Home At Last

Well it took 13 hours waiting in the Lima airport, a 7 hour flight, and a 4 hour drive through snow and ice but I finally made it back home. It feels amazing to be back with my family and friends but it’s hard not to compare my lifestyle to those of which I experienced while in Peru. As I was packing up to go back to school I was stunned but the sheer amount of things I have accumulated over the years. I always knew that I had a lot of stuff, but I really have A LOT of stuff. I think that there are more clothes in my closet than in the entire villages of Solo and Shukshuyaku combined. I now find myself thinking about the problems in these villages often in the course of a day. It can become overwhelming at times, but if everyone was to spend more timing helping and contributing, I think we could find solutions.

Although I have already had to hit the ground running with school, clubs, and other activities I plan to continue to apply what I have learned from being in Peru to everyday life. Being more aware of my actions, considering the effects of others, and keeping in mind the varying situations around the globe are just a few things that I already find myself doing naturally. In addition, I have already started to share my stories with others and find myself spreading this awareness but also learning a lot through the similar stories of others.  I am going to continue doing what I can to help the villages of Solo and Shukshuyaku and plan to do so mainly through donations from my Peruvian Cookbook sales. If anyone is interested in making a donation and receiving their own cookbook please email me at cbspatch@gmail.com. In exchange for your donation you will receive a PDF version of the cookbook and a receipt in the mail that can be used as a tax write-off.

In closing, I just want to say that traveling to Peru was an experience of a lifetime; one that I will never forget. I look forward to seeing where my travels take me in the future and only hope to have an experience as exciting and engaging as the one I had these past three weeks.  

Time to head home!

Well it's my final morning here at the Sachamama Center, just ate breakfast now doing some last minute checks before I leave! Really hoping that all the my travels go according to plan but just going to take things step-by-step. Looking forward to being back in the U.S. and getting back into the swing of things :)

Final Day...

So the past few days have been spent toiling over final projects. They are not final projects in the typical research sense though, rather more exploratory and creative. Some students have chosen to do murals, poetry, raps, and children’s books. I have chosen to do a cookbook. However, it is a cookbook for a cause…

Being inspired by the people in the villages of Solo and Shukshuyaku, I knew that I wanted my final project to relate to their communities and address the need for computers in Solo and water in Shushuyaku. As seen in my past entries, the people in these communities were more than generous and hospitable when we visited and I want to reciprocate this generosity in a way that will benefit the entire community. After realizing that putting on some sort of fundraising event back at home would be too crazy and likely result in little profit, Jenn and I put our heads together (we decided to collaborate on the project) and thought selling something as a fundraiser would be better; and what better thing to sell than a recipe book of all the DELICIOUS recipes that we have been enjoying here!

Everyone in our travel group will be able to use the recipe book to raise funds and as it has been created in a PDF as well as printable format people can choose to sell them via internet or in person. The Sachamama Center has already set up a safe account for people to send donations to so all people in our group have to do is sell the books and send in the moolah. If anyone is interested in a book let me know! The recipes are definitely worth it! :) 

Bath Time! But wait...where are the rubber duckies?

So I’m going to be honest, the bath ritual last night was weird. While it didn’t last as late as I thought it was going to, I still felt like I was just there stuggling to make it through rather than getting anything of value out of it. Heres the condensed version of what went down…

At 8 o’clock we all went to the main tambo, set chairs up in a circle and waited for the Shaman to arrive. When he showed up he took a shot of Ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic plant substance that is suppose to promote visions and clarity of life, shut off all of the lights, and began singing prayers and songs, pausing every so often for a mopacho break. You’d think this guy’s throat would get dry or something between the constant singing and smoking but he continued on for a solid 2 hours.

Singing completed, everyone then went up and sat in a chair across from him to be blessed. The blessing consisted of him gripping the person's head, humming a tune, and then blowing mapacho smoke onto the head, chest, hands, and feet (related to the 4 directions of the body).

