Mystic
We wake early (05:00) and with almost all the family (two older siblings from the ‘city’ included) we go to the ‘countryside’, Arutam village, Macuma district, named by the river. For me it is the third time here, but everytime I feel so good and have new experiences. Last time we arrived here with two cows bought from a fair – one is for the brother in law, the other one is the Christmas’ turkey. Cute but naughty! Whether it was so difficult to put them in the truck, they easily crossed the churning river (swimming). That time my buttocks were suffering because of the bumpy roads; now I’m still travelling in the back of the truck, but on a spare tire. The inconvenient is that we are covered with a cellophane ‘cause it’s’ raining. Adventures! … which are not ending here. In the night, on dark, just with the sound of the nature and a Shuar flute, we enjoy some ayahuasca, a famous Amazonian plant used by the shamans and locals for its curative properties … and much more. We just took the easy way – of traditional medicine; for the trance and visions you also need to take some concentrated strong essence. But even so, it was WOW! A kind of tea was prepared, very sour, and we drank it hot from traditional carved bowls. After about four ‘portions’ you start feeling the effects and throw everything up – it’s supposed to be a physical and mental cleanse. From time to time another one runs to the bushes to put some ‘fertilizer’ for the bananas. It’s funnier when you vomit in duet or even in choir 🙂 I ‘purified’ myself three times, more and louder the last one (as a grand finale). Because of the short sips, the effect came later for Raluca, with some dizziness, a strange white light (like an aura) and some dreams with bears. The bad part in my case was the cleanup on the other side too for the next days. In the morning I had to try different types of leaves; remembering a childhood story, I didn’t choose the corn ones this time. The banana leaves are too slippery, but I found some smooth and delicate ones … fascinating topic, right? 🙂 I also took some dragon’s blood (sangre de drago), a tree’s resin, and Raluca tried some tobacco … through the nose. They do it daily, very few smoking it.
Our plan to visit Cuenca fails because of the weather. It will still be time for it. In that case, I spend the weekend very idle, watching the community championship of indor (indoor – football with a smaller ball) or tasting some flying ants.
Meanwhile I received my volunteer allowance, so I went to Macas to buy some more toilet paper and other useful things 🙂
