I'm a Hostage

Right now, I'm feeling a little claustrophobic. I haven't left the small hostel room for about 2 days, except to visit the bathroom down the hall. I look out the window and can only see rooftops and gray skies, but I can hear shouting and police sirens. There is a demonstration march in progress. I walk down the hall and look out another window, which has a view over the main plaza. I watch the people march by, shouting words I don't understand and blowing whistles so loud it hurts my ears. It's a strike.

Pucallpa and surrounding regions are on strike for 48hours for various political reasons. Jenni and I are staying in a hostel, staring at our computers all day, trying to work, without going insane. While on strike, the city shuts down. Shops are closed, taxis don't drive their routes. Everything is closed down. People still walk around and a few motocars and motos drive around, but Jenni and I have stayed inside the hostel the whole time because we aren't sure how safe it is to be outside during this time. We had been in Pucallpa for a couple days already, but when we found out about the strike (the afternoon before it was to start), we drove back to km 38 gathered up some food and headed back to the city. Because this strike is only for 48hours, it is not deemed really dangerous to be in the city. However, if it was a full-blown strike, we would definitely be back at km. 38. There is a good chance that a big strike will hit our region in a few weeks, and if that is the case, Jenni and I wanted to get as much done now as we could. So here we are, staring at the same four walls for the past couple days, finishing up the last of our food from the house. It's kinda fun actually!

Please keep this whole situation in your prayers, as an exteneded strike would create many challenges for our team and the progress of A.M.O.R. Projects!!!