Meet the Aguavil family, my friendly and welcoming Tsa’chila hosts! In the introductory phase of the project I agreed to help out with another project to help build “huertos” or vegetable gardens in the community of Los Naranjos. I lived for a week in the Cultural Community Center in a “choza” (palm thatched hut). The first night there, fortunately for me, other tourists showed up.
Fortunate why? -- The Tsa’chilas have adopted many modern ways of living and therefore, do not practice all or many of their traditional cultural customs. So when tourists show up, achiote is applied to the men’s hair, all wear traditional dress and adorn their bodies with temporary tattoos derived from a local plant.
We got a little taste of the old days: food cooked in leaves, music and dancing and explanations of the origins of some customs.
Fortunate why? -- The Tsa’chilas have adopted many modern ways of living and therefore, do not practice all or many of their traditional cultural customs. So when tourists show up, achiote is applied to the men’s hair, all wear traditional dress and adorn their bodies with temporary tattoos derived from a local plant.
We got a little taste of the old days: food cooked in leaves, music and dancing and explanations of the origins of some customs.
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Alejandro my host father is a shawman, as were his father and grandfather. For special ceremonies and as a spiritual healing treatment he prepares “ayahuasca”. After boiling the wood of this plant for over an hour, we all huddled in his yurt where he performed the ceremony involving chanting, spitting of liquid (not sure what it was) on ancient rocks and wood carvings, waving of palm fronds and finally the drinking of the hot beverage. Ayahuasca can have severe effects on some people such as hallucinations, fever and vomiting. The 3 tourists who drank the bitter drink (in their words “foul”) only had slight headaches and uncomfortable sleep. Apparently they had positive and clear auras. I opted out… for many reasons, but used the one that I had work the following day.