Pachamama

¡Hola a todos! Por fin puedo mostrarte algunos fotos. :) So if you would like to see some pictures that I wasn´t able to upload in previous posts, please feel free to scroll back through and see a few. Most of the pics from this trip will wind up on Facebook anyway when I get home, but thought I´d post just a few for now.

So the pics in this post are from a few different days and aren´t in any particular order. The one on top is of a Pachamama, which is a physical representation of the actual Pachamama. Pachamama isn´t a deity exactly, but in my understanding is more like all things. She is supposed to encompass all things and nurture them. The significance of the sculpture is that it shows male-female duality. The face is supposed to be male, while there is a woman´s breast on top of the head. Then the ear is in the shape of a human embryo. We went to a museum a few days ago, and our guide told us all about this.

This morning... at effing 4 o´clock, we all woke up and got ready to go a winter solstice celebration honoring Pachamama. There was supposed to be a sacrificial llama, but that didn´t pan out, fortunately. I didn´t want to see that. It was still dark when we got there. The stars were out, and frankly, I felt like crap. At least three of us have colds from the kiddos right now. But it was still an interesting festival. Two medicine men were saying prayers over the fire, both burning coca leaves as sacrifice and chewing some. Everyone gathered to watch the sunrise. There was a small crescent moon on the horizon above the mountains, and Venus was looking particularly large and bright just above the moon. When the sun started coming up, it was like nothing I´d ever seen. At home, it´s impossible to see the sun really rise. I can watch the sky turn light, but I can´t actually find the sun on the horizon. And at the beach, it´s different, too, because even though I was able to see the sun coming up, there weren´t actual rays like what I saw today. Well-defined sun rays were visible even before the sun. The picture of the sun on here is from this morning, just after the sun came up. It was really beautiful to watch. There were mountains on my left that had snow on at their peaks. There was a huge temperature change from about 40 degrees when we first went out to I´d say 60 or 65 when we left. People were playing instruments- pipe flutes, drums, and guitars, and singing. In my short experience so far, it seems like Bolivians like to celebrate for any reason whatsoever. I think that´s a good idea. I think about what it would be like to try to get people back home interested in waking up at 4 am to see the sun come up. I enjoyed watching something so simple and yet so special. Everyone held their hands out to the first rays to try to catch the love and new energy. I loved it. The sun is important to us every day, but I think sometimes we forget. I do anyway.

After the ceremony, we were all exhausted and came back and had naps.

Then Daniel, Cari, her husband who just got here, and I went to lunch one last time at Casa de Campo. I enjoyed a delicious and enormous helping of lomo borracho and a mate. I really wish we could have coca leaves in the US. It´s really not a drug. I like to chew on leaves in general, and I happen to really enjoy the smell of these. Plus, they make for a really good tea that truly does help with digestion. I don´t feel as stuffed if I have a cup after lunch. Just because a person has some coca leaves doesn´t mean they´re doing coccaine. That´s actually a really big issue here, because so many farmers are dependent on the sale of coca leaves for their existence. With countries like the US not wanting to allow the import of coca leaves, it hurts the economy of places dependent on it. Personally, I think if everyone could just chew a few coca leaves every day, a lot of people could avoid xanax and prozac, and I think leaves are healthier than lab-formulated chemicals. Whatever. Coccaine wars are also an issue, and I don´t know what to say about that. But I would like to have more trips to Latin America so I can enjoy some more coca leaf, haha. Anyway...

Friday night I think it was, we all went out for Kaitlin´s birthday. She wasn´t feeling well, unfortunately, though. She got food poisoning a couple days before and was still off kilter. No good. It was an Irish pub we ultimately wound up at. I liked it OK, but sometimes I feel like we´re just sitting around staring at each other at the bars here. Not that I don´t enjoy myself. I do. I would just like to hear some music and have some dancing. Oh, and if you ever come to Cochabamba, be advised that the door to the bathroom in the Irish pub doesn´t lock. Someone might open it on you, and you might become embarrassed.

Yesterday was our last visit to La Cancha. I have all my gift buying done. I hope no one is expecting anything too big, because there just isn´t the room in my suitcase. I´m already trying to decide which personal belongings to leave behind so that I can bring home presents. At least no one hissed at me this time.

I can´t believe my month here is almost up. I look forward to seeing you all soon. I will miss the kids, though, especially Belen and Marina. All their latching on and cuddling really breaks my heart. The workers at the orphanage are great, but the kids still want moms and dads of their own. The older kids, who are actually verbal, jump on us when they´re there (when school isn´t in session) and call us "Mi mama, mi papa." I think we´d all like to just bring them home with us. :/

On Thursday, I believe, we are heading out of Cochabamba and into Santa Cruz where we´ll spend a couple days before flying back home. I´ll finally get a chance to wear that hideous bathing suit I bought in Villa Tunari. I don´t know if I told that story yet or not, but anyway, the swimsuits come in plastic bags here as if they were potato chips. The sales lady led me back to some dark room to try it on, but I was incredibly uncomfortable. I said, "No, esta bien. Simplemente lo compro." which means, I´ll just buy it. Ah well, at least I can get in the water. I love getting into the water.

Time to call Dad for Father´s Day!

Peace. Blessings.
-Casie

Oh the last picture on here is of an indigenous woman lighting candles to the virgin in a Catholic Church. On the way to the church, several indigenous women sell flowers on the street, all laid out on blankets. People by them to place before the virgin to honor her and ask for blessings. I thought it was cool to see someone from an entirely different culture practicing some of the same spirituality I was raised with. That´s one thing I have to give the Catholic Church. It´s pretty much the same from country to country. Even though I don´t attend Mass anymore, I do feel a sense of unity when I walk in and see other people, especially from other cultures participating in Catholic practices. I think I just feel connected to these people´s longing.