I suppose there were moments that I thought I felt a profound feeling flowing through my body but I think it was mostly just me getting tired. Once I had been blessed I actually ended up falling asleep for the rest of the blessing (Hey, it was dark remember!) and woke up just in time for the lights to be turned back on and the flower baths to begin. One by one, people were given a small bucket of bath water, sent to the shower, and without really drying off went to bed. While the water was really beautiful- like a flower petal punch- all I could think about was how mad mom was going to be at me for sleeping with wet hair and hoping that I didn’t wake up with a cold.

Luckily I managed to make it through the night without catching any sickness and then more fun began—no talking or eating! I’m typically a big-breakfast kind of girl so the hardest part of the day to adjust to was definitely the morning, but then I kind of got into the swing of things. Once I realized food was not coming and that there would be no outside stimulations to help me pass the time I decided it would be best to zen out and work on my sleep debt.

Okay…that’s a lie. While I did gravitate between hammocks for a while, falling in and out of sleep, I wasn't able to keep up the act the entire time. I did a little luggage packing, secretly read a magazine, tweezed my eyebrows, made a to-do list for when I get home, and did a few communication charades with Jenn, but what do you expect--we had 11 hours to kill!

So while the spirits never visited me and I don’t have the solution to all of life’s problems, I did learn what it feels like to truly relax and do nothing for a while which was something I haven’t done in years but definitely needed. Oh, and I did get to work on my tan a bit too! :-P

Ritual Bath and Day of Silence

Well tonight after dinner I am to engage in a special night ritual where we will be "blessed/purified". It is suppose to go until the wee hours of the night (last year it lasted until 3 a.m. and they had 10 less people!) and consists of the shaman singing many Ikaros (shamanic songs) and a bath of plant and flower water for purification. After we take our baths we are suppose to silently go to bed and continue this silence until dinner time tomorrow. The time tomorrow up until dinner will be spent "contemplating" and fasting, and for the most part we will be sitting in hammocks.


I honestly don't know how all of this is going to go for me. I have never been the spiritual type and silence has never been my forte. Hearing the stories of students from last year I don't know if I see myself having any sort of spirit sightings or deep revelations but either way I am going to go into this with a open mind, and at the very least get a nice day of relaxation out of it. 

Shucshuyacu Experience

Day One: Time to get a little down and dirty.

Our arrival at Shucshuyacu was much the same as in Solo- we pulled in and everyone was waiting to welcome us. However, rather than sit around for a while waiting for things to start up we jumped right in as the community was already bustling! After saying hello, we quickly dropped off our things and headed to the gardens to do some weeding. It felt good to be helping out in the community, even if we were a little obsolete using our hands as the locals flew by us with their machetes. When the sun became unbearable we all took a break to watch the construction of a tambo. The way they braided the leaves together for the roof was hypnotizing to watch.

Seeing the final tambo was so impressive as it only took 4 days to construct and not a single nail or screw was used. What was even more impressing was how well the community worked together. Everyone worked in groups whether it be in the fields, constructing a tambo, or cooking a meal which made for quick, efficient work.

After a little more weeding and lunch we went to the community tambo and learned how to make chicah. It was really interesting to see the process, however, I will admit that I wasn't a huge fan of the taste when we tried it the next day. After the chicah, the afternoon was just spent playing games with the children and taking a short walk around the area. Around 7 o'clock darkness fell which signified the end of the day. It was interesting to see the effects that having no electricity had on the community’s schedule as the town was deserted come sundown and everyone retired to their homes to go to sleep. We all stayed up for a while and enjoyed the opportunity to be away from electricity and spent the time talking to one another, playing music, writing in our journals, and telling stories.

Day Two: Sunday Funday.

Sunday is the typical day of rest for the community so we didn’t have any formal activities planned. We did watch the Apu ceremony in the morning but other than that the only thing in the works was a soccer game between the women of Shucshuyuca and the women in our own group. The other Sachamama group who had visited before us said they played later in the evening so we figured that would be playing closer to dusk as it would be cooler. Well, we figured wrong because we ended up playing at 11:30, smack dab in the heat of the day. While I am not a soccer enthusiast, this game was actually a ton of fun despite the fact that we were all sweating buckets. I didn’t expect it to get as intense as it did  but we had the whole community watching and thanks to Jenn and Olivia for scoring goals we made our way to victory! It was awesome winning and getting to see the community gather together for the event. 

