On our first (of 4) group excursion, we visited an indigenous (Kichwa) community, San Clemente, in the province of Imbabura. The farming village of about 300 people is perched on the side of an active volcano, Imbabura, for which the province is named.
The kids on the program paired up in twos (I was, of course, with Teo) and stayed with host families in the town. Our host family included our host dad, Matías, our host mom, Magdalena, and four kids - Inti (boy - 14), Suma (boy - 12), Sabina Flor (girl - 10), and Eddison (Eddie, boy - 7). They also had a large rabbit, a pig, 2 llamas, 3 sheep, 14 guinea pigs, 12 chickens and roosters and 11 newly-born chicks. Our host siblings learned in English classes at school how to say "rabbit" (amongst other animals) in English. So, they stuck the Spanish diminutive (indicating affection) on to the end of the English word and named him "Rabbito."
Our house and 'driveway' with Teo, one of the chickens, and some of the chicks
our back yard, with only some of the animals
our family: (L to R) Matias, Inti, Suma, Magdalena, Teo, Sabina Flor, Eddie, and Me
(someone farted just before the camera went off... that's why we're all laughing so hard)
On the first day, we toured around the community and learned about their livelihood and how the community functions. The tour was tiring because the whole community is on the rather steep hillside of the volcano. Also, because it's a farming community, all of the houses are pretty far apart.
While in the community we were fortunate enough to get to participate several ceremonies for the celebration of Pawkar Raymi, the spring equinox - when the sun is directly above the equator - their new year. Also, one of the afternoons, I don't remember which, we visited a nearby sanctuary for condors. They're a lot bigger than you'd think. A guide told us that each condor eats about a cow's worth of meat every week.
The first ceremony, called Temascal (meaning "steam bath"... I think), is a therapeutic cleansing ceremony/ritual that aims to improve physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health in connection with Pacha Mama - Mother Earth. The ceremony takes place in a small, very temporary, dome-shaped hut or tent (carpa) but begins outside. Outside the tent, 36 stones are buried deep in a very large fire. The fire heats the stones over the course of several hours until they are glowing red. Before entering the tarp, a guide or shaman for the ceremony takes a wooden straw and blows a dark brown powder into your nose. The powder is ground up tobacco and menthol. For those of you skeptics, this has no hallucinatory or other side effects. The point of the ceremonial snorting (hehe) is to clear out your nostrils so that you can breathe clearly... and it really works.
We had to enter the tent in a particular order (all the women went in first) and then all the men. As we entered, we each wafted smoke from a smaller fire onto our faces and bodies and hair. We entered the hut on our hands and knees (it was not tall enough to even think about standing) and gathered in a circle around a pit in the center. In the tiny hut, we fit about 45 people. The pit in the middle is where the glowing stones are placed in 4 rounds. Each round corresponds to one of the universal elements (in order) aire, water, fire and earth. With each round, 9 new glowing stones are put in the center. After the stones are placed, the door flap to the tent is closed and the hut becomes extremely dark and extremely hot. You can only see the glowing stones - until they stop glowing. Then it is pitch black (the pitchiest black I've ever been in). During the ceremony the guide and his assistant lead a series of meditations and songs having to do with each element. He also poured large spoonfuls of water onto the glowing stones causing the hut to fill with a very intense steam (which only got more intense with every round).
During the "air" element, the shaman sang/chanted two songs while his assistant (a young woman from some Scandinavian country... strangely) added somewhat arhythmic drumming and a very interesting and sometimes dissonant harmony to his sing-chanting. The songs spoke about how the wind helps the world grow by spreading seeds and changing landscapes and such other things.
After opening the door for a few minutes, they brought in the second set of 9 stones for the "water" round. During the water round, along with splashing the rocks with water, he also splashed everyone inside with water. It was really amusing at times because you couldn't see anything and the water, in contrast to the air, was very cold. There were many happy yelps when water splashed people in the face and rest of the body as it was a great relief from the intense heat. One of my favorite things the guide told about was during the water round. He described how our bodies are made up mostly of water. Then he described the many forms that water can take, stressing that it can change shape and turn into a gas or a solid. Then he chanted something similar to the following. "Allow yourself to be like the water. Because you are made so much of water, you too can change yourself into many different forms. You can mold yourself to the world and take the form that you would like to in your life." It was a very liberating and relaxing thing to think about.
