May 16, 2017

May 16, 2017

Since I don't have internet connection here in Selva, I started saving the blog entries in Word files to later publish them on the blog. I just need to ask Tzama from time to time if I can charge my tablet at his house in the village.

Today I woke up in the morning. I had a wonderful sleep. The annoying mosquitoes are a bit of a concern to me. Do they carry malaria? Yellow fever? Something else? But at the same time, I don't want to constantly worry about whether a mosquito has infected me. I do my best to protect myself. Mosquito repellent, I kill any mosquito I catch. And if all else fails, I have Malarone with me.

Another thing that is quite annoying is the capitalization in the German language. I'm finally giving up on it. So, I woke up. Breakfast was served as always on the hill. The hill is where Tzama's house is located. It is very big, with five rooms upstairs and a large, dark room downstairs. The room downstairs is labeled TAWASAP CENTRO CULTURAL. They probably hold bigger events, dances, celebrations, etc. there. The floor, or rather the ceiling, is made of planks with gaps in between. It has happened before that we found pieces from the room above on our plates during breakfast. It's not a big deal. A shout upstairs and the problem is (almost) solved.

After breakfast, Tzama took me to the nursery. I didn't realize it before, so I only packed my valuables in my blue waterproof backpack. I always carry them with me and there are quite a few. Money, passport, tablet, camera, phone, Garmin. Better safe than sorry. I didn't bring water and sunscreen though. Tzama gave me the task of refreshing old plastic planting bags where the seedlings didn't germinate. That meant pulling out the weeds on top, cleaning the soil, and loosening it so that new seeds can be planted. That's the kind of work I love, right Andi?!

Well, here I am, and I'm here to do nothing else and it's going smoothly. I do the work in the planting garden. It is protected by a black net to keep leaves from the trees out. But the net doesn't offer any protection against the sun. And the sun was shining brightly on that day. I tried to stay in the shade and moved the bags one by one to a suitable spot that provided some protection. But over time, I had to admit that the day would end badly if I didn't protect myself from the sun as much as possible. So, around ten o'clock, I made my way back home. I don't really like the path, it's tough. It's less than a kilometer, first through the village, then flat on a path through the jungle, and finally the 50 meters uphill to the house. It's tough in the heat and I'm still amazed at how I managed to carry the 23 kg suitcase up here on the first day.

First, I have to rest a bit, because sunscreen on sweat doesn't do any good. Then a layer of sunscreen, I think it's SPF 100, and some mosquito repellent, two bottles with half a liter of water each, and off I went. I continued working until half past twelve. Then it would be lunchtime, Tzama told me. He had to go to the village himself. Actually, it's because his oldest son was the victim of a murder a little over a month ago, along with another boy, also a Shuar. So, he had to go to the village for the investigation.

I was relieved that it was already half past twelve. Several times, I had to change my workplace because of the sun. Under the roof in front of the tienda, Tzama was with four guests, all of them French. There was a woman who has been living in Ecuador for 28 years and knows Tzama and the people here, and a family, a man, a woman, and their daughter, who will be staying here. The man is an author and collects stories in Ecuador and Peru to write his second book. All stories about indigenous people. He has already published one book, something about the Amazon. I have to ask him for more details.

As always, it was very exciting and interesting to listen to Tzama. He is a simple, straightforward thinker, but a wise man. He calls himself a non-scholar, but with his clear way of thinking, he questions science and incorporates his broad and well-founded knowledge to present a different truth. One that includes the spiritual world and the ancestral knowledge.

Before lunch, everyone quickly went to the swimming pool that the village now has. They must have created a sort of artificial lake in front of the bridge not too long ago, where you can swim and wash clothes. I already went in yesterday and it felt good. It's basically my bath for the next four weeks. After that, we had lunch, fish from the pond and ??? with juice made from a type of blackberry.

Today, the four French guests are also staying in the hut on the hill, as already mentioned. Just a while ago, I heard them sneezing and blowing their noses. So, I went down immediately and asked Tzama if I could also have some of that stuff.

This is how it works: he mixes some water with a fermented plant, it could even be tobacco. He puts the mixture in his cupped hand and you suck it up into your nose. Last time, it kept my nose clear for the whole day. Of course, I wanted the same again, but this time it doesn't work as well. Anyway, I will sleep even without it, and if I snore... not my problem.