Pathway

We decided to combine with the area office class and have a "completion ceremony" for the Pathway graduates.  This is our class, the one that meets at the Institute across from the Temple and near a bus stop. The attrition rate from the beginning semester is pretty steep, as Pathway is not easy and takes a lot of time, especially when one is not studying in his or her native language.  Also, several graduates were unable to attend for various reasons, but these, the ones we became closest to, were there.

This is the opening song. The pianist is Hyrum from our class. We didn't even know he played until the third semester. In the first third semester writing assignment the student is to write a love letter to an inanimate object. He wrote his letter to his piano (and that's how we found out). We asked him to play for the ceremony and he said yes.  He was even there early to play some prelude. (I know we should have never doubted, but with our Pathway students ??) The sister conducting is Karina from the area legal office. She was in the class that met at the area office. 

Cesar Hooker, the former Area Director of Temporal Affairs and area seventy, spoke. For his talk he drew on a story told by President Marion G. Romney about seagulls in St. Augustine, Florida, who grew to depend on the shrimp fleet that threw them scraps.  Times changed, however, and after many years the fleet left and, although they were surrounded by abundant food, the seagulls were starving because they had never learned to catch fish for themselves. It was a good talk, perfect for this occasion.

Kirsten. She is now preparing to take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) and the ACT or SAT and wants to go to BYU-Provo (physically, not online).  She was the youngest student in our group -- 16 years old when she started and now 17!

Keyla. She learned English on her mission in the Nampa, Idaho mission (yes, our Nampa).  Keyla worked really hard --especially in the last two semesters, because she was taking another intensive course and was called to be the Young Women's President in her ward.

Antonio, who is now studying Business Management at BYU Idaho online. He is already a fairly successful businessman and entrepreneur.  Initially, Antonio started Pathway to set an example for his son who has been less than enthusiastic about higher education.

Ernesto, an amazing guy who at his age decided to improve his English. He also works in the Temple. (I know -- the first photo of me, Evie, with Ernesto is pretty bad -- but Ernesto looks good, so we had to put it in!) 

 

Hyrum came with his parents. They all were so proud. He is now studying at BYU Idaho online.

After we had finished the meeting and had just finished cleaning up the last of the refreshments, I got a call from Jorge, who said he on his way and wondered if he was too late. (He was over one and one-half hours late for a one hour event.) Jorge is probably the brightest student, but sometimes not so well organized. Of course, we told him it was not too late. He arrived awhile later, all cleaned up and looking really good, to receive his certificate. Jorge and I are actually pretty good friends.

He's now back home in Tarapoto (in the jungle) studying software design at BYU Idaho online and trying to figure out how to get to BYU in the US. He also studies Japanese and is putting together yet another rock band. 

POST SCRIPTS

Antonio and his wife Jeanette were sealed in the Lima Peru temple and invited us to the sealing.

They also invited us for lunch one Saturday at their apartment, very nice, just above the golf course. Jeanette is also a talented artist (and in fact we're bringing back a couple of works she gave us).

Antonio is Evie's favorite because he lets her play with Lucas.

Amazon People

Early one evening on the way back from exploring along the river, we stopped at this small town, Oran, along the river. It was a holiday and folks were just relaxing and waiting for the bigger celebration later that night. This village has a very important piece of public infrastructure, a paved sidewalk though the village, very nice and handy. I was left with the impression that most villages along the river lack this feature.

The guide described this as the typical jungle house. On stilts above ground - protection from the high water floods and the snakes. Note the hammock outside. They all have them.

Some timid children checking us out.

Volley ball was very popular, especially among the women of all ages. There were several games going on at different places.

The young men, however, were engaged in a serious game of futbol -- serious because they play for money. The guide asked if we wanted to play (we declined). Apparently, a lot of guests like to play with the locals. Again, they play for money and, like most South Americans the locals are very good. I was left with the impression that playing against tourists was a significant revenue source for the town.

Our last afternoon, the guide took us over to a small village, consisting of four or five families, named San Gregorio. The purpose was to buy some handmade items from the villagers. Our guide has this vision of tourism generating enough business to preserve such villages. This is not a fake village, like some near Iquitos,where the locals dress up as natives for tourists.

When we arrived, the village was largely empty, with all the men away fishing or working elsewhere. There were some women and children who invited us into a larger covered area where their goods were displayed. It was a lot of fun shopping and the children were so serious and cute (and I failed to get any pictures). Anyway, we bought a few things and probably paid too much for them.

The village has livestock. In addition to the chicken and pigs there were some cattle (beef, not dairy). One of homes displayed a jaguar skin (of which I also failed to get a picture), a little controversial since they are a protected species, and there are only a few around. Apparently, a jaguar had entered the village and killed some livestock. So one of the village men solved the problem by taking a several days long hunting trip deep into the jungle and found and shot the jaguar. There was general agreement in the village and by our guide that in those circumstances that was the proper thing to do.

