During my first few days in the indigenous village of Chirikayén, I swam, bathed, and hand-washed
dishes – all in the same place – hung out with my new host family, and got sick
– again…
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| My new home, Chirikayén, 30 June 2012 |
Before
moving to Chirikayén a couple of weeks ago, my last few days at the foundation
flew by. Between Sunday and Thursday
(24-28 June), six new volunteers (four from Germany,
two from the U.K.)
arrived at Aldeas de Paz. On Monday and
Tuesday afternoons (25-26 June), I taught my last few English classes at the
primary school, Escuela Michelena y Rojas.
And on Wednesday (27 June) afternoon, some kids from the community came
to the foundation for English class, etc.
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| A frog I found sleeping on a plate in the kitchen, Foundation Grounds, Santa Elena de Uairén, 26 June 2012 |
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| Same frog as above – he jumped onto my leg, Foundation Grounds, Santa Elena de Uairén, 26 June 2012 |
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| One of my last days teaching English at Escuela Michelena y Rojas, Santa Elena de Uairén, 26 June 2012 |
That
night, I went on my final salida with
the other volunteers. Geder and I walked
to Tuma
Serö, a sort of food court with empanadas
and many other typical Venezuelan dishes.
I ordered a cachapa – a large
pancake filled with a slab of salty, white cheese and smothered with “mantequilla,” which literally means
“butter,” but refers to margarine here.
I also had a jugo de mandarina,
while Geder munched on empanadas.
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| Cachapa at Tuma Serö, Santa Elena de Uairén, 27 June 2012 |
For
my last Recreation Day (Thursday, 28 June), about fifteen kids showed up at the
Foundation – more than I’d ever seen at once!
The next morning (Friday, 29 June), after shopping at the market with
the other volunteers and working on my blog at Panadería Santa Nana, Kelvis
suddenly picked me up around 11 am, saying that I had to leave in an hour to
move to Chirikayén.
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| Orejita (little ear) cookie, Panadería Santa Nana, Santa Elena de Uairén, 29 June 2012 |
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| Susana + orejitas (little ears) cookies, Panadería Santa Nana, Santa Elena de Uairén, 29 June 2012 |
Fortunately,
I’d mostly packed my bags the night before, so we made it to Plaza Bolívar, the
pick-up/drop-off place to go to/from indigenous villages/Santa Elena, by 12:30
pm. Moritz also moved out of Santa Elena
that day, but headed to his home country (Germany), not an indigenous village
like me (: .
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| Plaza Bolívar, the indigenous hangout spot in town, Santa Elena de Uairén, 29 June 2012 |
At
the Plaza, I met my host ‘mother,’ Sandra (who is actually the same age as me),
and her 6-year-old son, Silvio. We then made
the 1.5-hour journey (first on paved, then dirt, roads) to Chirikayén in a
(truck) taxi with a few friends.
Once
we arrived, I helped Sandra put away groceries and prepare a late (post-3 pm)
lunch – spaghetti with chicken and vegetables – for me and my host ‘dad,’
Federico (28).
Next,
Sandra’s 9-year-old sister, Solange, helped me wash dishes (in the river) and
showed me around town a bit – the bodegas
(stores, not taverns), the iglesia (church),
the canchas (playing fields),
etc. At one point, we stopped by the bodega where I sat at on Father’s Day;
turns out, it belongs to Sandra and Solange’s aunt, Maira, whose brother, Omar,
works there too.
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| View of Chirikayén Tepui from the main cancha (playing field), Chirikayén, 29 June 2012 |
From
4:30 to 10 pm, we had electricity, so unfortunately, the TV stayed on that
whole time. After Solange’s tour, I walked
five minutes to the river, where I had one of the most relaxing baths of my
life.
That
evening, for dinner, Sandra cooked arepas
with cheese and onion, plus fresh casabe
and tuma (the spicy soup-like stuff they
dip casabe in), with Cerelac (sweetened
powdered milk stuff) – a very typical indigenous dinner.
On
Saturday (30 June), after washing the dishes and eating breakfast, I gave my
host brother and sister, Silvio and Alexandra (1.5 years old) some gifts –
stuffed animals for both, plus an Opposites game for him and an ABC/123 puzzle
for her. I then spent the rest of the morning
playing with Silvio and his new toys.
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| Alexandra, me, and Silvio with their gifts, Chirikayén, 30 June 2012 |
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| Saturday lunch: carrot salad with chicken and rice, plus casabe (below), Chirikayén, 30 June 2012 |
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| Enormous amount of casabe, Chirikayén, 30 June 2012 |
That
afternoon, after lunch, Silvio, Federico, his brother Rodolfo, their friend
Elmer, and I walked twenty minutes or so to a small waterfall in the Paruwé
River, where we swam for a bit. The
views along the way were spectacular!
A Short Hike to the Paruwé River
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| Silvio + the Gran Sabana, Chirikayén, 30 June 2012 |
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| Silvio + the Gran Sabana, Chirikayén, 30 June 2012 |
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| My host ‘dad’ – Federico – Silvio, and me (Chirikayén Tepui behind), Chirikayén, 30 June 2012 |
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| A langosta (locust) we found, Chirikayén, 30 June 2012 |
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| Chirikayén, 30 June 2012 |
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| Elmer and the Paruwé River, Chirikayén, 30 June 2012 |
I
woke up quite early the next morning (Sunday, 1 July) due to a stomach ache,
which eventually turned into the worst, if you catch my drift.
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| My first meal with the whole family: pinchu (skewer of barbecued chicken and pork I bought from a neighbor), panquecas with cheese, tuma, and casabe, plus oatmeal… made into a drink, Chirikayén, 30 June 2012 |
My
host parents, though they were very concerned and insisted that I rest all day
(and thankfully, I followed that piece of advice), didn’t really know what to
do. Federico ended up traveling all the
way to Santa Elena just to buy me tons (20L) of agua mineral (bottled water), which was really sweet of him.
However,
it wasn’t until I’d been sick for over 12 hours that my host parents told me
that Chirikayen has an ambulatory…which is actually right across the street
from our house. In the evening, Sandra
called the Aldeas de Paz director, Manfred, to tell him I was sick, and
thankfully, Ashley, an American nursing student interning with the Foundation,
was there to tell me exactly what I needed to do.
If
it hadn’t been for her, and the friendly nurse at the ambulatory, who gave me
just what I needed, my host parents thought I ought to travel to a clinic in
Santa Elena the next day. I’m happy to
say that all in all, everyone together – my caring host parents, my helpful
director and fellow volunteer, and the nurse – caused my illness to pass rather
quickly.
And
what was it that made me sick? The water. I assumed
that my host parents had boiled the water they served me, but apparently
not. Now, I avoid tuma and other indigenous soups/sauces (made with river water), and only drink agua mineral o hervida (bottled or
boiled water)!
Next
post is all about my first full week here… ¡Ciao for
now!
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