December 31, 2002
New Years Eve
2 years ago, on this very day, Mike and I were spending New Years Eve in the Peruvian Amazon Jungle. We were staying in the Tahuayo Lodge on the Tahuayo River, a tributary of the Amazon. While the other tourists in the Lodge went to celebrate New Years Eve in one of the nearby villages, Mike and I stayed behind. We went down by the boat docks and listened to the music drifting in from the two villages nearest us. They have a ceremony where they burn an effigy of a man. He is supposed to represent all the bad things of the previous year. The effigy of the man in Buena Vista village looked strangely similar to one of the men who actually lived there. (The women of the village made the effigy, and from what I understand, the man who they made it after had a reputation of giving the women there a hard time). We were looking up at the stars, where Orion was straight up, instead of further south like it is here. It was really nice. I won this particular trip. It is the only time I've ever been out of North America. I would like to go back someday. This is a picture of one of the houses from Buena Vista village. One of the more larger and "modern" villages along the river.