18.03.13 Mazan

Sorry that I am behind on my blog. As you would expect, internet service is limited in the Amazon. Even with Iquitos nearby and villages with basic amenities, the reach of this area is still difficult. As I may have mentioned in last year's trip blog, Iquitos is only accessible by air or river. This time around, we are staying at Ceiba Tops; a jungle lodge on the banks of the Amazon River and about a 45min boat ride downriver from Iquitos. Our first day was to Mazan, a village accessible much easier by the small road indicated in the picture. Actually it was more like a double wide sidewalk. Otherwise, as you could tell by the map, a boat ride on the river would take forever (Mazan to Ceiba Tops going upriver is 16 hours !!)

17.03.13

We left Lima about 0630. We arrived in Iquitos at about 0830 then took a little boat ride to Ceiba Tops Lodge downriver on the Amazon about 45 minutes. We briefly settled in before getting right to work on sorting our meds for the pharmacy.

 

We ate a great buffet lunch at 1230 and have had some downtime since then. We meet again in about 10min @ 1600 to go down to Monkey Island which I visited last year. I need to go now, so I'll post some pics when I get back.

 

16.03.13

2013. My blog has been resurrected. I last left you all with a video by Thomas Coiner of our trip to Peru in 2012, and my first medical mission. If you haven't had a chance to see the video, you can view it in my last post. It's a great video, professionally done by Thomas Coiner. I was fortunate and blessed by many supporters last year that I am happy to say I am back in Peru. The University of Alabama Capstone College of Nursing has two medical missions planned for this year; China and Bolivia. I had originally opted to go to both trips and have since put those on the back burner and now here I am in Peru with Dr Chris Harmon and his team. There are 13 team members including myself. We've had quite a few drop out in the past few weeks due to unfortunate circumstances. We will continue to pray for those who were not able to join us. So I'm not really sure about the fine details of this trip. However, as always, flexibility is the the key. We arrived in Lima a little over 2 hours ago. It is now 2:00am here in Lima, and if I'm not mistaken, it's CST. We are staying at the hotel across the street from the airport, literally about 50 yards from the entrance. This makes for a convenient transition for our morning flight to Iquitos. We will meet at about 0430 to go back to the airport. This time around, we will not be staying in the city of Iquitos, rather, we will be out in the jungle, up the Amazon River. We will be staying at Ceiba Tops and will be providing a medical clinic to the surrounding villages. Here is a link. Check it out. http://www.explorama.us/ceibatopslodge.shtml Over the past year, I've been working a little harder on sharing my faith. I've made some big strides in being able to openly share with others, and most importantly praying with some of my patients who find comfort and peace in it. With the team being quite smaller than the last, we will each be wearing many "hats" this time around. I'm looking forward to getting started and letting the Holy Spirit take over and guide me through the week. For some of my friends, it's probably weird to hear me say that. It even sounds a little weird for me to say it to myself. God has done great things in my life over the past year and I'm slowly getting to the point of giving it all up to Him and putting my faith to work for Him in all that I can control. I won't lie, it's hard, but I'm trying. I hope you all will be able to take a peek at my blog throughout the week. I'll try and keep it updated day to day to share all the new experiences. I'll have an update later this evening once we get settled in the jungle and after I've finished my homework that's due today. Yeah, I've been a little slack on homework. This trip ended up on a bad week of battling the stomach bug and school and homework, but I know I'm here for a reason ! Peace Jek

Video by Thomas Coiner

Capstone College of Nursing Travels to: Iquitos Peru from Uncharted Media on Vimeo.

