Getting to Know Iquitos

I am living at the missionary house.  It is a center with many rooms where missionaries receive hospitality during their stay here in Iquitos.  Missionaries come for meetings and/or for some much-needed R&R.  It is great to welcome them “home” and spend a bit of time chatting with them about their mission and getting to know them better.  Our missionaries come from various countries, including Mexico, Spain, Colombia, India, USA, Poland and from here in Peru.  The diversity, yet unity of purpose…to make Christ known to all…is wonderful to experience and be a part of!

In the past few months, I have gotten to know Iquitos better.  I have been pleasantly surprised to learn that a new Mall, which can rival a regular mall in the USA, recently opened here.  It is a bit far from where I live, but one Sunday afternoon, three sisters and I ventured out to see what this mall was like.  We were pleasantly surprised to learn it was air-conditioned, had a food court, beautiful decorations, escalators, and many nice shops.  We walked around for a while then stopped at the food court and had supper.  Then we returned to the missionary house, i.e. my home. 

 

Iquitos has many stores and therefore it is not hard to find what one needs, though the quality may not always be what one is used to back home.  It has some nice restaurants as well. 

As the days go by, I am becoming more acclimated to this hot and very humid weather.  My fan is my constant companion as is my repellent as many mosquitos, ants, chiggers, small biting flies, etc. inhabit this area of the country.  The vegetation is beautiful and very diverse.  I am seeing plants I had never seen before and many diverse birds.  It is beautiful to behold nature here!

In March we celebrated St. Joseph’s Day, which is a huge feast for us as St. Joseph is the patron of our vicariate.  My coworkers, along with the staff of the Office of Catholic Education and the Office for Peace and Justice (both belonging to the vicariate and whose offices are located on this property) to pray, eat and enjoy time together to celebrate our patron saint.