Two seperate worlds, but one in the same.
Last week was my first week working at the Programa de Salude Williche. Which is a health centre run by the Indigenous community. The program offers about 5 different forms of treatment, from medical doctors, aromatherapy, natural medicines and reiki. The people who work there are really nice and the centre is built on ancestral grounds, or land that is sacred to the Williche. Right now I’m more or less observing what goes on in the centre, and building relationships with the people who work there. It’s hard to help out when I don’t have the language but I do what I can, either helping Rosa with medicines or helping Norma to make pansitas (rolls). I was invited to stay in the centre over night, and this is a very good thing from an anthropological perspective. So I spent Wednesday and Thursday night there. The view from the centre is amazing; the land is so much like home. I enjoyed my time there but was glad to make it back to Castro for the weekend.
Health Center
Friday night started off with the Birthday of Carminsita, another woman who lives in the house. In Chile they have the “brazo de reina” cake, which translates into the Queens arm, and it was delicious. I wonder if there is another version of this cake, only with chocolate instead of caramel, the king’s leg perhaps? I also tried another Chilean drink called Fanshop. They mix beer and orange pop, I will try anything once and this I don’t need to try again; even though I will drink pop and wine (calimocho). Then it was off to the disco for Reggaeton: round 2.
Saturday was a very lazy day, and the first one I’ve had in awhile! It was nice to not have to do anything, well except make my dessert. Cecilia and her friends decided to have a “fiesta de postre”, an international dessert party. I decided to make apple crisp, fairly easy and the ingredients were available. It defiantly went over well; there were also desserts from Ecuador, Columbia, Brazil, Chile and Chiloé. Complete with pisco sour and wine in cantalope. My stomach was full and I could feel my teeth rotting from all the sugar!
postres
On Sunday we awoke at 5:00am to get ready for the “fiesta de Jesus Nazareno” that took place on the small island of Caguach. The boat was leaving at 6am, because it took us about 4 hours to get there. Sunrise on the Pacific Ocean (√), it was a long, cold trip but fun non-the less. Shortly after we arrived the mass started, and it took place outside of the church. After the mass, which included a lot of traditional music and singing there was a break. Then started the procession, which is a very interesting parade of sorts. They start off with flags, followed by musicians, then they take the statues and figurines out of the church and parade them around. This is definitely a central/south American thing. When the Jesuits christianized cultures they would mix Christian beliefs and Saints with the ceremonial practices of the original culture. Thus today you have religious processions, why they do this I’m not exactly sure, but it must be more than just taking the statues out for some fresh air!
Sunrise
Caguach
musicians
Can I get a Priest with a mircophone?
procession
Once all of this was over it was back to the boat, TOTAL CHAOS! Probably plus three hundred people trying to get on different boats to get home. This was the funniest part of my day, Ceci running around trying to figure out which boat to get on, because it was not the same one we came on. Then it’s off with your shoes because you have to get in a little rowboat, to get to the bigger boat, oh by the way the row boat is old and sinking. We probably had to travel 15 feet or so, but it was hilarious. We all managed to make it on the boat and were totally exhausted; two nights with little sleep and lots of sun can make you a little loco. After 3,4 or 5 hours I could not wait to get off that boat (and I like boats), then when we were close to home we heard shouts “delfíns, delfíns”. About 3 dolphins were swimming right under the front of the boat, breaking the surface for air, absolutely amazing. They were going so fast that none of my pictures really turned out. For me it was the perfect end to a long day, well that or our late supper.
Which boat?
Flooded boat
Once again this week I’m working at the Health Centre. Yesterday I was able to visit one of the Indigenous communities, with people from the centre. Rosa and Enrique held a sort of clinic in a small; well I don’t really know how to describe it, it was not really a hut, more like a shelter. Guequetrumao is poor, very poor; I mean no power, no running water, like a large encampment. There is probably about 50 ppl living in this community, and you need a car with 4-wheel drive to get down the dirt road. Many of the health problems for the Indigenous people here are the same as home diabetes, depression and high blood pressure. The people themselves are wonderful, I felt very peaceful there. They live this way because it is their land, their ancestral land, they don’t choose to live without power. That choice is not available to them because of their level of poverty and other reasons. This was my first real experience “in the field”, and it’s difficult for me to describe my feelings about it. Obviously I felt sad and empathic towards the people because of their level of poverty, and the injustices these people have undergone and continue to undergo, but personally it was a “positive” (?) experience. I guess the best way to put it is that I met many amazing people and each day my respect and my heart grow for the Indigenous people. Some times I feel like I am in two different worlds here, one is the weekend adventures, and the other is with the Williche.
