TRAVELING TO BRAZIL
WAS A LIFE CHANGING JOURNEY,
AN ADVENTURE THAT BROUGHT ME
TO KNOWING A BRAND NEW ASPECT OF ME
AN ASPECT LONG FORGOTTEN.
I had worked, as usual, way too much
so my over time load needed to be used.
During the Spring as I was dreaming about how
I could make use of the two months paid overtime plus
six weeks of Summer vacation,
I met a Brazilian friend of mine I had not seen for a while
and she inspired me to join her to Brazil and deliver
charity gifts to indian tribes in the rain forest.
This was something totally new so of course
I gave her an immediate Yes!
Her ticket was already purchased so we went hunting
to see if I could find something on the same plane
or at least close by in time …
Did not happen, so I booked a flight a fews weeks later than hers
and we decided that she would meet me in Leticia,
a small town on the border between Brazil, Colombia and Peru.
This was my first trip to the South American continent,
no language skills, no cultural knowledge,
pure ignorance, trusting Life to provide the experience
to gift me an adventure of my life …
My friend needed me as a pack mule I realized
pretty soon. The "stuff", the gifts she was delivering
to her people was overwhelming in size, plenty, to say the least.
But i figured it was a fabulous trade off …
I got to travel to places I would have never have found,
with a person who knew the language and had grown up there.
The only thing she needed from me, I thought, was
a taller and much stronger version of herself, willing to be
of service and willing to load and carry all the stuff donated.
She left and took some of the luggage and left the rest for me.
When it was time for me to leave,
I couldn't believe what weight I had agreed to travel with.
My first destination was Bogota, Colombia and
the only thing I had with me was an address that
my friend had given me to look for to find
an inexpensive shelter to sleep in.
I arrived around midnight and all went well …
started to look for a cab using my poor!! Spanish …
with intrusive leeches of men wanting to take over my luggage
to be tipped.
They had no desire to give it up as I gave them no.
My first threatening encounter that I had to face
to not being over powered by the ways
of the people wanting to make money off of me.
After intense arguments and pushing away one taxi driver
came to my rescue and packed my luggage in his car.
I handed him my little piece of paper with the address
and off we went!
Loud honking, screaming on the streets,
packed with crowds of people ...
Pitch dark and I really had no clue if the driver was honest or
where he was planning on taking me.
I said a silent prayer and hoped for the best.
The streets got smaller and darker,
and the car could hardly fit in between the sidewalks.
I have to admit I got nervous,
but I realized I had no other choice than to trust
that I was taken care of for the right reasons and then I let it go.
The cab driver finally stopped and knocked on a door
and some woman
opened a little wooden shutter and with a hostile voice
asked us what we wanted.
I gave her the note with the address and gave her a gift from my friend
who had told me she stayed with this family every time
she travelled through Bogota to Brazil.
It was a regular family home and the woman obviously
thought we were the police checking her out until
I opened my mouth and she realized my Spanish was not native!
She eventually opened the door after she received the book
that my friend had promised her at one point.
Thank goodness!
I dragged all the luggage up a staircase so narrow
that I just about fit in-between the walls, shoulder to wall!
My flight to Leticia was planned to leave around noon,
so I told her to wake me in time … I crashed and fell asleep
right away after an adventurous beginning …
Early in the morning somebody was banging on my door
and there was a rush of intensity.
There was another person, a man, using her secret hospitality,
and he knew English!!
He told me that the time schedules of the domestic flights
are unpredictable … the planes leave when they are fully booked.
The same way as the busses, first comes first goes …
I was handed breakfast to go, delicious!!,
and the Taxi was already waiting.
Everybody was coming together and dragging all my
excess weights to the cab and off we went to the airport.
I was so grateful for this man who had called the airport
and found out that the small plane to Leticia
would leave around(!) 10AM …
I would have so missed the flight
with my on time training from Europe.
This man was a business man used to travel,
so he taught me to pay attention to the fact that
flights (small) are not always following the rhythms
of the time schedule they are supposed to be on.
These sacred messengers that come my way
and inform me of the changes of rules, that I need to apply to
as I move along in unknown territory to be taken
to the next place of appointment are divine.
The aero plane felt like a jungle plane,
shaking and jumping in the air
along with every turbulent change of direction in the air.
Arriving in Leticia I met the energy of a totally different
culture and pace …
Moving swiftly through customs and out from the "airport"
I saw a bridge, a pier, brown water, shops, river boats
and my little Brazilian friend waving …
All was happening in such a rush so I just had to go - go - go
I needed a hammock, the most important
asset traveling the way we were about to …
We went into the pier shops, tin shacks really with roofs
and loaded with anything you might need for whatever reason.
I am always impressed with these "all in one"
grocery-boutique-herbal-hardware stores
that are found in unpredictable places,
as you move around in cultures beyond,
convenient stores that sell everything you might need
with local precision.
I got my hammock with extra ropes to conveniently attach
the hammock to the beams on the boat,
and a warm red thin/light blanket to be the cover and
a mosquito net covering the hammock
and at last and not the least I got some sap liquid,
rain forrest medication,
that I was recommended to drink until I had become used to
the bacteria in Brazil and on the river boat we were about to
enter and begin our next part of our adventure on.
I took a shot of my new juice … strong and hot and red …
and we entered the boat in-between guards with machine guns,
our surreal protectors against pirates.
We were about 15 hammocks on each side of the mid beam
attaching our hammocks from the center beam
to the iron hooks placed out on the sides of boat.
Hammocks were hanging side by side, head to head …
We were served three meals a day on flip-out side tables
that were hidden along the sides of the boat in between meals.
Water provided or for sale in a little kiosk on
upper deck that had necessities for what might be needed.
Two toilets for the people and
the kitchen were the food was prepared at the end of the boat.
Our first part of the trip had begun,
one week until we would reach Manaus ….
intimately sleeping, eating and living with strangers
that I did not understand one single word they said.
to be continued ….
with Love and Peace,
Morayah
http://www.santafespirit.com
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