Tops

Tops cost about twenty cents, (one Sol) they’re made of wood, with a nail for a point.

The string (pita) costs about the same.

In this picture, the nails’ points are worn down and hard to see.

Game 1 (La Mepiada)

You draw a circle on the floor then you place your aguaje pit (slightly bigger than a peach pit) in the center.

Then you wind your top and throw it, trying to hit the pits out.  If you hit one out, you get to smash the other guy’s top, according to how many hits he’s got on his pit (I personally have only had one or two tops that are in splinters).  This one is the most common top games.

Game 2 (La Raniada)

You play this game the exact same way as the other one, except for one thing.  Instead of breaking the tops,

you jump the number that is on your pit (a better game for beginners).

Marbles

Marbles is the other main game around here.

Tops cost more than marbles, you can buy about one hundred marbles for two soles.

(This picture is of me playing la hondla with my neighbor Tedy.)

Game 1 (La Hondla)

Draw a circle on the ground.  Then you put your shooting marble in the circle, next to your parada (the marble you’re betting on), the other player does the same.  Then you try to get to a position were you can flick your shooter marble to hit both paradas (his and your own) out of the circle.  That’s how you win .

These are some of the games that we kids play in the jungle.

Realizing it was getting dark soon, we needed to head back…. Micah said before” bandits” stop us on the road back… WHAT!!!! my son has a great way of telling us what may happen…..So back on the curvy road this time in the dark…Well we made it with out incident, but we all had our eyed peeled to the road, the drop off on the right, the falling rock on the left and bandits anywhere else. Good to get home.. .

My 2o things

1. Myas surprise water adventure
2. slow moving turtle
3. hours of bumpy road
4. Cullens spining top (hes a pro)
5. completed sail boats
6. movies that didn’t work on the computer
7. salt growing from the ground
8. Treasure Hunt
9. Jumping girls
10. Book readers everywhere
11. salt on everything
12. 578 bug bits on one leg
13. Micah and Amys 14 anniversary
14. drinking juice made from purple corn.. (its rather good)
15. taught the boys how to play 21.. (a good way to learn math)
16. 90 degrees again 85%humidity
17. new shoes for all
18. walked down the road and got alot of looks because were “Gringos”
19. people called us “dogs”
20. watched the boys play “Age of Empires”

Diane

Ever, Pole, Edinson, Alec, Cullen, Dad and I walked to the paradero (a place where people rent cars) really early in the morning. The car would pick up lots people on the way, by the time we got to Yarina we were kind of hanging off the side of the car.

In Yarina, we ate a fast lunch, found a boat and got in. We turned off from the Huallaga (the main river) into another river, the Chiporana. As we were going, Alec and I saw some type of furry animal head come up from the water, that was cool!

We got to the next village in the evening, when we walked through the village, every one stopped whatever they were doing and stared at the gringo kids. I cooled off in the river with Ever and Alec before the open air service.

After the meeting, there was a possibility of hopping a night boat , but when things were over, my dad seemed to have disappeared. I asked a guy where dad was and he said dad had already gone on the night boat! of course, I didn’t believe that, so I went walking to the house we were staying in.  It was locked up and nobody was home! When I knocked on the door, a big dog came and started barking at me.  So, I went walking to the dock, and the boat seemed to have left!  I saw a little light drifting down stream so I walked back to the village rather scared, thinking that I might call the next village on the public phone.

When I went through the gate of the village, there was dad coming down the road talking with a man from the church!  It turned out that I knocked on the wrong door!

We walked to the port and just then, around the bend came the night boat.  So we arrived at the next village Santa Marta at almost 12 O’clock, safe and sound.