The rack in the background is for drying fish. Although it seemed to me that there was plenty of suitable land for crops and gardens, the villagers really aren't into that. Their tradition is one of eating fish and livestock and picking fruit. They are not farmers.

At the time, there was an election in Peru coming up and, as evidenced by the campaign sign, the politicians had not forgotten about the votes in the remote Amazon village of San Gregorio.

Amazon - Into the Wild

One of our activities was a hike through the jungle. We went through some areas where the guide had to hack the way through with a machete. New respect for early jungle explorers.

We were there in the dry season. Had it been the wet season, we would have wandered through this same area in a boat.

In the day time, the forest is really all about plants and bugs.

The huge Kapok tree.

Remember the scenes in Hunger Games where the good guys are saved by tapping water from a tree, well it works. Here's Evie getting some refreshing water from a tree in the jungle.  (And looking just like the water is saving her life!)

A handy thing to know if you're ever lost in the jungle. The key is picking the right tree, as the other trees are poisonous. 

Pretty red mushrooms on the jungle floor. They are also poisonous.

The leaf cutter ant. It really doesn't eat the leaf, but brings it back to its place under the jungle floor were the leaves are pressed together. The ants eat the juice from the leaves. 

We saw a lot of these, carrying pieces of leaves over incredibly long and intricate routes through the trees.

These are not leaves eaten by ants or anything else. Rather, the leaves grow with holes in them so as to provide light to the leaves below (the Amazon ecosystem is complicated).

This is the Amazon millipede. It is the centipede, which is also in the Amazon, that is poisonous.

We had tied up the boat on the river bank while we hiked around in the forest. When we came back we found hundreds of butterflies around the boat and our stuff. Look carefully. The green and black butterflies landed on the green and black backpack, while the orange butterflies were on the life vests.

A short video clip. Floating down the river in the midst of numerous butterflies, all color coordinated to items in our boat, was truly magical!

During the day time, there really is not much animal life on the jungle floor. Rather, it is in the trees. We were, however, in their natural habitat, not a zoo or a sanctuary where the animals easier to find and see. Here it was a bit like a large wilderness area, where although there animals there, it isn't so easy to find them in their natural habitat.  So we and our guide went "hunting" for them (that is to see them). The best chance is from a boat looking up at the jungle canopy. We saw all of the following, although these are not our pictures. I gave up trying to get pictures with my phone.

Titi monkeys. We saw a large family on the move through the trees.

Squirrel monkeys. We saw a large group of these, not too far from the Titi monkeys.

This is a sloth. We saw several, usually hanging upside down in the tops of the trees. The sloth really is pretty lazy, doesn't do much more than hang from tree most of its life. Every now then it comes down to poop.  Sometimes it will drop directly into the river. The sloth is slow on the land, but a very fast swimmer.

The birds in the Amazon were the most spectacular and there were always so many.  It was amazing to go down or up the river in our boat, and to see huge flocks of birds take to the sky as we floated along.  These are just a few of what we saw. 

This is the Amazon hawk.  We saw them "floating" above us or perched in trees along the river.

Heron

Egret

Macaw

The lodge offered several sport fishing expeditions for large bass, catfish, etc. We didn't do that, but while we were out looking for birds and monkeys we stopped for a few minutes to fish for the famous flesh eating Amazon piranha. I managed to catch the smallest piranha in the river, but I also was the only one who caught any (two). Yes, they do have very, very sharp teeth and are aggressive. Care is required when removing the hook; we threw them back in the water.

The piranha feed by smell, because the water is not clear enough for them to see. I was told that as long as you are not bleeding and do not pee, the piranha will not be a problem if you're in the water.  Hint, when swimming in the Amazon, don't pee.

The action in the jungle is in the tree canopy or at night. The best advice for human beings in the Amazon is to stay inside at night. Nonetheless, we went on a night walk around our lodge to see what's out there. This is a poison frog, which the natives use to make the lethal poisonous darts. The poison is on the outside skin. The poisonous frogs are also the most brightly colored. Their defense mechanism is to assure by their bright colors that predators don't mistake them for another frog which might not be lethal to eat!

We also went out in the boat at night in search of caiman (crocodiles) and snakes. They can be very difficult to find, but at night when they are out looking for prey you can see sometimes see the reflection from their eyes with a flashlight (at least the guide could).

This is juvenile caiman we found among the plants in the river. Although I'm holding it, the guide managed to just grab it in the water and I still have't figured out quite how he did it. Again, you need to be careful about the jaws. 

This is what it will look like when all grown up.

High up in the canopy at night, the guide saw the eyes of one of these, a tree boa, waiting for an unsuspecting bat, bird or monkey to pass by. We eventually got it down to check it out, although I forgot to get a picture, but it looked a lot like this one. The anaconda lays around on the ground; near the river, looking like large root or stick, waiting for a passing animal on its way to get a drink.