The boat I was on was well equipped for those traveling
with electronics due to all of the power outlets scattered throughout the
vessel. The cell phone seemed to have turned
everyone into zombies - standing silently next to one
of the many outlets, as they charged the phones so they can continue to talk to
everyone but those on the boat.
Remembering my phone addiction that I had in the past, I am really glad
that I no longer use one at the moment.
Fortunately for me I didn’t have to fight those with their
phones for access to one of the power outlets so that I could charge my iPod,
since I didn’t need it. I was lucky enough
to be on the floor that played music for the hearing impaired from the wee
hours of the morning to the wee hours of the night. At the end of the trip I was almost certain
that I lost some hearing. I wanted to
plug my ears every time I passed in front of the speaker putting out decibels
as loud as a jackhammer, but I had a high school relapse being too cool to do
so. The toilet situation was bad - much worse than Alter Do Chao and almost unbearable even before the ship left port. A quite a few times when I entered the toilet on this trip there seemed to be terds from different people floating in the same pool. Some were so large floating in the already brown river water; I couldn’t believe it even came out of a human hole.
The problem is that when you enter a bathroom, is that you
claim whatever is in that toilet when you leave - whether you did it or not…it
is that simple. You will be put to blame
if someone see’s you go out and then enters the bathroom after you, so the only
thing you can do is keep flushing as I did and hope for the best. And, if your best doesn’t work…just lift up
the seat and make it out of there fast so they think you just took a pee. I might be use to public toilets by now, but
there is no way I will add to a toilet with islands or mountains fecal matter -
no way.
I had 6 kids attach themselves to me for the entire 3 day trip
in which we formed the Gang of Amazonia.
From being an art and craft center to their English and Spanish teacher,
it was really nice to be around them. They
were not just my Portuguese teachers or the source of a lot of my smiles, but
they were also wonderful reminders of two kids who I haven’t seen for quite
some time.
As I sat on the boat, I watched the cowboys of the wild, wild
not so wild Amazon. The houses on this
stretch of the Amazon from Santarem to Manaus seemed to be the ranches of the
waterway. With the abundance of cattle here,
there had to be a choice…trees, or cattle? – looking as if the cattle won. This region was definitely more developed
that my first days on the river, but still amazingly beautiful.
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