Life with MK: Last Day in the Amazon

Today was our official last day in the Amazon region. I slept well last night, thank goodness, and woke up feeling much better than I have in a while. We had breakfast and then packed up our stuff to store for the day. We then headed to the San Juan Tourist Artesenia to look at the wood crafts they had there. It was fun to walk around and see the things they had since it is the largest artesenia (and the most commercial/permanent looking) we have seen. Big difference from the women who brought out their things in the villages. I got a nice anaconda wood bowl, a blood wood tray, and a rainbow wood vase. The bowl was a little pricy by Peruvian standards, but really nice and way cheaper than it would be in the states for sure. We google it a bit and the raw materials alone at home were more than we paid here. I also got a cute little coin purse and a bracelet from a really nice man I chatted with for a bit and practiced my Spanish. We spent a little over an hour at the market and had a nice time, but sadly I forgot to take pictures at the market.

My little coin purse

After the market we went back to the hotel to relax in the A/C and say goodbye to Emily, who left to head back to Lima. After saying goodbye we went to two grocery stores to grab some snacks and then headed to the AP office for lunch. We were supposed to meet the group coming in from Akron, but they were late due to baggage troubles at the airport so we finished as they were arriving. We had fried rice, lemon quinoa salad, and plaintains catered by Ari's Burger. It was pretty delicious. After lunch we walked around a bit and looked at the close artesenia called Anaconda near the office and the hotel, where I bought a carrier for my water bottle. I could have used that two weeks ago for sure!

Around 3:30PM we met up with two of our translators and went to a place called The Yellow Rose of Texas to get ice cream. I had a slightly icy chocolate chip ice cream with a little chocolate, whipped cream, and a frozen strawberry on top. After hanging out and eating for a bit I went to the office with one of our attendings to arrange a cab to the airport and hung out there for a few minutes before meeting back up with the other to hang out on some benches over by the river. We eventually went back to the hotel and stopped by Amazon Bistro to say goodbye to the new group and Patty.

Looking out at the river. The water level rose significantly since we arrived in Iquitos two weeks ago.

When we got back we cgeched some last minute Internet stuff and then took two cabs to the airport between five of us on the same flight. The ride was easy as was check in and security. Once on the gate area (only four gates in one big area) we gad some food (I had a chicken empanada, which had olives and hard boiled egg inside, surprise!) and waited to board. We ended up boarding a little late, but luckily Cailtin and I didn't have any connecting flights tonight, so we had no stress. I think the other three were a little worried about their connecting flights since they mostly had to change airlines and recheck all their bags. The flight was overall good and we were only about 20 minutes delayed. The taxi driver was there waiting for us and we got all checked in to the hostel with no problems. We have our own room and bathroom, which is perfect for the night. Also, some pictures are uploaded so take a look back. Photos going all the way back to Lima except those from my DSLR are updated! Check them out.