Hello all.
It seems its been almost another month since i last updated. Time has been chugging along. I know i said i would fill in the rest of the travels to Iquitos...yet so much has been happening here that i will just give a quick synopsis.

Susan and I flew through Bolivia in about 4 days time. We needed to move quick as we had a flight scheduled for the following week out of Lima, Peru. The most notable part of our time in Bolivia was passing through the Altiplano, an incredibly large stretch of flatland situated at about 12,000 feet. This included the capital city of La Paz, and the very large lake Titicaca. The air was thin and dry, and the sun seemed so close...a very challenging environment.

Once we passed into Peru, we kept our pace up, making only two stops before reaching Lima. We spent time in a very nice colonial town called Arequipa, and then took our first real rest for two days in an oasis town called Huacachina. This town was very close to the epicenter of the recent earthquake, and for all i know, the oasis has been re-claimed by the surrounding sanddunes...though i hope not as it was a very nice place full of very friendly beings.

Arriving in Lima, we literally spent a few hours there resting in the airport before boarding a 2 hour plane. And this brings us to my incredible experiences here, in the steamy jungle-town of Iquitos.

For the past four weeks, i have been undergoing a very challenging and very rewarding process. This process has involved living with a curandero (healer), traveling to the jungle once a week and remaining there for 3 days each time, maintaining a strict diet half of the week, and drinking ayahuasca twice a week. For those that are unfamiliar with ayahuasca, i would suggest doing some research on the internet, such as arowid.org. Suffice it to say that it is a liquid mixture involving a purgative native vine, and the flowers of a plant that contain DMT, a psychoactive substance. We take this mixture twice a week, in a very intentional ceremony guided by our curandero. The ceremony begins around 9 at night and lasts about 5 hours...each time i have drunk has been a very unique experience. In general, one round of vomiting is involved, as well as much psychadelic experience including deep introspection, visions, and pychological and emotional healing. Towards the end of each session, our curandero calls each of us forward seperately and heals us with a combination of methods, including his hands, his breath, mapachos (ceremonial cigarettes), and songs (called Icaros). In fact, the songs are a very large part of the ceremony, as they are sung for about half the time, and greatly affect the physical and psychadelic experience. The curandero uses the Icaros to invoke or call forth various spirits of plants, animals, and spirit beings that he has befriended over the years. While i write about this very mundanely, it should be understood that these experiences escape discription. This is why i recommend erowid.org, as it has a many personal accounts of single ayahuasca experiences, each so full and overwhelming.

All in all, i have taken ayahuasca 7 times, and my curandero has let me know that i have been healed of almost all my disease. At some point during the middle of my time here, I received in a ceremony that i was to return home, to continue my work there. This was very surprising to me as i had planned on staying in South America for some time more. But it was very clear was i was feeling, and i realized that this was the reason i had come to south america...to follow my heart and be always listening for the next direction. I realized it was very important for me to come to argentina and work at Yacu Yura; that it was very important for me to come to the Amazon and meet my curandero; and that it is now very important for me to return to the states.

So i will be flying back to argentina on thursday the 6th from Lima, at which point i will be in capilla del monte for about a week and a half, preparing to return home. I will be home by the 25th of september. From here, i am not quite sure how my work will manifest domestically, like where i will be staying, etc., but that will come, i know. For now, closing this period of travel and healing is what is important, and this is what currently has my focus.

Everything has been exactly as it needed to be, and again i can only feel overwhelming gratitude for the grace of this world. It has not been an easy trip, but it has been true...and this, at the end of it all, is what makes the difference.

LightLifeLove,
eka