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.