At the beginning of the "fire" round, the guide warned us "This will be very short, but very hot." After sitting in essentially the hottest sauna I'd ever been in in my entire life, I had a lot of trouble believing that it could get much hotter, but I was soon to be proved wrong. During the "fire" round, the shaman sang/chanted some very forceful tunes, the contents of which I do not remember. I think it had to do with how fire cleanses nature and other such things. It was only about 3 minutes long (in contrast to the 30-45 minute long periods that the first two each took). The guide threw water on the stones much faster during this round which meant that the steam was very hot because the stones didn't have time to cool. With every splash of water a wave of heat more intense than the last hit you in the face and body like a wave of water. Before the end of the round many of the people were moaning or yelping or yelling from the heat. It was very, very intense. Then the guide's assistant quickly opened the door and the heat quickly subsided.
The guide told us to concentrate on the ground that we were sitting on - to feel the ground and thank the ground for all that it provides us - during the "earth" round. He hummed several more tunes and allowed us to sing our own earth-related songs if we so desired. The result was a very tranquil and sharing experience to close the ceremony.
After we finished the last round, we left in the opposite order we came in. It had become dark and cool outside (yet we had no idea because it was so dark and hot on the inside). Many of us layed in the grass and meditated for a little while longer until we were ready to go back to our host homes. I found the whole experience to be incredibly rewarding. I wouldn't dub myself claustrophobic, but I wouldn't say that I like small, dark, and/or hot spaces either. I've never been a particular fan of saunas. During the first round, I had a very hard time relaxing and was on an adrenaline rush (the anxious kind) the entire ~30 minutes. By the time we finished the second round I was relishing the ceremony and savoring the heat. During the "fire" round, I actually extremely enjoyed the intense heat and found the whole ceremony to be very cleansing and very liberating. Many of my fellow program participants felt similarly.
The next day, the day of the equinox, we participated in another (less intense) ceremony. The ceremony is called Pacha Manca, meaning "Oven of the Earth." To begin the ceremony, we each took a stone that represented our ancestors and put it into another large fire. While the stones heated we dug a pit in the ground about a meter (~3ft) deep and a meter in diameter. Once the stones were sufficiently hot (which is extremely hot), we began to remove them from the fire (with wooden poles about 10 feet long) and put them in the bottom of the hole. Once a layer of stones was made across the bottom and around the sides, we covered the rocks with layers of corn husks and cabbage leaves. Inside the newly made cavern of hot rocks and leaves we put tons of food - mostly vegetables, but chicken and other meat as well... enough to feed about 50 people - in the pit. Then we covered the food with more cabbage leaves and corn husks. Next we covered the "oven" with several layers of dirt to complete our "earth oven."
One of our girls, Sarah, helping prepare the food
Over the next two hours, we danced in circles and played music on top of the earth oven. The ground was warm from the oven below. I had brought my newly purchased charango to San Clemente with me and joined the musicians in playing songs non-stop for the entire cooking/dancing part of the ceremony.
After about two hours, we tired and still had to wait another short while to open the oven and eat. It started to drizzle while we rested a while, and the ceremony leaders told us we had to keep dancing so that it wouldn't begin to rain. They meant it, so we began dancing anew and magically the rain stopped. Kind of makes you want to believe. By the time the rain had stopped, it was time to remove all of the food. Once we had undug the food, we had a delicious meal and a great time conversing with the community members.
Later in the evening, the community's band which plays indigenous music performed for us in a community center. The band included several different stringed instruments including guitar, violin, charango and bandolin (not mandolin - a 15 stringed lute-like thing - great sound). We danced merrily and shared some of our musical abilities as well for them.
Teo dancing in the traditional mask and leggings for a summer festival called Inti Raymi
There are a few more things I'd like to share about the community. We learned a lot from talking with our family about how indigenous life has changed and is changing. When our host parents were young, indigenous people were not allowed to attend most schools and women weren't allowed to attend at all. Our host mother just got her high school degree three years ago.
We also learned about their attire. Indigenous attire is very distinct. At least in San Clemente, the men often wear jeans with a loose white shirt (think pirate looking, but without the ruffles in the front) and a beautiful hand-sewn designs of flowers or animals or the sun etched into the chest or shoulders part of the shirt. Over that they wear very heavy ponchos to keep them warm during the evenings. The women wear similar shirts, often slightly more elaborate and beautiful, very colorful pleated skirts. Every community has their own distinctive attire, so if you really know the communities, you can tell the difference just at a glance.
Some of our girls dressed in indigenous attire waiting for food
We were surprised to find out that our host family had a computer and internet access and email addresses. Since then I've sent my family some of the pictures I took from our visit. They invited us to come back in late June if we wanted to for another celebration called Inti Raymi during the summer solstice. The community often hosts visitors interested in learning about indigenous culture and hoped that we would come back some day to help in the community or just to visit. You're invited, too.
Teo, Eddie & the charango, Sabina Flor, Suma, & Inti
Sabina Flor tinkering around on their electric piano, one of my favorites
Photo albums: Pacha What? & Pacha Manca!
