Assuming the old scale in the bathroom isn't lying to me, I will be carrying 26 pounds of 821 dollars worth of crap on my back for 23 days in the jungle. You may think, well 26 pounds is not that bad! Which is exactly what I think. My pack is durable and fits exactly as it should, so carrying the weight around, at least up and down the three stairs to the living room, has not been a problem thus far. What in the world cost me $821 though? I'm sure you're curious. Let me just tell you this... the price includes seven shirts, two pairs of pants and two pairs of capris. And that's it folks! Lucky for me, underware and socks are much smaller and lighter, so I am able to take two weeks worth. I have been promised by the CU students that we will be leaving the jungle once during our trip to 'escape the mosquitoes' and during this escape, we will have a chance to launder our clothes.*Sign of relief.
Oh! I can not forget to tell you all the most interesting thing. CU students decided that it would be pretty cool if they let me know what in the hell we are doing while we are there! Isn't that awesome? It goes like this, four days of teaching how to take vital signs and how to diagnose and determine the level of severity of someone's diarrhea. Think of it as a camp for all the caregivers from every village. Dehydration kills, turns out. And after that its all up in the air! Small groups will fan out to all the different communities to asses which medical aspects the villagers are lacking in and teach them some key points to help them out. Which sounds great and all, except for the tiny little minute fact that this is something I can not even begin to prepare for! I had better improve my medical Spanish, and fast! Oh yea, and maybe learn some medicine too. Side note, CU sent me an email that said 'you will most likely be one of the group leaders'.... YIKES! I emailed them back with the longer version of 'thanks but no thanks'. I kind of wonder if they have confused me with an upperclassman?
So I've pretty much run out of witty things to say. I leave this Sunday night at midnight (well, 11:59 pm to be exact, I'm sure they do that so people don't get confused and show up at the airport on the wrong midnight). I get to enjoy the comforts of Newark Liberty International Airport in Jersey for a lovely 8 hours on Monday... which as I mentioned before is also our Independence Day. You think they'll let me light some fireworks? Yea, me neither.
Well, that's all until after my trip (or MAYBE an update while I'm in Iquitos mid-trip). And as my brother would say:
Take it easy. And if it's easy, take it twice.
