23.) Finale

So now I am in Lima, after almost 6 weeks in the jungle. I am totally exhausted and have a bad cold, but am happy. I got my first rolls of film developed today - in Lima is the only lab of the country that can develop rollfilms.. The films look great, my old Mamiya did a good job and there seem to be some great images there. I can´t wait to go to the darkroom and print them.

After my time in the jungle, the city seems really strange to me.
My last days in the forest were great, but also sad. Especially the kids got very emotional (typically latino) and made it very hard to leave.
Angel gave me two more lanzas that he made. They are so beautiful, made from a dark wood from the rainforest. He shapes them only using a machete, which is amazing to watch. To complete one lanza takes him 2 full days of work. I shipped them to the states, because there is no way I am carrying those up Matchu Picchu.
Angel also made a remedy for me for my cold. I asked him for a remedy for altidude sickness, but he obviously didn´t know what that is and just prepared something for keeping the cold away, as he called it. He went to the forest for hours to collect different roots and plants. Then he pressed the juice out of them and cooked them together with fresh cane-juice and other things. Then the whole pot was left to ferment, which it did. It is a bit like ginger beer with herb flavour - very nice and quite strong for the ginger.
I am sure that will warm our bones on Machu Picchu.

Other than that I had to make a last minute rescue atempt for our fotoproject. A friend of Eduardo was supposed to take the kids´ cameras to Lima to get them developed there, because it is cheaper than in Iquitos. This friend never went to Lima and after two weeks of trying to contact him without success, I decided that it is time for action. I had only 2 days left in Iquitos and really didn´t want to leave without having the kids see their pictures. So we went to pick the cameras up from this guy- he wasn´t in his office, but we took the cameras anyway.
We managed to get them developed the same day in Iquitos and I could hand them out to the kids the next day.
I made a rough selection with each kid and it seems that there are some very nice and interesting shots there. The kids took a lot of pictures of their families (partly in pretty intimate situations), their friends, homes and animals. I can see a great exhibition coming out of all this.
I am already planning how to continue this project. It would be great if I could do the same thing with other native communities around the world -kids taking pictures of their sourrounding.
It would be so interesting to see the parallels and differences. Also maybe not only native communties but kids that live in big cities too. That would give an interesting contrast..

Yes, I am full of ideas and with my own work as well. I think there will be some amazing images and the whole dark story of myths and legends of the jungle visualised in pretty associative images together with texts that tell the stories of the demons, sirenas and ghosts..
I am excited!

You might be wondering two things: How did the whole Ahuyuasca drug session go? And: How the hell did she manage to get a cold in a constant climate of 33-35 Degrees Celcius?
As to number one, I never got to take it. My last week was too tight with the expedition to the super chacras and all those things. Angel said, when I come back we will do a Ahuyuasca session together. I am sad I missed that experience, but on the other hand am quite sure it wouldn´t have made my cold any better. That leads to question two. And for that I can suggest the humidity as reason. It is incredible how long things take to dry in the jungle. My hair for example. When I wash it, it takes the whole day to dry-no kidding. We usually bath at night, because any time before that is just a whaste of energy. Then I usually sleep with wet hair and I guess that helps a cold along. So there. And other than that I am just generally exhausted. I think the jungle is pretty tough on the body, when you come from a "northern" country.

Enough whining! I am pretty good and so chuffed that I was able to see, taste, hear and learn all the things I did! Tonight I will pick Tosh up from the airport and we have one night in Lima before heading on to Cusco tomorrow.
Great fun lies ahead, thats for sure!

Bare with me for some "real" images. Coming soon..
Ciao, luego, Johanna.