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Once again, I find myself befriending the kids.  I like talking to kids—we don’t expect anything from each other, and we only communicate for fun.  They are entirely patient with my Spanish and speak slowly enough for me to understand.  If I need them to say something a thousand times, they will.  

On our recent boat trip down the Ucayali and Amazon river, I met many kids who all shyly made their way over at some point or another.   My first friend was Yahairra, who then introduced me to her cousin Frank.  We started playing cards which naturally drew a crowd.   Fernando, Antonio, Frank and Manuel taught me to play Gin and Casino.  Luckily, I have played both before, otherwise I would have been totally lost.   It is quite something to learn a card game in a different language.  Next, we played 21, but they take all of the face cards out, so I decided to teach them how they play in Vegas.    

After games they wanted to know all about the US and were totally fascinated with how much stuff costs.   They also wanted to practice their English which was fun!  They asked me to sing American songs, but I refused knowing my own voice, and asked instead that they sing me songs.   We also swapped traditional scary stories.  I did my best to translate the Tell-Tale Heart.    

The next morning, we played more 21 de Los Estados Unidos (now infamous on the boat).  I can only play so much Blackjack, so I decided to teach everyone “Vaya Pez” otherwise known as Go Fish.  Soon we had a whole new crowd of kids, and I quickly got to know Juan Carlos, Mayra, Iris, and a few others.  Good times!

Like I said, where there are kids, there are friends.   I think kids open the possibility of other adults talking with us.  The Peruvians are really some of the nicest people I have ever met, and we seem to have many friends now from the boat with whom we have exchanged email addresses, numbers, pictures, etc.  I am very grateful for the opportunity to be here.