After our meetings with the artisans in Puca Urquillo, we had a peaceful and productive evening in Pebas. It was quiet in Pebas for the first time in weeks after relentless loud campaign parties. Alcohol was banned leading up to Election Day and soldiers were mobilized to keep the peace.
Yully and Marianela sorted and classified crafts we had recently bought. Pablo worked on his woven birds, Doilith worked on her woven butterflies, and I edited photos while listening to the TV in the background with actors on CSI Miami speaking in dramatic dubbed Spanish.
We had another chicken dinner at the same restaurant secure in our plan to get some rest before heading to the port for our midnight rendez vous with the Ferry heading back to Iquitos.
We got a rude shock when we got to the port. The little boat taking passengers up to river mouth had come and gone because the Ferry had already passed by an hour and a half before. Passengers who had bought their tickets in Pebas had been informed about the earlier departure, but working from our cloistered hotel with tickets bought in Iquitos had kept us out of the loop.
Our next blow came when we trudged back to our hotel and were told our rooms were already promised to incoming guests. I experienced some minutes of American entitlement and pondered what might happen if I refused to vacate my room. The manager then said we could all stay in the room with four beds until 6 am for another 100 soles. I thought about it, but Yully was too incensed to consider it.
We took all of our bags back to the port with hope that a lancha bound for Iquitos might pass by in the night or morning. So we hung out and tried to sleep on the benches and floor until 5 am. A small rapido that had been chartered to bring a family to Pebas for a funeral was about to return empty to Iquitos. So our weary five person group climbed aboard and crashed for the express trip back to the city. We were lucky because the next lancha didn't come until 7 pm that night.
When Elle came into our booth, she immediately spotted our yellow Papilio butterfly ornament. I asked her about her attraction to this craft and learned an emotional backstory which she generously consented to let me share.
I felt joy and some pride that I played a role in allowing the Alternatives to Violence Project to work its magic for energizing our internal light that attracts people to each other.