It's taken me two full days to recover.  My mind and most of all my body was so exhausted.  Back in Iquitos I was up and going by 0730 but not in bed until 0200ish, yet I was good to go each day.  After getting home from the airport Sunday afternoon, I could not stay awake.  I forced myself to get up Monday afternoon and it has taken all day to finally feel somewhat normal.  There was no jet lag so I must have been running on pure adrenaline the first part of the trip.  Last Friday was our free day in Iquitos and as you can probably tell from the pictures we had a great time.  We left Iquitos on the Nanay River to the Amazon River and reached our furthest destination down river (Northeast) about 2.5 hours later.  The return took about 3.5 hours and I think that was the point at which we all began to break down.  By now the trip had taken its toll on at least 7 team members varying from GI problems, general malaise, and physical injury.  Friday's tour was fantastic and I could do it over and over again, but a packed boat and lengthy ride into the night was described by one as "(musically)-> a three hour tour".  I think that was enough to set moods into a spiral for some.  The night was short as we prepared to leave for Lima by 6am.  The chaos and wait for our flight to Lima elicited some negativity and I tried to keep to myself to stay away from it.  We arrived in Lima and headed out for a tour of the city.  We stopped at the Sheraton where we had stayed briefly at the beginning of our trip and left some people there to rest while everyone else headed out to the market.  Shopping seemed to relieve some stress and as we headed to a mall overlooking the coast for dinner, spirits were up again.  It was cloudy and cool yet the scene was beautiful.  I had dinner with some friends and we had a great time reminiscing the week.  The city scene of Lima was a great contrast to the city of Iquitos.  Though Iquitos is a large city with a population over 400,000 in the middle of the jungle it seemed so far behind Lima with respect to the simple things in life and things we take for granted.  The simple life is by no means a negative as I believe we should strive for some simplicity as to not forget what is and should be important in our lives.  Dinner with friends that last evening in Lima gave me such a rush.  I thought about all the new people I had met and the ones I got to know more and most of all the Peruvians of Iquitos.  I was sad to be leaving yet looking forward to coming home to my family.  We were back at the Lima airport by 2000 and our check in process and wait for our 0040 flight again sent moods into a spiral.  Again I tried to separate myself from the element and even got an awesome 15 minute back massage as did others.  If I did break down into negativity, it was during boarding for our flight when they did one final security check at the gate and took my $10 bottle of water which I had just purchased 10 minutes prior and I berated the inspector.  I thought about it on the plane and did feel awful for having done so; he was only doing his job.  By takeoff I had already taken my sleeping pill for overnight flight home and after the in flight meal fell fast asleep.  I woke up briefly to prepare for landing in ATL then fell back asleep then woke again to the shudder of the landing gear on the tarmac.  Our final leg home was to be about 3 hours later and in the process of Immigration and Customs I had failed to say good bye to a few people parting ways in Atlanta.  We arrived in Birmingham at about 1140 with many families welcoming various team members.  I got to meet many of them and it was so good to see the happy smiling faces on each of them; this of course seeing my own mother's face.  Good byes were quick and I know I will be seeing many of them again and the rest I really do hope to see again.  As I've recuperated it's weird to think I was just in Peru; the farthest I've been away from family in some of the worst conditions I have ever seen.  We faced some trials in our last travel days.  That is where the trip ended in a literal sense though we really should be thinking about and should already be doing what we need to do to sustain what we learned throughout the week.  What did we learn?  How should we apply it to our lives and to the people we interact with daily?  Some of us may not know the answers immediately but it will "click" one day.  I can say for me, if I accept what I have learned I will be a better man for it.  My spirit has been renewed and I must sustain it and spread it.  It motivates me to be a better man for others and most of all God.
I will be continuing this blog as I do want to write about various experiences and talk about some of the people I met and got to know.  I hope it keeps your interest and if not hopefully some stranger will pick it up through google and maybe it will help them.
Peace out !

I haven't forgotten this blog.  I took a nap yesterday afternoon and got up briefly but could not stay awake so I went back to bed.  I woke up this afternoon and my body is still trying to recuperate. I'm so tired. I will post soon as there is still so much to talk about and many more pictures and some videos to upload.  I will post an announcement as usual on my facebook when I have something new.  Thank you for reading !

Here's a toast to a great mission working with great people.

My favorite drink from Peru