The rest of the day was basically spent recovering. A lot of the girls felt exhausted and I managed to get two giant blisters on my feet that kept me from moving too much. After dinner we didn’t have the same energy as the night before so we just sat around talking but only lasted until about 8:30 until we all passed out.

Day Three: This is the dance that never ends...

Our final day was spent doing arts and crafts, which was the highlight for many of us. All of the girls learned how to make chumbes (traditional woven belts) and pottery while the men wove mats and baskets. Learning the craft of weaving was fairly straight-forward and once I got a rhythm going on it seemed fairly easy; but I also had a very simple design and the supervision of one of the village women to catch me before I made mistakes. It was great to be able to interact with the villagers on a personal level and making small talk while working on my belt was one of the highlights of this trip. 

At one in the afternoon once the crafts had ended the farewell dance party began. The dancing was very similar to the dancing in Solo, but lasted much, MUCH longer. It was a lot of fun at the beginning and I was lucky enough to dance with quite possibly one of the cutest old men I have ever seen three times, but after about 3 hours all of us began to tire out. We ended up powering through it all until 7 o'clock, but the last few dances were a little rough. In the end it was still great to be able to dance and celebrate with the community even if things did get a little out of hand as we were at least laughing the whole time!

 

Day Four: Back to Sachamama

In the morning we ate breakfast and left for Sachamama. It was definitely a treat to come back and be able to take a shower and have electricity again. I had a lot of fun and learned so many lessons on both excursions but I will admit, it isn't a lifestyle that I could live everyday. I definitely appreciate all that I have much more now and will take many practices back home with me but the bugs and the lack of running water are just two things I would prefer not to deal with on a daily basis. 

How to make Chicha:

Step 1: Grind corn in large wooden basin.

Step 2: Once corn has been ground into a nice, fine mush, put it into a giant cauldron and add water. Bring to a boil, stirring continuously.

Step 3: Remove from fire and return to large wooden basin to cool for atleast 24 hours.

Step 4: Drink and be merry!

Next Stop--Shucshuyacu!!

Well, it's immersion time again and tomorrow morning I'm heading out to the village of Shucshuyacu. I actually mixed up Solo and Shucshayuca in my previous post, as this will be the village without running water or electricity. You know what that means...no showers for 3 days!! I'm really not worried about this aspect of the trip though, just hoping the bugs don't come back and attack. 

Anywoo, over the next three days we are going to be learning indigenous crafts such as weaving and pottery, making the traditional chicha corn drink (beer), and learning about medicinal plants of the area. Once again, I'll give more details once I get back! 

¡Hasta Martes!

I'm Back!

I have made it back from Solo safe and sound, and the experience was really beyond words. I find myself at a loss for putting everything into an entry, so I have decided to just choose a few photos and explain from there. 

The Children

When we pulled up to the village, everyone was there waiting for our arrival. The children bombarded us the second we piled out of the van, asking our names and following us wherever we went. We spent hours with them- playing Frisbee and volleyball, learning Spanish phrases, fooling around with cameras, and writing in notebooks together. They all had such amazing personalities and spirits, it was hard leaving them at the end. 

Doña Jesus

On the 2^nd day we visited the chakra (farm) of Doña Jesus, a 78 year old woman who had the power and youth of a 30 year old. Her energy was immediately apparent as within only a few minutes of walking up to her tambo she turned to all of us and said “now let’s sweat!” and scrambled off to show us her chakra. The way she worked with her machete and navigated through the forest terrain was amazing. She took us around her land and showed us her oranges, squash, guava, beans, and a range of other crops. It was truly mind-blowing the amount of work that she had done. Even more astounding was the fact that she walked around the unsound terrain with no shoes! She paraded through mud, prickers, and unbeaten paths without a wince or grimace. She was happy in spirit, despite that fact that she was making hardly any money on her crops. She told us 100 oranges would bring only 4 Nuevos Soles, about $1.30, making her work hardly worth the efforts. Nonetheless, an amazing woman. 

