Zoya

I met Zoya two years ago when she was a few months old. Her mother lived next to Cascarabbias and I saw her one day as I was on a walk to admire Casca. She was so incredibly cute, I wanted to take her home with me. But I was living in San Miguel at the time and couldn’t. Anyway, I didn’t adopt her, and I never forgot her.

Recently, Fernando and I have been seeing her downtown. We surmised that her family did what many people do (mostly with female pups), and kicked her to the curb as soon as she grew out of the adorable puppy stage. Usually we bump into her at Embajadoras where she begs for scraps at the eateries there. We feed her and take her to a grassy area where she and Farley play. It’s so much fun to watch them chase each other. She walks home with us for more food and water, and then back to wherever she goes.

One morning, she was outside when I was leaving to take Farley on his morning walk. I took the dogs for a 90 minute hike behind the mountains where I live, between and beyond the two crosses and then back on the road that leads to the dam. They played the entire time, jumping in water and chasing each other up and down the hills. Everything was illuminated by the morning sun, and I could occasionally hear the bells of Guanajuato chiming in the distance. That was the day I fell in love with her.

Fernando and I have both been thinking that we would like to keep her, but we don’t have a yard, and our landlord won’t let us have two dogs. Maybe we’ll find a new place to live, one with a yard, but I don’t know… we’ve been looking for awhile, and nothing has turned up. One thing we plan on doing as soon as possible, is get her spayed before she starts producing litters, perpetuating the homeless dog population here which is difficult to see. We want to do this in the new few days.

So she’s here with us this weekend. Farley is limping along and happy to have a friend to roll around on the ground with. We’re keeping our curtains closed so nobody sees we’re harboring a beautiful lady who needs a little attention now, before things take a turn and she has to find scraps on the street for not only herself, but hungry babies.

I’ve named her Zoya, which is Ukrainian for Life.

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3 years

Today marks my third year anniversary of living in Mexico. Three years ago, Fernando and I embraced one another in the Cancun airport knowing that we wouldn’t have to say goodbye to one another again for a long time. It was a nice feeling to have some permanence with him when everything else—Where would we live? What would we do?—was beyond grasp… as if behind a veil of fog, waiting for us to step through and encounter it.

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Belen longshot

Here, I’m standing at the exit of Belen’s meat market, ready to go to the outside and check out all the fish.

In other news, Farley got bit today by a German Shepherd on our morning walk. So many people keep their dogs chained, or on roofs, or alone in their yard. In turn, the dogs turn mean and vicious. This particular dog was able to get a hold of Farley’s foot and face through the cracks in his fence. As much as I wanted to kick that dog in the teeth, I realize his aggressiveness is to due the ignorance and/or laziness of the owner. Anyway, Farley cried and cried and I gave him little hugs in the middle of the road as he held up his bleeding paw for me to look at while milking all my hugs.

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“Tourism”

Painted on a wall along the boardwalk boulevard in Iquitos. I would replace the word tourism with terrorism.

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Blue Bowl Honey

This woman sold honey from a piece of a hive she carried around in her blue bowl. The bees were buzzing as she scooped out a spoonful of honey for me. I didn’t ask for a tester, but it was good!

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Trash fest

These vultures are on the other side of the boy flying the kite. The steps he stands on lead to this shanty town, Belen.

Belen sits on the banks of the Amazon. When the water rises, the stilted houses rest on the river. Trash moves in and vultures feast.

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Belen Kite

A boy flies a small, white kite on the steps that lead to the slums of Belen.

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Stalk pile

The boy prepares the stalks and passes them to the women you see below. In turn, they pull the stalk into threads like you would string cheese. People purchase these strings and use them in salads.

I can’t remember what the stalk is called. I should have had pen and paper on me!

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Medicine Porch

Devendra and Amelia sitting on the porch and waiting for medicine around 7am. Every morning and afternoon, we waited for our special prescriptions made from plants and I’m not really sure what else. We were treated for a variety of things: self-doubt, warts, eczema, addiction, and broken hearts are a few things that come to mind.

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Gloomy

The market was organized by meat: chicken at the entrance, cow when you enter, pig on the upper level, and all types of fish, turtle, & crocodile outside. Some of the ladies asked if I wanted to try bull’s blood… pass. In fact: pass on all of it these days except for fish.

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Wrapped lunch

Cooked chicken is mixed with rice and then wrapped in giant leaves to provide an inexpensive delicious, portable meal. You can see Spice Lady eating her unwrapped meal below.

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Amelia & Lucy

Charm, warmth, and personality: that’s Amelia and Lucy! I lucked out as these lovely ladies were my tambo neighbors. Amelia lives in Cartagena, Colombia, and Lucy lives in Australia. They met one another in an Ashram in India a few years back and enthralled me with their travel stories. Before arriving in Iquitos, they were trekking through the jungle. I wish I could have fit them both in my travel bag and taken them home with me. Even thinking about them now makes my heart feel bigger.

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Spice Lady

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The Meek

Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. ~Matthew 5:5

I’ve been looking at this verse in a new light. “Meek” denotes gentleness, humbleness and consideration. The meek are the ones tending the planet and fulfilling our natural role as stewards to the Earth. A role that we’ve all but forgotten.

Folks are speculating what will happen in 2012 as the poles shift. Some believe floods and tectonic calamities will occur. If we were to imagine that the world might change overnight and leave us with no Internet, a barter system instead of symbolic paper (money), and razed transportation routes & communication lines, who would thrive? The people living close to the land. The meek.

More than ever it’s time to plant a garden and tread lightly.

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Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. Larva is Latin for “ghost.”  ~Wikipedia

The first morning I was in Iquitos, the driver who had picked me up at the airport in his rickshaw gave me a gastronomical tour of the City’s open-air market. I learned that larva is eaten for bronchitis and applied for wound therapy. He ensured me that even children gooble up larva, live and cooked.

And I thought chopped garlic and honey was hard to swallow as a kid!

Wiggling larvae.

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Banana Load

Monday morning came too early for Beto. Bananas felt especially heavy on Mondays.

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Tambo Home

The comforts of home:

• Mosquito netting
• A simple bed
• A compost toilet that preserves water
• A lantern for when the sun goes down
• Friendly visitors such as tiny lizards, sweet frogs, bats and spiders.
• All the gorgeous sounds of the jungle, an orchestra for dreams.
• Green, green, and more green.

A little goes a long way here.  There’s no room for junk.

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Lucinda and Ynes

Lucinda and Ynes, two Shipibo healers, enjoying each other’s company on a bench.

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