our time in Pucallpa and really felt so blessed by the people we met and hung out with. We paid S/.180 for our entire trip to Iquitos on the Henry 9, which included 3 meals a day, a place to hang our hammocks, as well as a private room/bathroom to store our stuff so it wouldn't get stolen. Part 2 is soon to come, so check back later for how life was on the boat for a week! As a sneak preview... part 2 will include a video involving lice and Peruvians that you won't want to miss!

Mano de Dios

About a week ago we had the first Mano de Dios of the year and it was one of my favorite times spent in Villa Maria. As you can see in the video tagged below, courtesy of John Mark, we had some time of worship and fun as well as passing out school supplies for the upcoming school year. It was also great to see the amount of people from our community of faith that helped out and shared this experience.

http://vimeo.com/37480124

Jungle Update: We all arrived back in Lima safely and will work on getting some pictures up soon!

The Jungle, La Selva, The Next Two Weeks of my Life!

That's right, the title says it all! Next Monday, Heather, Carolina, and myself (+ Mark Van, a friend of Joshua and mine) are boarding a plane to go to Pucallpa, Peru. We will be hanging out with Carolina's family there for a few days, then boarding what is called a "lancha", which is a Peruvian word for a river boat, that will take us to Iquitos, Peru. The thing about lanchas and the Amazon River is that they're super unpredictable and totally dependent on the level of water. That being said, we could be on this boat (or one very similar) anywhere from 3-5 days!

So if you're thinking, "Wow, that is so awesome, who wouldn't want to go on a cruise down the Amazon?!", then you're absolutely right! But maybe for the wrong reasons...

*We will sleep in hammocks, touching the person in the next hammock over
*The boat is full of cargo and people and livestock
*3 meals a day will include a combination of rice, potatoes, and chicken more than likely
*There is no potable, running water...it all just comes from the Amazon
*Mosquitoes
*Sun
*Somewhere between 72-120 hours on board a boat (that's a LOT of time)
*Potentially having the opportunity to swim with piranhas
*Hopefully getting to see river dolphins (the pink kind)
*Maybe not showering?

We are actually really excited about this adventure! Pictures/post-adventure blog to come! In the meantime, here's a picture, and if you want to read about a few people who've done this before, click here to see their blog!

I should also mention, after the river trip, we're headed to a small jungle town (where Lyndsay and Wes will meet up with us) with one of the girls involved in the church here to meet her town and family! After all is said and done, we'll be gone for two weeks, so keep us in your prayers!