Utterly exhausted. Finally made it to my hotel room in Miami about 3am but was too wound up to sleep. Checkout time was 11:00, but the thought of spending 12 hours at the airport made me want to cut my head off, so I forked out the $50 penalty to stay in the room until 5:00. To offset the added expense, I ate meals out of the vending machine. Today´s menu: hotel-room coffee, cinnamon roll with 8000g of fat, pretzels, fried plantain chips, and a Snickers. Pretty sure I have scurvy now.
Once at the airport, I splurged on a slice of pizza for dinner at the food court. The place was extremely crowded and before long, a finely-dressed gentleman asked if he could join me. I was surprised to find he was Hilson Baptiste, Minister of Agriculture, Lands, Housing and Environment for Antigua.
We spent half an hour having a wonderful, intense discussion about his job, crops, soil, poverty, and the general state of the environment. He was on his way to a conference of agricultural ministers of the Americas, to be held in Costa Rica. The most striking thing he said was a response to my question, ¨What do you find most satisfying about your job?¨ He replied ¨Watching poor people become successful¨, and he told me about a co-op of 240 women who started with nothing but, with a little government assistance, have developed a multi-million dollar poultry operation.
We spoke of the importance of developing profitable agricultural models that benefit local economies while preserving environmental integrity. It was a relief to hear a government official use the word ¨stewardship¨. He mentioned that there was a group of university students on Antigua studying turtle populations, so I asked if he saw a need for other university research projects. He said that there are several historically important archaeological sites on the island that he would like to see preserved and carefully opened to the public. He gave me his card and invited me to do the work, saying that anyone I brought from the university would be his personal guests and that he would introduce us to the appropriate officials, including the prime minister. I thanked him and said that I would email him once I returned to the States and had a chance to talk to my professors. What an amazing opportunity that would be for CSU.
El Profesor´s flight arrived without any trouble, and we hopped on the 11:35 flight to Lima. Practically fell asleep on my dinner tray (the poor flight attendant had to yank it out from underneath me) and slept like a baby until we landed. Now we're at our lovely guesthouse, Hostal Killari, about to have breakfast and map out the week's itinerary.
First things first. I have to take a moment to throw some love at Hostal Killari. Two brothers run the place, Manuel and Alejandro; even though it´s only been open for 5 months, they´ve figured out how to run a good operation, and they go out of their way to help - whether it´s making your breakfast at 0:dark:30 so you can catch an early flight or driving like maniacs through Lima to get you to said flight. So next time you´re in Lima, look them up. 
Speaking of flights at 0:dark:30, we took one this morning to Tarapoto. Only took about an hour, and then we hired a taxi to take us to Juanjui. The 3 hour drive was heaven - windows down, warm tropical wind blowing through my hair, mountains all around. I´ll take fresh air and a dirt road any day over a flying bus. We drove past picturesque thatched-roof houses, cattle drives, gorgeous tropical flora, and even rice fields along a highway lined with remants of rock falls from the 40-foot-high passes that had been blown out of the mountains. It feels good to get out of the city.
Juanjui is a small village but it has a beautiful hotel - Hotel Capricornia - that´s filled with tropical plants, hammocks, and verandas lined with comfy chairs. The walls in the rooms are made of brick, and the doors are made of beautifully-carved wood. My derriere is staking claim on a hammock as soon as we get back.
Lunch was at Restaurante de la Selva. There was no doubt the fish had just flopped out of the water this morning. It was pounded flat, lightly breaded and fried in some kind of crack. Also gorged on an entire pitcher of papaya juice. I regret nothing. (urp)
OK, weird moment of the day. This internet cafe is now blaring a Spanish version of Unchained Melody. It´s, um, interesting.
Tonight we´re meeting with Estaban Alayo, the administrative director of the Rio Abiseo National Park; tomorrow he´s taking us out in the field. Then off to Moyabamba the following day. I could get used to this.
