Puerto Alegria

A Day in the City

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This morning I took a team from Greensville, South Carolina back to the Iquitos airport after spending a week with them at our abandoned boys home in Puerto Alegria.

Their flight, which left Iquitos at 7:10am, fortunately missed all the heavy rains we have had in the past few hours. People that were out on the streets are thoroughly soaked and those that could, ran into the nearest stores and restaurants to avoid the downpour. Since it has been raining, the temperature has dropped to 72F, which is lovely! (I’m glad I brought as sweater this morning).

Since the flight left at 7:10, they had to be at the airport no later than 6am (ideally 5:30), which meant we all had to leave Puerto Alegria this morning at 4am. Getting up early is fine by me, it was after leaving the team at the airport at 6am that I had to be creative. Stores, restaurants and most internet cafes just aren’t open that early. Luckily, I know of an Internet cafe that is open 24 hours and was able to get some things done.

Since I’m here in the city until at least 4pm today waiting for Gene to run all his errands and meetings, it’s going to be a day of hanging out and exploring the city.

My next team, who is from Alabama, arrives on the first flight tomorrow morning at 6:50, which means another dark boat ride into the city of Iquitos tomorrow morning!

Luis and I

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Luis and I, originally uploaded by katherinebruder.

As I’ve written before, 4 year old Luis is one of the youngest and smallest boys at the Casa Girasoles Puerto Alegria home.

He is frequently climbing up on my lap, whether it be while I’m sitting on a bench in the dining room, riding to & from Iquitos on the boat, or swinging in a hammock. He’s around so much, that one of the caregivers calls him my little boy.

Since Luis is so young and not semi-self sufficient as the older boys, the caregivers has to spend more time and energy working with him (and Oriel, the other 5 year old that lives in Puerto Alegria). There is something sweet and sincere to watch a young man take care of two little boys like a father takes care of his own children. Especially in this machismo culture where men don’t take care of their own children, frequently abandoning them in the streets (hence the Girasoles abandoned boy program), to see the caregivers care for and love boys (not just Luis and Oriel, but all 40) like their own children is admirable.

In this photo, we were out to lunch in Iquitos eating pollos a la brasa (delicious rotisserie chicken) with all of the 40 Girasoles, which is definitely a treat.

8 Ways to Survive the Jungle Weather

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As I write this post at 8:18am, it is already 82 degrees with an 87% humidity.  As the day progresses, it will just keep getting hotter and more humid.

Since this is an extreme change from where I live in Michigan and where I have been in Peru, I have quickly developed some changes to my normal lifestyle while in Puerto Alegria and Iquitos.

1. Buy cold bottles of frozen water (from the freezer) in stores in Iquitos.

2. Ride on the back of Gene´s bike

3. Play in the rain (very easy to do since it rains almost every day)

4. Take long, cold showers, with water that comes from the River Itaya.

5. Buy a chunk of ice for 50 centimos (about 17 cents) to take back to Puerto Alegria to have at dinner. (This never really works as well as it sounds since the ice almost completely melts on the way back from the city to the home.)

6. Wear light gaucho pans and thin t-shirts.

7. Swing in one of the hammocks down at the maloca (gazebo) at Puerto Alegria.

8. Sleep outside (but not during high malaria season).

Things that do not help avoid the heat (but I have done):

Help in the kitchen, hold a boy on your lap when on an overcrowded bus, sleep indoors since it is a high malaria season, wear a sweater, participate in a bonfire, sit in the sun keeping score and time for the daily soccer game, and wait at the dock for a boat back to Puerto Alegria.

Despite all this, there are so many great things about the Girasoles program and Puerto Alegria that it is worth living in the heat and humidity.

Kate + 40

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Since Monday morning when I said goodbye to a team from Pennsylvania, I have been living at Puerto Alegria alone with the 40-some Girasoles boys, house family (Gene, Patty, Kanny and Josue) and 1 of the 3 caregivers.

Being the only foreigner at Puerto Alegria, I have had plenty of time to spend with the Girasoles boys living here. They stick to a schedule similar to when there are groups here, but their attention is spread among the 10 or 20 people in the group. Since I’m the only one here, all their attention is focused on me. (Instead of the popular show “Jon & Kate Plus Eight”, it was more like “Kate Plus 40” this past week).

When I first saw my schedule and realized that I would have almost an entire week free in el medio de la selva (the middle of the jungle), I was slightly concerned how that would go. As I have previously mentioned, we’re about 45 minutes from the city and only have electricity between 5:30 and 10pm every night. I can’t walk around the city, nor can I be working on much on my laptop since the battery doesn’t last very long.

In some ways, this has been a great blessing. During the past few days, I have been able to go into Iquitos with Gene twice (to post these entries), but a majority of my time has been spent with the boys – Luis, Marcelo, Junior, Segundo, Geillerson, Victor, the list goes on… – playing, listening to music, taking lots of photos, teaching some English, singing, watching movies (at night!) and relaxing in the hammock.

My next team arrives in Iquitos tomorrow morning. I’m looking forward to meeting and working with them, but at the same time, I have really enjoyed my time without a group!

(On a side note, I’ve seen my name spelled various ways – keit, keyts, queyt, but however they spell it, they all call me “la Kate”.)