Learning from the natives

The longer we live in the jungle, the more we put this proverb into practice: “when you get stuck, either copy the Peruvians, or invent a new way of survival.”

Carlos and Javier taught us how to make lamps out of milk cans. We now have 8 or 9 of these little lamps made from tin cans, scraps from our tin roof, and old rope we find around the land. We buy the kerosene in town, and don’t have to worry about recharging batteries.

Hector showed us how to make a nail cup by cutting the top half off of a plastic soda bottle. When I was working in Iquitos, I didn’t have any containers for the water and hydrogen peroxide while doing ear irrigations. I remembered Hector’s trick, and fashioned functional basins out of plastic water bottles.

Abuela Fredi taught us how to make mate tea. Claudia taught us how to loop our underwear through the clothes line so they don’t blow away in the wind (no clothespins here).

We use tin cans for rolling pins, dental floss for clothes line, Frisbees for plates, fans, and sun shades.

We have invented many new activities to pass time, including a new one where we explore family trees in the Bible and make timelines to figure out who might have known who. John and Jackson had an intense session of this activity while passing time when the jeep broke down for three hours.