Iquitos, Peru: Jungle Mind

The mid to late European and American Nineteenth Century had amenities available to the poor that in today's Belen residential area one misses,like a toilet. Outhouses, yes, but still, better than a chunty one empties out the window into the street. Belen is in some ways a mix of the Stone Age and the Late Medieval period of Europe, except that there is some electricity and a lot of cheap consumer goods made anywhere else but Belen where life revolves still around physical wage labour and variations of hunting and gathering. One can easily paint a Romantic picture of Belen, but living there is a different, and usually stinking reality most would go far around to avoid. I like the place and go out of my way to go deep into it where I come out slimed and wreaking. But I can take a shower afterward and get between clean sheets for a reasonably comfortable night's sleep on a full stomach. I'm a tourist. I'd be suicidally upset if all life had to offer me was life living in Belen.  Because I can leave, I like being there.

To read the rest of this story, please turn to the following link;
http://www.amazon.com/Iquitos-Peru-D-W-Walker/dp/098776151X

A gentle reminder that my book, An Occasional Walker, is available at the link here:

http://www.amazon.com/Occasional-Walker-D-W/dp/0987761501/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331063095&sr=1-1

And here are some reviews and comments on said book:

http://nodhimmitude.blogspot.com/2012/04/dagness-at-noon.html