Classes in Iquitos

Headed to our Reserve from Iquitos by Peki-Peki boat

Monday we had our first day of class. I paddled with 3 others from our reserve back to Iquitos. The canoe trek is usually 30-45 minutes. No breaks. It´s definitely hot--but tons of fun.

 Our class was at the IIAP (an institute of natural medicine). We had a professor who spoke about many plants, their medicinal uses, and we got to taste many of the fruits, nuts, or other things the plants produced. Some people tried grubs, but I had no interest in trying one. The professor was a little difficult to understand, but he did quite well. Many of the plants that he talked about were ones that each of us had to research prior to the trip. He was able to talk about the local use of these, which was interesting. Everyone rode the motorized boat back to the reserve, since it would be upstream and pretty hard to row. 

The group in class

We had student presentations that night, which went more in depth about specific plants. Our generator was not working, so we had no electricity on the reserve for that time. We each got out our super nerdy headlamps and were good to go. Each night, the students and the three adults just hang out and talk. Lights go out at 9pm, so most people end up sleeping early. The sun sets around 5:30, which I did not expect. Of course, once the sun goes down, that means it is time for all the animals to be noisy. I am very, very thankful I brought earplugs, otherwise I would receive no sleep. Unfortunately, we have not seen any exciting wildlife yet. Hoping for the future!

Tuesday was another day of class. There are not enough canoes for everyone to travel, so I got the luxury of the motorized boat. Surprisingly, I was not sore from yesterday´s paddle, although your butt definitely hurts because you are sitting on a small plank of wood while in the boat. Before we left, we got to play with one of the kids at the reserve. His parents work there; his responsibility is just to be cute and carefree. He caught a small lizard and let everyone hold it. He is highly entertained by us all, and we are likewise by him. We were at another school today in Iquitos, that was located at a Catholic church. The professor did not speak any English, so one of our guides, ChaChi interpreted. This professor talked more about ethnobotony and the agriculture. We learned about achiote, which is a seed that has red liquid in it. This liquid is often used by tribes for war paint. It can also be used for lipstick. It can help as an anti inflammatory, for burns, pink eye, and hypertension. We also talked a little more about the plant I had to research, the Air Potato. The professor said it was the first used birth control, and can be used for dermal inflammation, kidney stones (maybe I should try some!), or as a diuretic. We eat at the same restaurant in town everyday for lunch called ¨The Yellow Rose.´¨ It is Americanized, which means we know all the food is safe. They have a good variety, so that is nice. 

Thanks for reading and please continue praying!