One Language in the Amazon

I woke this morning to an incredible racket on my cabin’s roof. I don’t know the species of animal (I didn’t go outside) but they were small, certainly rodent-like and having an absolute ball. I pulled the cotton sheet around my chin and listened to their claws clack against the corrugated panels. However I was conflicted, in that instance, because

By this point I had lost the dream, the details, the potential, but I had not lost interest in more sleep so I rolled over, and the bed frame made all sorts of protests because it is weak. I am a large man. I understand the world isn’t necessarily built for my physics but the beds at this jungle outpost appear designed for the humorless task of annihilating the human form; so when I rolled over I was CAREFUL to position my neck in a straight line with my shoulders and hips. It was then, as I visualized the alignment, that I opened my eyes and saw a green harvestman crawling up my mosquito net. She was only a few inches from my nose, on the outside of the net, and I began filming her belly and legs through the white veil. Have you ever watched arachnids move from beneath? They

I speak perfect English because I grew up watching American television. I also speak Spanish and French, decent Portuguese, some German and Russian, as well as tourist Hebrew (want/have + object). I refuse to learn Italian. But I prefer English to my native Dutch because English contains more ways to express yourself — in my opinion — as anyone from a language marked for death can tell you. Yet I’m often misunderstood, I miss the inflections and gestures NECESSARY to care for a listener’s emotions. So my first order of business this morning was to tell the guide (in Spanish) that I enjoyed his fable about the toucan lost behind the waterfall. I had radiated — perhaps excreted — an air of omnipotence which I had not intended; I do that when I uncover symbolism. It’s never

He didn’t accept. Or didn’t seem to. It was hard to tell. I think he’s irritated that I’m better at spotting insects. I’ll say it. Yesterday I spotted a cluster of black treehoppers, a rubyspot damselfly and a couple stick insects (on a night hike) well before he did. He knew the biological details, no complaints on his science, it’s

Since my gratitude hit a roadblock I went into the kitchen to thank Inez for cooking. Inez doesn’t make particularly interesting meals; this morning was eggs with yucca and some fruit. But it’s not her fault. This place is understaffed. We clear our own plates. I’m not complaining. It provides