Nuevo Jerusalem

Last night was a little better for sleeping, but I still had to get out of the mosquito net. Oh well, it's not so bad. I don't check for bugs nearly as much now so it's not so hard. I got up a little before 7AM and got myself together for our last clinic day of the trip. Breakfast was largely similar this morning and I had pancakes with a banana and mango. We then left for the two communities, as the group was to split up again to serve two villages. On the way we saw three monkeys, a howler monkey that was brown, a giant spider monkey that was black, and a small capuchin monkey. Apparently the nearby lodge plants the three monkeys as the species don't usually live together in the wild, but they were still cool and absolutely not caged or fully domesticated. I also saw some some parrots or parakeets in a few large groups flying over the river. This time we all had to land in the first village, Jaldar, and then the rest of the group went on a 30 minute hike to Nuevo Jerusalem. I was in the group that hike and I am so happy. 

Black spider monkey

Ready to hike

The crew ready to head to Nuevo Jerusalem

Leaving on our hike

The hike to the village was super muddy, but overall a really nice hike through the jungle. There were many fewer mosquitos than on my hike near the lodge, which was a nice surprise. They still existed they just weren't all consuming. The village was super site on arrival. It is a pretty small community on a river whose mouth is near Iquitos, which would take a few days to get to by boat I'm told, which is why we hike in. We were set up in the school house as usual today. I worked with another medical student from Michigan, and we saw a bunch of things ranging from malaria to infected insect bites to the usual dehydration and MSK pain. We saw multiple large familes, which was a lot of work but it was great. My Spanish was also definitely a ton better today, which was nice. 

Hiking through the jungle

The school where we held clinic

The village

Our team for the day

Clinic

Kids playing with the glove balloons we made them

After clinic we went to the home of the founder of the community (at which point I found out I had seen his whole family in clinic). Luckily I had gotten along very well with his grandchildren (great grandchildren maybe I'm not entirely certain) so we played with them a bunch. He showed us some things and spoke with us and of course offered some things he had made. I bought a really neat drum he had made. I also gave the kids the rest of my coloring books, pencils, and jump ropes and they seemed to enjoy it. His daughter gave me a bracelt as a gift for helping her family as well. They also had a tons of pets, including some parrots, ducks, chickens, and two three month old puppies who were of course adorable (but not more than Max and Koa of course).

Walking to Ramones home

So pretty!

Liana and Maria

Ramone

Playing with the jump ropes I left

With Ramone

Puppies!

Ramone's home

The village

After visiting his home we went to the local artesenia and traded the rest of our stuff away for crafts, which is always fun. We then hiked back to the other villages and saw their artesenia. If I haven't explained already an artesenia is basically when all the (usually) women come and lay out their crafts and either sell or trade them. It's quite fun. I didn't get enough photos of the various artesenias. After browsing there I had lunch, but since I was pretty late I missed most of the fried chicken and fish bits and all the lettuce and cabbage. Oh well. I ate and then browsed more and much to my delight I saw a one month old tamarin named Tarzan who I fell madly in love with immediately. He was super tiny and soft and adorable and I got to hold his for a while and it was magical. I didn't have my phone or camera with me, but other people got pictures and will share them with me. The joy was indescribable, much like when I met Teresita the perezoso/pelejo (the two words for sloth).

Hiking back

Tarzan!

 After finished up our browsing and my fawning over Tarzan we headed back to the Yacumama Lodge. When we got back we finished up the final stats and then most of us had a nice final swim in the Yarapa River. It felt amazing since after hiking in the heat and humidity in long pants, long sleeves, and rubber boots we were all super hot and sweaty. 

After swimming I showered and then packed up my big bag to leave for Iquitos early in the morning. Then of course, we played cards until dinner, ate dinner (pasta, red sauce, yucca, beans, sweet plantains), and then played more cards after dinner. I played casino and then played Uno with the Peruvians. I had to practice my Spanish a lot during the game because only two of us were American in the Uno game! Luckily some of the translators were playing so I had lots of help. I never won any games today haha. When we finished playing cards we chatted for a bit and then got ready for bed. Tomorrow we will head back to Iquitos and to air conditioning in our hotel rooms!