-[)
Health Center
Friday night started off with the Birthday of Carminsita, another woman who lives in the house. In Chile they have the “brazo de reina” cake, which translates into the Queens arm, and it was delicious. I wonder if there is another version of this cake, only with chocolate instead of caramel, the king’s leg perhaps? I also tried another Chilean drink called Fanshop. They mix beer and orange pop, I will try anything once and this I don’t need to try again; even though I will drink pop and wine (calimocho). Then it was off to the disco for Reggaeton: round 2.
Saturday was a very lazy day, and the first one I’ve had in awhile! It was nice to not have to do anything, well except make my dessert. Cecilia and her friends decided to have a “fiesta de postre”, an international dessert party. I decided to make apple crisp, fairly easy and the ingredients were available. It defiantly went over well; there were also desserts from Ecuador, Columbia, Brazil, Chile and Chiloé. Complete with pisco sour and wine in cantalope. My stomach was full and I could feel my teeth rotting from all the sugar!
postres
On Sunday we awoke at 5:00am to get ready for the “fiesta de Jesus Nazareno” that took place on the small island of Caguach. The boat was leaving at 6am, because it took us about 4 hours to get there. Sunrise on the Pacific Ocean (√), it was a long, cold trip but fun non-the less. Shortly after we arrived the mass started, and it took place outside of the church. After the mass, which included a lot of traditional music and singing there was a break. Then started the procession, which is a very interesting parade of sorts. They start off with flags, followed by musicians, then they take the statues and figurines out of the church and parade them around. This is definitely a central/south American thing. When the Jesuits christianized cultures they would mix Christian beliefs and Saints with the ceremonial practices of the original culture. Thus today you have religious processions, why they do this I’m not exactly sure, but it must be more than just taking the statues out for some fresh air!
Sunrise
Caguach
musicians
Can I get a Priest with a mircophone?
procession
Once all of this was over it was back to the boat, TOTAL CHAOS! Probably plus three hundred people trying to get on different boats to get home. This was the funniest part of my day, Ceci running around trying to figure out which boat to get on, because it was not the same one we came on. Then it’s off with your shoes because you have to get in a little rowboat, to get to the bigger boat, oh by the way the row boat is old and sinking. We probably had to travel 15 feet or so, but it was hilarious. We all managed to make it on the boat and were totally exhausted; two nights with little sleep and lots of sun can make you a little loco. After 3,4 or 5 hours I could not wait to get off that boat (and I like boats), then when we were close to home we heard shouts “delfíns, delfíns”. About 3 dolphins were swimming right under the front of the boat, breaking the surface for air, absolutely amazing. They were going so fast that none of my pictures really turned out. For me it was the perfect end to a long day, well that or our late supper.
Which boat?
Flooded boat
Once again this week I’m working at the Health Centre. Yesterday I was able to visit one of the Indigenous communities, with people from the centre. Rosa and Enrique held a sort of clinic in a small; well I don’t really know how to describe it, it was not really a hut, more like a shelter. Guequetrumao is poor, very poor; I mean no power, no running water, like a large encampment. There is probably about 50 ppl living in this community, and you need a car with 4-wheel drive to get down the dirt road. Many of the health problems for the Indigenous people here are the same as home diabetes, depression and high blood pressure. The people themselves are wonderful, I felt very peaceful there. They live this way because it is their land, their ancestral land, they don’t choose to live without power. That choice is not available to them because of their level of poverty and other reasons. This was my first real experience “in the field”, and it’s difficult for me to describe my feelings about it. Obviously I felt sad and empathic towards the people because of their level of poverty, and the injustices these people have undergone and continue to undergo, but personally it was a “positive” (?) experience. I guess the best way to put it is that I met many amazing people and each day my respect and my heart grow for the Indigenous people. Some times I feel like I am in two different worlds here, one is the weekend adventures, and the other is with the Williche.
-[)