When Kelsey Cameron arrived, we weren’t really sure what the next few weeks would look like. Our plan was to go out to the jungle for a week or so to meet up with the team and for her to meet Nelton (DUH!) and to spend the holidays with him. However, she flew through Mexico and her suitcase never made it to Peru, which wouldn’t really have been a problem, except my malaria pills were in there and I couldn’t go to the jungle without them.
In addition, immigrations had called me into the office to let me know my paperwork was ready to travel. I had to go to Colombia before Jan. 6th (Kelsey would be leaving the 7th) for the next step in my residency. The 6th was when my tourist visa expired. If I couldn’t go by then, I needed to go back to immigrations and get my extension. At that point, we were toying with the idea of going to Colombia together, but really didn’t want to go without Nelton, and weren’t sure if he would be able to leave the jungle.
So in the next 18 hours, we did what others told us couldn’t be done. We tracked down her suitcase and recovered it, cleared everything with immigrations so that I could travel, and boarded a launcha and started our voyage to the jungle.
The trip to the jungle in the launcha was interesting. It was my first time really traveling since being pregnant and the only launcha leaving was the smallest one, and it was PACKED! In addition, due to the pregnancy I’ve had to go to the bathroom more than often and the conditions on the boat were less than desirable. Everytime I went to the bathroom, the stench caused a stomache reaction leaving me wanting to or actually vomiting. So it was a battle between the lesser of two evils for the whole 48 hours on board.
In addition, the older man in the hammock next to me, who we affectionately named “Jillian,” seemed to find the only comfortable way to sleep was with his knee bulging out of his hammock into my back or over my hammock (I adjusted my own hammock a couple of times to find a comfortable way to sleep). At one point Kelsey let me use her hammock for a couple hours to take a nice uninterrupted nap, which ironically was the only time during the whole trip Jillian decided to rest himself on a bench rather than in the hammock. Oh, Jillian, how I will never forget you.
Both on the launcha and the other boat trip, Kelsey wasted no time in bonding with the kids. Nearly all the girls on the Launcha were braiding there hair like Kelsey by the end of the trip, and she had quite the little fan club that would huddle around her hammock to learn all about the United States... and Michael Jackson. HA!
They could care less about me or what I had to say, which became clear when one girl asked if it snowed in the USofA, I replied that “yes, indeed it does.” She quickly looked at me and said, “NO! ASK HER!”
Among those we hung out with in the jungle, Kelsey quickly took the reputation as “the Brittney Spears of the jungle,” for her fame surpassed what we ever imagined. If Kelsey was the famous one, within 2 seconds it was clear that I became the “backstage help” or “props department.” At one point I was trying to relax a bit, the girls would go on with Kelsey in Spanish, and though she picked up a word here and there, she didn’t understand nearly as much as they thought she did. During the rambling, they asked her a question and when she didn’t respond one of the girls said, “No. You have to ask her translator.” We got the biggest kick out of what our duo was seen as on that launcha.
We arrived in Union to an overjoyed husband awaiting my arrival. We spent the night in Union and then headed to Estreno.
In Estreno, what became known as “Camp Estreno” started for Kels and I. It felt like we were at camp, because we slept in different “cabins,” ate at “the mess hall” at the same time together, played lots of games, and scheduled our “shower house” visits (river baths) at the same time. In addition, everyone on the team had their jobs, but Kels and I were just there and everyone wanted us to just enjoy our time. Which we did.
The jobs given to us quickly became known as our activities, which were sewing the covers over all the mattresses used for mission trips. In the heat of the day, it was an “activity” that drug on. What would have taken one Peruvian an afternoon to complete, we stretched out over three days or more, but it’s not like we had a whole other list of things to do.
We did make our way to the farm from time to time to help Nelton. We were responsible to feed the 30 some rabbits, and all the chickens and ducks. We did enjoy that activity, we named all the rabbits, though we could probably only recall half of the names to this day.
We also had at least two days that we did laundry down at the river. The first day we went at it on our own, with the help of some of the little girls in the village, until they tired out and decided playing was a better option. The next day, we had “Counselor Nelton” as our teacher, and boy did we get a lesson in river laundry, that boy knows his stuff.
We also pulled of some fun activities with Nelton and “Captain Jaime,” such as our “Feliz Navidad 2009 Christmas Canoe Trip.” It was amazing as they took us back through a side river which had been swamped with all the rain, so we basically canoed through the jungle. Had we been alone, we would have never found our way out. But thankfully, Captain Jaime is no amateur. He was a professional fisherman before deciding to follow Christ and serve him, therefore he became known as our “Modern day Peter (or Pedro).”
We also had a photo shoot one night where Kelsey whipped out her photography skills and wowed us all. The boys really got into it and put our enthusiasm to shame. Another night, new years maybe?, we had a bonfire complete with marshmallows, which Kelsey taught the boys how to make perfectly. And what would the trip be without Nelton putting to use his culinary skills with french toast and homemade late night french fries.
As we got closer to “Feliz Navidad,” Kelsey and I both began thinking about Christmas in a way we had never thought before, the sacrifice of Christmas. It was our first Christmas in a foreign land without family, friends, and the normal trimmings, we were struck by the simplicity of the first Christmas as it was that day that God in the form of man left glory to be with us. Who even knew? Mary, Joseph, the heavenly hosts, and a few shepherds, but the rest of the world slept on in silence. Even though we had a Christmas eve service with the whole village, we still found ourselves finally enjoying the simpler and more significant side of Christmas.
As the simple side of Christmas was enjoyed, we were surprised by being asked to speak at the villages Christmas Eve service, probably an hour before the service. So we simply shared what God had been teaching us. Kelsey spoke, I translated, then I spoke a bit in Spanish, but we kept it short and simple. The night preceded with Eric (“activities director”) leading us all in several games, which, might I add, Nelton and I won the gaseosa (pop) for the married couple game! Then we all watched the movie “Fire Proof.”
I believe it was the 2nd or 3rd of Jan. that we all headed back to Iquitos. We made the trip in a day I think, it’s kinda a blur.
Needless to say, we had a few days to enjoy Iquitos, which included shopping, the zoo, frozen lemonade, the Peruvain “theme park” you might be able to call it, an ultrasound (to see if we could find the sex of the baby), and just loving life.
Even though I’ve focused on the details and we did have a blast, her trip for me was hallmarked by all our deep discussions and encouraging talks. It was an incredible time with KJ and I’m so thankful for her visit.
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