(you might want to read the 1st half first)

DAY4

So when we woke up, I packed, then we ate, then we said bye, and we were off. We first came to a little brook easy to cross,

the hard one was the Chiporana. Edison, Dad, Alec, and I swam across to get the boat for the others. The current was pretty strong, but it was nothing. With everybody across we kept going till we got to San Jose. There we ate a little bit then kept on going but Pool, and Edison, went in the boat to the next village the rest of us walked, we walked, and walked, we crossed the Yanayacu two times and finally at 7:30 p.m. we arrived in Santa Rocio.

as soon as we got there, we ate deer, then we were off to the open air, and after that we set up the tents in the house of Quinto (a very nice house), then I went to sleep.

DAY 5

In the morning we went to pick guava, the trip turned in to a long walk and when I got back I felt a bit wobbly but I went swimming anyway,

then the wobbliness turned into a dizziness, so I took a nap and everything went blank. And I don’t remember anything else till the night
when I took a pill then went to sleep. I missed dinner and the open air.

DAY 6

Next morning I felt better and got in a boat to San Jose there we had a wedding, and a baptism,

then I started to feel sick again, I went to bed, so the open air was skipped and so was dinner for me. The others got locked out so I had to get up and let them in. In the end I got to sleep.

the return

Then when we got up we grabbed a boat to Yarina. On the way, we stopped in Leche to pick up are stuff that we left there and held a gator leg.

Then we continued the trip spent the night in Yarina, only slept two hours, then took a car to Tarapoto with giant pig .

Earlier this week we went to the Zoo.. Not your ordinary Zoo. You had to walk about 2 miles to this zoo. UP and down Hills. I don’t think anyone would go to the Portland Zoo if they had to walk this far and up down hill. But when you get there you get to see about 9 animals.very close up and even touch them.

One was a ocelot…  he  was right there in a very week cage.  If you wanted to you could of touched him… but not a good idea.

Also a bear. great claws and yes I did touch them.  There cage is  made of rebar.. I had pictures of all of this, but this is making me so frustrated to add pictures that it is ruining my vacation….. so I will just do the writing.

Yesterday we went to a real Peruvian home ( now I wish I had the pictures). they live very much off the land.  Pick plantains, yucca, limes, mangos, passion fruit. and not much else.  they killed a monkey a few days earlier for meat….  They were very hard worker and very seldom get to town, even though it was 3 miles one way. They go to Micahs church and walk into town when they go….. They were very warm and generous with there produce and gave us coconuts and all of the above stuff. There kitchen was a dirt floor and a oven made from mud.. Micah told us how they cook on it.. amazing……

Jim and Micah are doing some electrical work on the church.. digging in the dirt floor and pounding out cement walls. I did a great video on them, but alas……. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

20 things.

1. new and old construction on the same buildings
2. the roosters do not know what time to crow 3:20,3:45,4:10,4:12.4:50…you get the picture
3. There are to many roosters near this house
4. little girls waiting by your door to great you when you wake up
5. Way to many bumpy roads
6. rained last night
7. coolest night of sleep so far
8. I got in Micahs pool (3 feet deep)
9. I hate water
10. My legs hurt from walking up and down trails in the jungle
11. made wooden crafts with the kids
12. City Water is shut off between 10 am and 5 pm
13. fridge door does not stay shut.
14. High cement walls surround the back yard
15. Neighbor likes to sing  with a microphone at night
16. Friday night is Party night….for the neighbors
17. Kids a creative when they play
18. Amys fast asleep on the cool cement floor
19. Moss is slippery when wet….
20. Father and son going for a walk at 5 AM every morning.

1. 20 more things
2. homeschooling is not for me
3. Amy has patience like a lamb
4. Cullen does not like math
5. Javen loves drawing
6. The girls and I had a Tea Party today
7. To hot to do anything
8. computers are slow, or its operator error
9. rained last night
10. hundreds of motocars, more motorcycles
11. the pool feels good
12. upper lip is sweating
13. lunch is there biggest meal
14. Tupperwear is a necessary
15. lots of books in this house
16. clouds today
17. saw a Gecko
18. no snakes yet
19. yes bug bites…. a few
20. Micah has a collection of animal skins on the wall (3)
21. Bye for now

Here is my latest adventure…

DAY 1

We left  Tarapoto in a car headed to Yarina at 5:30 a.m. with Eber, Edison, Alec, Pool,  Javen, Dad and I.  We got there about at 10:00.  Dad went to find a boat wile we sat and did nothing.  When he came back  we ate a quick lunch then got in our boat and set out to the chiporana.

