Salasaca

Something I’ve noticed about the culture here, especially in the indigenous communities, is that there’s always an underlying emphasis on the importance of coming back.  Whenever I go to Muñequitos, even though they’ve seen me every Wednesday for a while and know that I only come on Wednesdays, they always end the day with, “Hasta mañana”.  When I went to Salasaca, the feeling was the same – our guide mentioned several times that he was always available to help whoever might want to do an anthropology project on the community or come back for any reason at all.  Most importantly, he just hoped everyone would come back someday.  I think that’s important to the people in the communities here – not just that you come once, but that you come back…

Highlights from this Week:

• Wednesday – Today is Ash Wednesday, so my family and I went to Mass and we were blessed with ashes, just like in the United States.
• Friday – Greetings from Salasaca!  Naomi and I came with our Antropología class to this indigenous community for the weekend to learn about the culture here.  We watched a demonstration of how yarn is made and got to try carding wool and spinning hilo (thread or yarn).  We also went to our guide’s house to watch his brother-in-law weave on a special loom that wrapped the whole way around his body, which looked really challenging and neat.

• Saturday – We went for a walk this morning to various religious sites around Salasaca.  All the sites had holes dug in the ground, so people could receive energy from the Pachamama (Mother Earth).  Two of the sites also had crosses either made of stone or carved into stone and one was surrounded by aloe.  Seeing how the people of the community combined Christianity and the indigenous religion was very interesting.  We also went on a walk around the hostel to see a number of the gorgeous views in the area.  There were deep canyons and long rivers and everything looked like a painting.  We even got to see three nearby volcanoes: Cotopaxi, Chimborazo, and Tungurahua.  Our guide, Alonso, said we were blessed by the Apus (mountain gods) to see all three mountains in one day.  After dinner, a group of musicians from the community performed traditional music for us.  We clapped along and danced around the fire and enjoyed a perfect end to an awesome day.
• Sunday – After another wonderful Salasaca breakfast, we said “thank you” to the family in whose hostel we stayed and then headed home.

Random Notes:

• Occasionally (very rarely, but occasionally), you will run into problems with people switching out products in bottles for lesser quality ones.  For example, I have been liberally applying sunscreen for the last week and a half and seem to continue burning.  It never even occurred to me that someone might have switched my sunscreen for basic lotion until my professor, who came with us on our Salasaca trip, suggested that might be the case.  So, if you are applying lots of sunscreen and still burning, it’s not you – just go buy more sunscreen (preferably from a supermarket and a different brand than the one you just tried).
• Sábila (aloe) can be used to help heal burns, including sunburns.  Especially if your burns hurt or itch like crazy, I would highly recommend it.  Just get a leaf of sábila, peel it (you may need a knife), and rub the wet, slightly sticky inside of the leaf over your burns.  Ahh, so much better!
• The word for “Lent” is “Cuaresma”.
• Take every opportunity you get to learn a few Quichua words while you’re here.  It’s a really neat language and many of the words work their way into mainstream Spanish here.
• As I’ve mentioned, there is such a thing as a “perfect taxi.”  However, if you want to be really safe, just call Pato.  Pato is one of the host dads in Lumbisí and, even if he can’t come get you, he’ll send his son or one of his brothers to come get you.  (Many of the men in the family are taxi drivers.)  They also charge fair prices and don’t mind driving late at night or early in the morning and are just glad you have a safe ride home.