Travel
We woke at 2:50 in the morning, brushed our teeth, and loaded our stuff on the back of Kely's moto. I was surprised at the fierce army of mosquitoes that were attacking, even at that hour, and was thankful for my long pants.
The little dirt road from Masisea to the river port is 8 kilometers long. This is a trip of about 40 minutes in a motocar. We had been traveling for about ten minutes when Kely stopped the moto. His front tire was flat. We inspected it with our headlamps.
There was a tack stuck into his tire.
"There's not much work right now," Manuel explained, "Other drivers ambush other motos in the night, to steal the work away."
Kely took off at a rapid walking pace for Masisea again, and we waited in the darkness, rubbing our eyes and swatting at bugs. A few motos went by. The peki pekis start leaving the port at 4:00 am for the four hour trip to Pucallpa.
I wasn't planning on learning how to change the tire of a moto, but now I know how.
We started off again. I remember feeling very tired, but we were so excited to go to Pucallpa to communicate with our families.
A little while later there was a loud crash, and we looked back to see that the large plastic basket of Manuel's dental supplies had fallen off the back of the moto. It had been tied, but somehow came loose.
Boxes of gloves, bottles of alcohol, blue drapes, and ampules of lidocaine littered the dirt road. We all piled out of the moto to help clean up. Hundreds of dental needles had spilled out of their cartons.
"You know," Carly said to me, as we put handfuls of needles back in the basket, "I sometimes wonder if things like this happen for a reason. Maybe we just weren't supposed to catch that first boat. Maybe God is protecting us from something, and he just needs a little extra time."
I smiled.
He's got the whole world in his hands. I can travel a long, long ways from home, but still be safe in his protective grip.
The little dirt road from Masisea to the river port is 8 kilometers long. This is a trip of about 40 minutes in a motocar. We had been traveling for about ten minutes when Kely stopped the moto. His front tire was flat. We inspected it with our headlamps.
There was a tack stuck into his tire.
"There's not much work right now," Manuel explained, "Other drivers ambush other motos in the night, to steal the work away."
Kely took off at a rapid walking pace for Masisea again, and we waited in the darkness, rubbing our eyes and swatting at bugs. A few motos went by. The peki pekis start leaving the port at 4:00 am for the four hour trip to Pucallpa.
I wasn't planning on learning how to change the tire of a moto, but now I know how.
We started off again. I remember feeling very tired, but we were so excited to go to Pucallpa to communicate with our families.
A little while later there was a loud crash, and we looked back to see that the large plastic basket of Manuel's dental supplies had fallen off the back of the moto. It had been tied, but somehow came loose.
Boxes of gloves, bottles of alcohol, blue drapes, and ampules of lidocaine littered the dirt road. We all piled out of the moto to help clean up. Hundreds of dental needles had spilled out of their cartons.
"You know," Carly said to me, as we put handfuls of needles back in the basket, "I sometimes wonder if things like this happen for a reason. Maybe we just weren't supposed to catch that first boat. Maybe God is protecting us from something, and he just needs a little extra time."
I smiled.
He's got the whole world in his hands. I can travel a long, long ways from home, but still be safe in his protective grip.
posted by Ansley at 11:53 AM
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