More days in Amazonia

I should also add that when we were at ACTS, we ventured out into the jungle at night, to see the bioluminescent leaves. We hiked along with flashlights and glowsticks until we reached the tree. This particular tree has very small leaves, about the size of your thumb. We turned off all our lights and could see the leaves glowing on the forest floor. Even more interesting is the fact that the leaves do not glow while they are still connect to the tree, and further, other trees of the same species in different locations do not display this bioluminescence. We talked about different types of experiments we could do to determine what was the cause of this, and then had a lecture by professora on metagenomics. After ACTS, we went back to Explornapo, which was the first lodge we stayed at. Yesterday, we visited a local village, which was different than the village we went to in 2012. We all took turns squeezing sugarcane into juice, and then we chewed on pure sugarcane itself. Delish! We walked through the village and Bascilio explained a lot about daily life here. He said that everybody is farmers, and they plant their crops, mostly rice and yucca, when the water is low around June. The water level changes by about 25 feet minimum each year, and when the water is low, the soil is very rich. Noone owns the land, but everybody knows everybody so they al share id divide it up equally. Otherwise, the go fishing to catch food for the day, and if they get some extra, they will salt it and lay it out to dry in the sun so that it will keep for another day or two. The government recently has been providing families with solar panels, so that they can have some light in the evening. Kerosene lamps were outlawed because druglords were using the kerosene to make drugs. Now, oil lamps are used but they do not provide nearly as much life. Bascilio told us that at the center of every village is either the school, the soccer field, or both. Sometimes, villages will have soccer games against eachother, and this is a big social event. He said as far as going on dates, you might take a canoe on the river, or take a walk, or just sit along the river bank. We met a lot of the kids in the village, and they all gathered together to sing us Peru’s national anthem, It was so cute. Hannah and Carla brought candy for us to give to them, and someone else (Shawn maybe) brought stickers to hand out. They were all sucking on lollipops with stickers covering their beautiful brown skin. I played in the soccer game, which had two giant puddle in the middle of the field and, of course, we lost. It was so hot and I got quite burned by the tropical sun. That afternoon, we had some free time. I went for a canoe ride with Susan (a student on the trip) and Segundo, who works for Explorama. We paddled against the current and up a small, peaceful tributary, until the skies turned dark and the wind began to blow. We quickly turned around and got back to the lodge just in time for it to start raining. Then, I went on a hike to the canopy with a few other people to pick up Shawn’s time lapse camera, which was on the highest platform, and looked like something had chewed away at the strings holding it. A few more hours, or another night, and that camera definitely would have fallen. The footage was awesome, we got to see the sunset, a rainstorm and then the angle shifted, I guess because of whatever tried to eat it, so then we could see the bridge in the frame too. After we watched that, I gave my lecture on pygmy marmosets, which are the smallest monkeys in the world, and native to western Amazonia. I chose them because when I interviewed at Maryland for medical school, one of my interviewers had actually been to Peru to study social behavior of pygmy marmosets. They are cool, not only because they are so small (they weight about a quarter pound – think about that next time you eat a cheeseburger!) but also because they are matriarchal and polyandrous. They also give birth to fraternal twins about 70% of the time! This morning, we packed our bags and decorated ourselves with huito (pronounced like “we-toe”) before heading to Explorama lodge, which is somewhat bigger and “nicer.” Akash, one of the students, let me paint all over his face, ears and neck with huito, which is a natural blue plant dye that stains your skin. If you have ever heard of the huitoto (sp?) tribe in Brazil that covers their body in this blue dye, it is made from the same plant. I dyed my hand, and got a big extravagant sun on my right thigh/hamstring, that left a print on my left thigh when I crossed my legs (whoops). Carla rubbed it all over both of her legs, since doing her hands might freak out her patients when she gets back. Huito is funny because it starts clear and does not turn to dark blue until a few hours later. Sometimes, the locals play a joke on the tourists and tell them that it is good for mosquito repellent. So the tourists rub it all over their bodies and faces.. hahahah Before getting to Explorama, we stopped at the Yanamono Clinic, where Dr. Linnea works. I recently found out that she wrote a book, “La Doctora,” which Deena, another student on the trip, just so happened to have brought after years of it sitting in her house. I read part of it but don’t think I will have time for it all, so I will check to see if it is in the library when I get home. Dr. Linnea will be joining us for lunch today, so I hope that I will be able to talk to her about me possibly doing a rotation down here while I am in medical school!