Let it Fall, my heart

Mas rápido!! Bow, bow, bow, bow

Sak Noel - Paso

Salasaca

This weekend I stayed at another indigenous community, at a hostel named Runa Huasi in an indigenous community called Salasaca. It was an optional trip as a part of my Antropología Andina class. I wasn’t able to get a feel for the community as a whole, but our guide Alonso taught us a lot about life there.  

We arrived on Friday just in time for almuerzo which included quinoa soup, rice, veggies, lettuce, chicken (that we had smelled them cooking on arrival), french fries, mora (blackberry) juice, and a strange dessert that was supposedly maracuya flavored but tasted more like cheese.  After almuerzo, we learned how yarn is made from alpaca wool. It’s fascinating and they even allowed us to try out different parts of the process—needless to say, we were pretty horrible at it.  First they go through the wool by hand and pick out any pieces of dirt or whatever else. Then they put a small piece of wool on these two combs and kinda brush out the wool to make it more thin and not so dense.  Then they wrap a bunch of wool around the top of a piece of bamboo, and then they stretch it out and spin it onto another piece of bamboo. This ends up looking like a spool of yarn. After that, they wrap it around a cross in an x-formation, which ends up having it look more like real yarn. Then they clean it with natural cleaners, aka plants. The end product is very bright white, thin wool yarn that they can now dye and use to weave.  

We walked to Alonso’s house/workshop in the evening which was only a 20 min walk, but up a steep hill. There we watched how you weave a belt with designs on it from a belt weaving machine thing. It looked very complicated and said it took him 10 years how to do all the designs and work the machine correctly. He also spoke about the need to promote tourism to Salasaca because that is how he is able to support his family. He mentioned how he stopped selling his woven belts, bracelets, and other designs in the markets because tourists would look at a piece of art and fail to ask: what is Alonso’s story, how long did this take Alonso to make, and what does the design mean (everything he makes from his imagination has a story/meaning behind it). Then he allowed us to peruse his workshop and buy anything we like. I bought a bracelet for $5.  Alonso said it symbolized a girl who sees into the future, like a realization, and sees greater friendships, etc. I said could easily be making that up and saying something he thinks I would really like, which would be so funny. But then again I doubt he was making it up.

That night we had cervezas (beer) and dinner which was soup with popcorn in it (delicioso), pasta, a mandarin orange, and a type of juice which may have been guarana? that or guava possibly. We sat around the SMOKEY fire until bedtime and we got to bed quite early which was nice!

The next morning desayuno was pan with the options of jam, cheese, and butter, and fresh fruit (watermelon, pineapple, mango, banana, papaya), along with either cafe or chocolate, or tea. We were all very satisified and then Alonso asks us “Who wants eggs?” I chose huevo frito (fried egg). 

That morning we went along a route where we saw three sacred sites for the indigenous people of Salasaca. At one, it was a cross with a diagonal hole next to/under it. There was what looked like trash in it and all around it. He said this is because people offer regular household belongings to pachamama (mother earth, more or less). There could be eggs in there, any kind of food, or whatever they think will make pachamama happy.  Also, he said shamans may tell people to leave $20-$50 there in order to save someone’s soul aka to help take away their sins. That’s at least what I got from what Alonso was saying. He said we could leave any offering we wanted and think of prayers or thoughts for loved ones. My teacher poured some water into the hole, and a friend had bought coca leaves in centro historico, so she offered some of those. Also, everyone took some coca leaves and chewed them/put them in the side of their mouth. Some people’s mouths or tongues felt slightly numb after this. If you didn’t know, coca is a natural, non-processed form of cocaine.  

Then we went to another sacred site where there were plants that I think were aloe, because he said you put white goo from the plants on burns and scars. He said one time some indigenous people came here and layed down and stayed the night and were revived. He also said people leave food and other offerings here. The main point of that sacred site was to get rid of ill thoughts and pessimism, and leave feeling optimistic and good thoughts towards others. I really liked this site and it was situated on top of a hill, so it almost felt like the wind was cleansing you of your bad feelings and thoughts. Right around here, he picked up these GIANT mushrooms (the size of a…frisbee almost, a little smaller), and he peeled away the outside layers, and then we tried the mushroom. I liked it! The texture literally felt like a sponge, but it tasted like a mushroom all right!

The final sacred site was called niton cruz or something like that. You don’t leave offerings here, but instead think of something you would like to do, and as you think about your goal, you draw a cross in the rock/dirt with another rock, very hard. Or you could draw whatever you like, but the most usual one is a cross. I found this interesting because clearly this is the Spainards influence on the indigenous peoples. I’m sure the cross is an influence from Christianity. I wonder if the indigenous people think about things like that.  

Then we had lunch which was simply: rice, avocado, and salad with tomato. Best lunch ever. So simple and fresh. 

In the afternoon we saw the volcano Tungurungha erupting, because it’s an active volcano, but I think it was just ash. It was far enough away from us where we didn’t feel any effects from the eruption, but the sky was clear enough that we could truly SEE it. That was pretty unbelievable. We also learned about a few plants that the indigenous use as nutrition or for healing. Which I find fascinating and think I want to do my final project on in Antropología Andina. If you know me, you know I love alternative/holistic medicine, so I’m a big believer in these medicinal plants. 

For dinner, we had soup (as always :)), beef of some kind (I didn’t eat it), a tomato, rice, and lentils, yum!  We had naranjilla juice, and for dessert, we had a rice pudding with capuli, which is a type of fruit similar to a cherry that we had been eating off the trees earlier! Kinda sour right off the trees, but the dessert was yummy!

This morning, we had breakfast very similar to yesterday morning, we left around 10 am. I really appreciated my time in Salasaca, and would recommend anyone to go there and learn from Alonso who happens to be traveling through Ecuador. It also is close to Baños, which is supposed to be an awesome town for white water rafting, puenting, and doing other kinds of adventurous activities! I plan to go there one weekend, hopefully soon :) 

Next weekend: Canoa, la playa (beach)!

Back from my island cruise vacation

I wish I was still back in the Galapagos. Probably my most favorite vacation ever. Will post a more detailed review of the 6 days’ events later. This weekend, (tomorrow) I am actually headed to Salasaca, another indigenous community. This time, I will be traveling there with my good friend Siobhan and our antropologia andina class. I am excited. Also, because I am going on this trip, I only have to write 6 analises throughout the course of the semester instead of 10! Gotta head to class soon but I will write about the Galapagos later. Chao chao!