Big Old' Pile of Compost

A lot of our time spent in Solo was learning about their methods of agriculture. A part of this was actually creating the fertilizer they used. To begin this process we first had to go into the forest to gather special microorganisms (aka fungus) to be used as part of this special fertilizer mix. After learning about the process making these microorganisms usable in the compost, we went out to the biohuerta (basically a garden) and started making up our magical mix! I won’t get into too much detail but we added cow manure, chicken manure, rice husks, crushed brick, and a bunch of other wonderful ingredients and mixed them all up with shovels, as seen above. It was actually a really cool process and we were able to use the fertilizer and plant some onions in the fields later that day. 

Planting Trees :)

As part of our efforts to offset the carbon used to travel to Peru, our group planted trees in Solo. The community selected the trees they wanted (coconut trees) and we set about planting them! 

Ouch.

To say I got a lot of bug bites would be an understatement. A very large understatement. The combination of bugs outside and mites in the mattress made for some very unhappy legs. Guess that’s what I get for wearing shorts…

Party Time

As a final part of our stay in Solo, we had a giant community dinner and dance celebration. The women of the village were kind enough to lend us their clothes, and decked us out in traditional dress and makeup for the night. We spent the beginning of the evening doing traditional Kichwa dances which mainly consisted of a back and forth two step and random bursts of running hand-in-hand with a partner around the room. It was dancing like none of us had really seen before, but we all had so much fun. As a part of El Carnaval (an approaching holiday) people would also shove fists of flour in one another's face randomly throughout the night. Not too sure why this is a custom, but it is. Around 10 o’clock we all gather around in a circle and the Apu (the community leader), Lizardo, got a bottle of handmade rum and passed in around the circle, thanking us for our work and good spirits. Then things started to get, well, a little weird…that is to say, the whipping began. Once again, not too sure why this was happening but it was. I believe it was because they wanted to demonstrate to us this part of their culture, but still an interesting end to the night. It was all in good humor though and the night ended on a very positive note. 

In all, our time in Solo was really eye-opening and rewarding on so many levels. Being able to learn from one another and experience the Kichwa culture was an experience like no other. While I may have been eaten alive and hygiene was not the best, I wouldn't have missed it for anything and am excited for our second immersion in the town of Shucshuyacu  this Saturday.

Solo here I come!

Well tonight consists of packing as tomorrow we are embarking on our first immersion! The group has been split in half and tomorrow myself and 10 other people will be heading to the town of Solo for three nights. We are going to be staying in the community tambo, which is a cane and palm leaf indigenous structure, right by the river Mayo. There will be beds and mattresses (which I was not expecting) however there will not be running water or electricity. The cooks from the Sachamana Center will be coming with us so we don't have to worry about dangerous food and we are also bringing jugs of water. In Solo we are going to be working with irrigation and experimental sustainable agriculture and be planting trees. 

I'd write more but I have to get packing! I will post again when I return :) 

Amazonian Waterfall

Today we took a fantastic exploration through the Amazonian jungle to a secluded waterfall.

To begin the journey we had to load up in a van and drive about 45 minutes through the town of Tarapoto and beyond. The drive went smoothly, just one small stop at a militia shack where we had to pay a nuevo sole in order to pass. When we got to our final hiking destination we unloaded and began our hour long journey through the Amazonian jungle. We traveled up hills, across rivers, and through grasses.

Almost got bitten by a pretty intense looking ant but luckily it latched onto my shoe rather than my foot, it still took a good five minutes to pry off though! The terrain was steep but the scenery was like nothing I had seen before. As the picture show rshough, it was definitely worth every step.

 

One-piece bathing suits courtesy of Jenn's grandma :)

Bagged Lunch?

A New Year!

Happy to say that I feel 100% better this morning, a great start to a new year!


Today is a free day but there is an excursion to a local waterfall that most of us are taking advantage of. We are going to be leaving around 11, we have to drive closer to the area and then it's an hour-long hike to the actual waterfall. Don't know if I'll actually swim in the water or not but hoping to get some good pictures!


The weather is beautiful, as always. In the 80's with a cool, refreshing breeze...