We have been psychedelically tested

We have now been subjected to a rigorous psychedelic examination, but in spite of this, we are apparently fit to adopt. All we need to wait for now is the piece of paper that confirms this, and then we will be on The List. Scary stuff or what..?

I mentioned before that Manaus was just about to re-elect the most (allegedly) corrupt, (allegedly) inept, (allegedly) ignorant (alleged) moron as Mayor, even after having experienced his reign of (alleged) abject uselessness in the past. And so it has come to pass. I have asked a good cross-section of the population (from the gardener to the doctor to the Director of BIC) and EVERYONE INSISTS that they didn’t and wouldn’t EVER vote for this guy. “So why,” I asked, “has he been elected again?” “Ah well,” they nod, “it’s the indigent and ignorant, you see. They love him.” So there we are – it seems that over 50% of the population here are indigent, ignorant, or both.

Although we now have our new camera, unfortunately there hasn’t been much opportunity to use it. True, we went fishing up the Negro last week, but it turned out to be dull for two days, and trees and shrubbery and the like don’t look like much without a bit of sun. Neither does brown or black water, for that matter. True, I did see - for the first time in my life - two Ariranha (Giant Amazon River Otters), but I was fishing on a river bank without the camera at the time. I can tell you, however, that the adjective “giant” is perfect. And true, I did go to Boa Vista to see some friends (see separate entry), but Naice needed the camera for her course, so that was that. We were also scheduled to go to Barcelos (but we haven’t had enough time), and down the BR319 (cancelled by one of the group). So we’ve been confined to taking the odd pic here and there around the house, and that’s what you see here.