Peru Journal: 30 Jan to 02 Feb
Friday 30 Jan
BOS-JFK-MIA-LIM. Long day, crazy long layover in a disgusting Miami airport. Hard to sleep on the overnight flight.
Saturday 31 Jan
Arrived in Lima at 5:10am; went straight to my hotel in Miraflores (the nice area of Lima) and slept until 11am; showered and walked around Miraflores including a walk to the Lacomar shopping mall and the Pacific Ocean. Met up with Julia for dinner at 6:30pm and went to dinner at Restaurant Huaca Pucllana which overlooks an archeological wonder over 1000 years old. Delicious meal (ceviche), and it lasted over three hours! Bed at 10:30pm
Sunday 01 Feb
Woke up at 2:45am for a 4:55am flight to Iquitos; landed in Iquitos at 6:20am, and Vladamir, our interpreter on the boat for the next ten days, met us and took us by taxi to Punchana, a small village 20 minutes away. Took a small boat from the village over to the Amazon Hope 2, got a quick tour of the boat, then took a two hour nap. Woke up to find other people had joined us on the boat, introduced ourselves and ate breakfast. Made a quick stop about an hour down river in Indiana. Took motocarros to Mazan (10 min ride each way, 2 soles or 60 cents each) to pick up medications and to view the Rio Napo, which heads northwest to Ecuador. Back to the boat for lunch and one more hour of napping. In the early afternoon, we docked in Oran, a village of approximately 1000 people 75km down river from Iquitos. Went with Julia and Vladamir to the village for a tour and to hang out with the kids. We were suckered into playing volleyball against the village's best women, and we lost badly (I learned later that these games were always for monetary bets--we lost 15 soles or about $5 on today's loss). Returned to the boat at dusk, took a shower (a childhood pasttime in Oran appears to be throwing hay on each other, which gets quite itchy), dinner and a 9pm bedtime.
Monday 02 Feb
Woke up at 6:30 in Oran, breakfast at 7:30; started seeing patients at 8am today--saw 15 patients in the morning (14 fillings, 12 extractions), then lunch and siesta then 11 more patients in the afternoon (11 fillings, 6 extractions). The last patient was my favorite friend from playing the day before, a 12 year old boy named Manuel who was scared of the dentist but had muy grande caries on his lower right molar. It would have needed to be extracted if it hadn't been filled today (the boat only comes once every three months). Huge rainstorm at 6pm right as we headed to the village; still went and watched some soccer, ate a delicious dinner, showered and was in bed by 10:30pm.
BOS-JFK-MIA-LIM. Long day, crazy long layover in a disgusting Miami airport. Hard to sleep on the overnight flight.
Saturday 31 Jan
Arrived in Lima at 5:10am; went straight to my hotel in Miraflores (the nice area of Lima) and slept until 11am; showered and walked around Miraflores including a walk to the Lacomar shopping mall and the Pacific Ocean. Met up with Julia for dinner at 6:30pm and went to dinner at Restaurant Huaca Pucllana which overlooks an archeological wonder over 1000 years old. Delicious meal (ceviche), and it lasted over three hours! Bed at 10:30pm
Sunday 01 Feb
Woke up at 2:45am for a 4:55am flight to Iquitos; landed in Iquitos at 6:20am, and Vladamir, our interpreter on the boat for the next ten days, met us and took us by taxi to Punchana, a small village 20 minutes away. Took a small boat from the village over to the Amazon Hope 2, got a quick tour of the boat, then took a two hour nap. Woke up to find other people had joined us on the boat, introduced ourselves and ate breakfast. Made a quick stop about an hour down river in Indiana. Took motocarros to Mazan (10 min ride each way, 2 soles or 60 cents each) to pick up medications and to view the Rio Napo, which heads northwest to Ecuador. Back to the boat for lunch and one more hour of napping. In the early afternoon, we docked in Oran, a village of approximately 1000 people 75km down river from Iquitos. Went with Julia and Vladamir to the village for a tour and to hang out with the kids. We were suckered into playing volleyball against the village's best women, and we lost badly (I learned later that these games were always for monetary bets--we lost 15 soles or about $5 on today's loss). Returned to the boat at dusk, took a shower (a childhood pasttime in Oran appears to be throwing hay on each other, which gets quite itchy), dinner and a 9pm bedtime.
Monday 02 Feb
Woke up at 6:30 in Oran, breakfast at 7:30; started seeing patients at 8am today--saw 15 patients in the morning (14 fillings, 12 extractions), then lunch and siesta then 11 more patients in the afternoon (11 fillings, 6 extractions). The last patient was my favorite friend from playing the day before, a 12 year old boy named Manuel who was scared of the dentist but had muy grande caries on his lower right molar. It would have needed to be extracted if it hadn't been filled today (the boat only comes once every three months). Huge rainstorm at 6pm right as we headed to the village; still went and watched some soccer, ate a delicious dinner, showered and was in bed by 10:30pm.