In about five hours we got to the first village dos de Mayo.  We walked in and shook hands with the believers.  Eber said that he wanted to go swimming so we went for a quick dip then the brothers invited us to eat dinner after dinner we went right to the open air meeting we sang in English and Alec gave his  testimony and they put the movie fireproof on.

Then we hopped a  boat to the next village in the dark . When  we got there we knocked on a door set up our tents in their living room and went to sleep.

DAY 2

When we all woke up we walked to a different house and ate dolphin for breakfast.  Then I wandered around town and talked to some people and took  a rest  until lunch time when we ate chicken soup with the believers.  After that we  played soccer. A tie game.  After that we all  went swimming I swam across the river or better said  I waded.  Well as soon as we got out we went to see a guy that always walked in circles.  As soon as it got dark  we started the meeting dad shared the beliefs of the jungle and compared it to the Bible.  Sang in English again when it was over we went to a guy’s house to eat then we went back to our tents to sleep.

DAY 3

The next morning we ate doncella for breakfast then said bye to the believers then got in a boat to Leche (milk).  On the way we pick up some masato yum. (a drink that I will tell about later)  Anyway when we got there it was lunch time and we ate carachupa or armadillo then we played soccer with a coconut and a jump in the river cooled me off.  Then to the open air here we watched facing the giants with the whole village.  After the open air meeting we ate in a brothers house some chicken soup. Then we all went to bed knowing about the long walk the next day.

going to the market can be  a daily thing.  How old is some on this food? most of it is sold during the first 4 hours of the day.

I made pancakes for the kids  and made there in

initials.  and lots of regular ones.. what a hit.

I

Today is Tuesday and we looked all over the place for a Turkey. Thanksgiving is NOT a Peruvian holiday

and Turkeys are sold only at Christmas, so it took us a long time in the hot car to find a guy who sold us a fresh Turkey.  But we found the jackpot..

THIS IS THE GUY.. He was very willing to let me hold him.. Little did he know!!!!

The man killed it (didn’t show that picture) and defeathered it and gutted it for us. All for $45  YIKES..

(At Winco I got a turkey for $4.50 with a purchase of $50.00 of groceries).

But it was a great experience

1. over 90 degrees daily
2. sweating
3. birds singing at 6 am
4. cockroaches
5. limes on the backyard tree
6. drinking lots of water
7. 5  laughing kids
8. 5 crying kids (not at the same time)
9. watched Toy story 3
10. sleeping with a sheet and pillow (and Jim of course)
11. the coolest part of the house is the wall and the tile floor
12. homemade French Fries..mixed with juicy beef and veggies.
13. mango juice
14. marbles being played by the boys
15. rare orange  marbles to play with.
16. no hot water
17. toilet paper goes in the waste basket not in the TOILET.  (this was hard to get use to)
18. main meal is at noon
19. Marmee is the cook and cleaner. (everyone has a maid, well just about)
20. Micah and Amy have a wash machine. But most people washes their clothes by hand.

More tomorrow.. Diane

They were very happy to receive  gifts like peanut butter.

We got have some hands on time with the kids and loved the one on one time with them.

They did have some fun stuff for us to eat. I guess Micah bought these ants for me special on his last jungle trip. As you can see Jim had no part of it.  Yes I ate it dead and crunchy. yum, yum.

This blogging stuff is not my cup of tea.. so bear with me .

Going to a far away town tomorrow, and must be on the road by  six am.

…busy time at the Tuttles.

:::

We will also have a not-so-young grandma writer making her debut,  documenting a very first Peruvian experience.

:::

So. Stay tuned.

:)