A TYPICAL NEW YEAR COMES AND GOES

 

 

It was another grey day here in Tena with rains that just wouldn't let up. It was the last day of 2012 and I would have been perfectly ok staying at home alone that night. I had a nasty cold that had hit me over and over for the previous 3 weeks, torturing me with chills and non-stop sneezing, and it seemed to be winning the battle over my immune system. It was hot and humid and I was in the same  jeans and hoodie I had been in for the past 2 days. So you can imagine how hard I dug my socked heels in when my family and best friend here were annoyingly trying to convince me to go to a camping party on the other side of the river. In theory, a camping party with friends on the river seemed like a blast. After all, staying home would have nothing to offer me except the loud all-night revelries of my next door neighbors and the constant booms of home-made fireworks. Our friends had even lent us a tent complete with camping gear. But the fact remained that I was sick, I was sick, and I was sick. Oh yeah, and it was raining and camping involves sleeping outside and that's not ideal for sick people. So no, I wasn't going. No way, no how. All I wanted was my pjs, hot tea, and Netflix in bed.

 

Within the hour I found myself standing on the corner in the rain with my family and friends waiting for a taxi. My friend had made a deal with me: she and her son would go with us for snacks and games, then we could catch a ride home with a friend who had a car and also would not be staying overnight. It sounded fair enough. I could sit in the corner and have a free meal while my husband and daughter bonded over setting up the tent. My friend promised to sit with me the entire time to help ward off would-be conversationers. When you are really sick, the last thing you want to do is try to have a pleasant conversation in another language while your head pulses with pain as you struggle in translation. Uuugh!! Yes, I would go, but I wouldn't LIKE it, I told myself and everyone else on that corner in the rain.

 

After paying the $3 taxi to Puerto Napo and entering the posh gated property of our freind's home, I immediatly found two chairs in the corner and claimed it for myself and commiserating pal. Within seconds of sitting down I was bombarded by other campers, some of whom were visiting from other towns and I had never met, kissing my cheek and asking me if I was staying the night. I smiled weakly and told them my friend and I were here to say hello, but would be catching a ride home later. That answer seemed to appease them. I was glad I had the company of my friend beside me, who also would rather shave her eyebrows than to sleep on the ground outside.

 

The rain let up ever so slightly over the covered porch we were under. The tents were up all around us and popcorn was being popped. Games were being commenced. Deep in my heart I wanted to enjoy this night with my family and new friends. I love camping and I was horrified at myself that I was passing up this opportunity to sleep in the jungle. But I felt my nose stopping-up more and my joints aching. It was at that moment that my friend and I realized that no one that was there at that party who owned a car would be going back into town!  It was getting late, busses had stopped running, and the logistics of getting a taxi from Puerto Napo on a rainy New Year's Eve would be mission impossible. It was about that time that our new Colombian friend sat down with us and wanted to teach me a card game called cuarenta. No.

 

To make a long story short, a couple guys there with motorbikes took pity on us. My husband agreed to camp with our daughter and my friend's son, and we hopped on the back of the motorbikes and sped off into the New Year's night. I should have listened to my gut and stayed home. But there I was clinging for life over potholes in the drizzling rain and my nose was now running. How can I ever forget ringing in 2013? I won't. At least I got to sleep in my own bed!!

 

Anyway, here it is February, 2013. Nothing much has changed here in Tena except the addition of a new Venezuelan restaurant on the riverfront. It's called Bululu and it's amazing. Soup, main, drink and dessert for $3.50 and it's way more tasty than anything I could conjour up at home myself for that price. I think I've eaten there every day this week. I even took my friend there-- the one who was my partner in crime on that very stressful New Year's Eve.

 

Enjoy the pics above: One of my hubby & friends and the other of the pork chop special at Bululu.