November 17 & 18

Joann Miller

"The Triple Crown Tour"Sea level, 15,000 ft. and the jungle

Five of us went on the tour. With as much as we saw and experienced, any one of us could write a book - and every book would have a different twist.

I will give my version - in no particular order just re-living the events that will always hold a special place in my heart.We experienced so many things, i.e.

-swimming in a waterfall after trekking up a sometimes steep, narrow and rocky path about 3 km, give or take, or about 4 miles. Swimming was heaven and the waterfall was tremendous and powerful.

-staying the night in an enchanting and tropical paradise. Everyone called it a jungle but to me a jungle is walking through the Amazon - hot, humid, mosquitos and flies everywhere and a snake in the tree just waiting to drop on you. This was not like that. We saw all the tropical trees, plants, and flowers of Hawaii and many more. I think it is a tropical paradise.

-riding in a long boat which held 10 comfortably on a beautiful river that had a strong current.

-being entertained in a unique community of native tribal people who were charming, gracious, and fun-loving. They immediately dressed each one of us in a long brown gown, with a necklace of shells and a headband with two feathers. After listening to their presentation, each one of us was grabbed by one of the tribe and we danced, ran and sometimes flew around the bonfire. It was exhilarating and exhausting.

-getting a yellow fever shot in a space of about 15 seconds for each one.

-visiting a coffee plantation and an orchid nursery.

-waterfront dining under open air thatched roofs.

-seeing the most spectacular landscapes in the world at elevations of up to 15,000 ft.

-driving on roads that had more u-turns than straight-aways, mostly on the edge of cliffs.

There is so much more, but it would take far too long, so I would just like to briefly tell you how I feel about this total adventure; in awe of all that I have been fortunate enough to experience. Peru is a vast country filled with amazing vitality and a myriad of contrast.

Joy in seeing such healthy and loving children at the PPA.

Despair and hopelessness at seeing how so many have to live.

Greatfulness at all the kindnesses that have been extended to me.

Pleasures in meeting so many interesting people.

I took my first trip by myself in Samoa and stayed about three weeks, when I returned my colleagues at Olympic College asked me how I liked it, I answered "on a scale of 1 to 10,, it was about 300". I feel this trip is already about 300 and I have another week to go, so thank you all for being a part of it!

Thought for the Day, Tom Davatelis

It's amazing to see the many happy faces whenever we interact with the children of the PPA. Could it be that our presence helps to ignite these happy faces? If so, this alone is enough to have made our participation here worthwhile.