Rounding A Mountain

Getting back to the mountains of Perú after three years was a great lesson in contrasts. I had forgotten how incredibility peaceful and quiet the mountain communities are and how much I remembered liking them. I was once again taken with the makeup of Perú and although a relatively small country, it is full of contrasts. The jungle is so utterly different than the mountains yet here they both are in the same country, just a short plane ride away. After now having lived in Iquitos (with all its noise and hustle) plus spending a large amount of time in the jungle, I was doing a lot of comparing. As I said, the mountains are sooooooooo quiet that it’s a bit eerie. One would think of the jungle as being a quiet, peaceful place but really it’s not! There is always movement and sound from the birds and mammals above, to the breeze flapping and moving leaves, to branches and large palm leaves that randomly fall, and then down to the smallest ants and termites which are in perpetual motion. It almost seems one can see, feel and hear the foliage as it grows so quickly in this climate along with the constant cycle of rot and decay, renewal and rebirth. Perpetual energy I would say which really does not lend itself to a peaceful environment on the most basic level. The local people in the mountains (the Quechuas) were as colorful as ever in their daily, traditional dress but I think they live a much more difficult life than the residents of the rainforest. Their environment is cold and harsh, windy and dry with little ability to grow crops, hunt or fish. In contrast, rainforest residents have daily portions of protein in the form of fish and eggs plus a variety of fruits to augment their overall starchy diet of rice, plantains and yucca. The Quechuas eat a disproportionate amount of potatoes which leads to a different kind of malnutrition than one commonly thinks of. This creates stunted growth and delayed intellectual development. Although both groups are living extremely basic lifestyles (hand to mouth, if you will) one does not see rampant malnutrition here. In both places, there is a push for clean drinking water so it was great opportunity to see the differences between the centralized systems CONAPAC is using and the individual bio-sand filters being used in the mountains. In the conclusion of contrasts, I most definitely thought the food we ate, its variety and creativity, was far superior in the mountains than to anything in Iquitos, but I think the music here is much better and the people are far happier and more fun-loving. So, my visit was enjoyable and I had a great time with my volunteer-friends from the States (some of whom generously brought me “reinforcements). But I was glad to return home, get warm again and ease back into my life in Iquitos. Next I hope to explore the most southern parts of Perú in Arequipa and Puno and maybe even a quick trip over the border to Bolivia! :)

Before I left town I had the dubious opportunity to part-take in an “ayahauska” ceremony. Ayahauska is a jungle root that has hallucinogenic properties. It’s been used by shamans for centuries to cleanse one of bad “spirits” and make room for good ones. There is quite an industry for it around here and people come from all over the world to participate in these rites and rituals. Some folks will repeat the experience many times over and some have even stayed long-term to be more accessible to the experience or train to become shamans themselves. Since I’ve been here, I’ve been quite curious but never went out of my way to seek it out. As I mentioned in my last blog, my upstairs neighbor was here run retreats and is on her way to becoming fully trained in shamanic practices. She asked me if I’d be interested to try it before she departed and I thought, why not? Since I knew her I figured it was the right time to give it a try. We went to a lodge about an hour from Iquitos and another hour’s walk into the jungle. There were a variety of people there, young and old, and by about 8 PM we got started. The shaman began and continued with a lot of chanting and other rites which I know virtually nothing about. An hour into the ceremony, a helper passed around a cup with the ayahuaska drink for each person to take their portion. Prior to this each person was given his or her own “puke” bucket—sound like fun? Well, after drinking the most disgusting thing you will even try, we waited. And what were we waiting for? Well, to puke, of course!! Yep, that’s the good part. This stuff makes you vomit and for some, even immediate diarrhea. And you don’t vomit just once—oh no!--But at least three times and for some, more. Each round of vomiting is supposed to be a purging of your “bad” stuff and an “opening” for new things in your life. During this vomit phase, most people started to see visions and these can take on endless forms and significances. Each person was then brought to the shaman for further spiritual cleansing and insights. The shaman “sees” things in and about the person and shares his revelations. Well, for me I neither saw any visions nor felt any purging other than to be thoroughly disgusted. The ceremony went on for over four hours and all I could think about was my bed. To top it off, the shaman’s vision for me was to see “toads” in my body. Now I have no idea what that means but it sure doesn’t conjure up the same feelings I suppose butterflies or flowers might have done. So along with my invasive rats at home, I now have toads to add to my current life in the rainforest. My companions, Mags (the neighbor) and her American friend, Dan, have been involved in hundreds of these ceremonies. Dan, who’s in his early 60’s, moved here full time to pursue the ayahauska experience on a deeper, and I assume, more regular basis. As I’ve said before, except for me, every other ex-pat that lives in Iquiots is quite mad! :) So to sum it up, I’m glad I tried it but clearly I don’t have an addictive personally because no one could ever pay me enough to try it again. Perhaps I’m too much of a cynic, especially a religious one, to take any of it seriously? I think for now, if I want an “other world” experience, I’ll stick to my ice, cold Pilsen beer, fresh-brewed in Lima and delivered to my doorstep in cases! I know some of you think I’m a bit complex but really, my needs are very simple :)

Final fun notes. Last week my brother and I shared one of those emails about obsolete words and items that you remember from your youth. You know the kind that your kids look at you sideways when you bring these words up? Well, that got us started on some memories from our childhood. Some were uniquely from our shared, family experiences and some were more general. That first day, we went back and forth with about 15 emails, each of us coming up with long lists of memories. It carried on for several days and I found myself waking up in the middle of the night and making notes! Even this week I’ve come up with a few more and we’re still in the 60’s! Anyway, it was a great diversion and I highly recommend anyone who can, to take a shared walk down memory lane with their siblings. I finally found someone I really like to cut my hair. It’s been so difficult in the almost two years I’ve been here to be satisfied but I think I finally hit pay dirt. Not only is the guy just two blocks from my house but he charges S/.5—with a tip and the current rate of exchange this is $2.12. Now I can continue to afford my ridiculously expensive hair products which I can only get in the States and continue having my friends bring with them on their visits to Perú.

You all may have heard about the floods and landslides in Perú last week? Well, the area where all this happened was exactly the area I was in with my volunteer friends to set up the eye clinic. There were 17 of us and we served over 600 area residents with eye examinations and glasses. Several of our group had gone to Manchu Picchu on the train that was later washed away. The last weekend we were there, the heavy rains started and we experienced them during our stay in Cusco. We departed on Sunday afternoon and it was the next day that all hell broke loose. Our timing could not have been more perfect and everyone made it home safely! It was a wonderful team of friends who helped at the KausiWasi Medical Clinic in Qoya, Perú. I can’t leave without a “shout out” to them all: Heidi, Norm, Lorna, Mark, Becky, Ray, Nancy, Dennis, Carol, Katie, Dick, Jeff, Chad, Colleen, John and my special buddy, Ed! Hope to see you all again in 2011.