The Amazon, a great expanse of virgin rain-forest.  My daughter, a beautiful, intelligent, and brave young woman.  She is living in The Amazon for a year while conducting research for her PhD dissertation in Cultural Anthropology.  Canelos is a village at the edge of civilization as we know it.  There are no more roads beyond this community and plumbing is non-existent.  There is no cellular service and Internet is extremely limited.

Earlier this week, we received a phone call from her boyfriend informing us that there had been a 6.2 Earthquake in the Amazonian region of Peru near the boarder of Ecuador, not terribly far from where she is living.  He told us that he had last spoken to her that morning and that she was intending to take a bus from Puyo to Canelos later that day.  We didn’t know if she ever made it to Canelos or if the earthquake hit while she was en-route.  Immediately, I started to Google to find out anything I could about where and when the earthquake had happened and where she may have been at that time.

Images of roads falling away or bridges collapsing filled my mind.  But then I had this feeling that I knew she was safe.  I don’t know if I would have felt she wasn’t safe if she truly wasn’t.  But I was glad for the peaceful feeling for as long as it lasted.  Then the hours passed without any word from her and in spite of believing she was safe, my fears grew.

About 24 hours later, a friend of hers trekked from Tena to Puyo in search of information.  She was able to find someone in Canelos who had a landline and placed a call to the village.  The person in Canelos who answered the phone, knew the host family my daughter was staying with.  Through that host family, we found out that she was safe.

That was two days ago.  I still haven’t been able to speak to her.  The Internet service is still down in Canelos.

I am so very proud of her; I love her dearly, and I can’t imagine living my life without her.   But I also know that following her dreams comes with an element of danger.  I accept that and am in awe of her and the journey she has chosen for her life.  Still I have to tell you that I feel so thankful to know that I will be able to talk to her again.  Can’t wait to hear her voice!

http://www.theresadodaro.com  Theresa Dodaro is the Author of The Tin Box Trilogy