La Selva

1/23/08

I actually jumped at my own shadow tonight. I saw it coming out of a door in the night and it looked like a big scary person. That was right after I jumped because I heard someone else following me on the bridge and then realized it was just me. I tell you this jungle can play tricks with your mind. Tonight the moon is full and blood red with dark cloud trails floating by. I crossed the 50 ft high suspension bridge in the dark which is still unnerving in the daylight. I haven’t quite gotten the knack of timing my steps correctly so I don’t get bounced all over the place. Never the less, it is still my favorite part of the trip to and from the hospital. You feel as if you are in the heart of the deep jungle. There are birds calling, frogs chirping, and the rush of waters effervescing below. The vines hang from the top of the jungle canopy and stretch in Tarzan like cords to the river below.

This morning I got to help one of the maintenance guys get his tractor unstuck. As I was walking to work he called me urgently, “venga, venga”, and motioned for me to come help. I was instructed to stand on a long pipe he had placed over the fulcrum of a rotted stump to help lever the tractors wheels up. I stood there on the pipe while he placed various wooden planks and implements to give the wheels purchase. We gave the tractor a mighty heave and the mud was forced to relinquish its victim. Then I was on my way again. A bit different from my previous commute, but all in a day’s work in the Amazon.