Recuperating, Machete-Swinging, and Horse Riding

Sunset, Chirikayén, 24 July 2012

            As mentioned in my last post, I got sick again on Sunday, 22 July, and spent most of the following week in bed, coping with stomach cramps, writing in my journal, listening to music, and reading García Márquez’s Vivir Para Contarla and Faulkner’s Sanctuary.

            Otherwise, I managed to squeeze in a few private English lessons with Maira, as well as Federico’s friend Umberto, Monday-Wednesday (23-25 July).  Also, Tuesday (24 July) was Simón Bolívar’s (Venezuela’s liberator’s) birthday, though Chirikayén didn’t really celebrate it.  I myself taught Silvio to play airplane that day (obviously totally unrelated, but was the highlight of my mostly bedridden day)…

On Friday (27 July), upon returning from running errands in Santa Elena, I had to scrub my dishes and produce in the dark (again…).  I then headed to Maira’s, only to find out that I’d missed the Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympics :/, but I fortunately got to see this instead:

View of Chirikayén Tepui on the way back from Santa Elena, Chirikayén, 27 July 2012

View of Chirikayén Tepui on the way back from Santa Elena, Chirikayén, 27 July 2012

The next day, (Saturday, 28 July), I taught Maira’s daughter, Adriana (“Adri”) some Kathak (classical dance of North India), and on Sunday (29 July), I spent part of the afternoon in the Remak River with the two new (American) volunteers, who stayed here with Domingo and Tamara (the chief and his wife) for one week (27 July-3 August).

On Monday (30 July), after about a week of coping with/recovering from my stomach illness, I finally did some physical work.  At 8:30 that morning, Omar and I walked about an hour along the carretera – the dirt road which connects Chirikayén to the highway to Santa Elena – to help with the annual limpieza – clearing out trees and other plants from the sides of the road.

Omar (center) and others getting ready to work in the carretera, Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

While Omar used his gas-powered cutting tool, I sliced through tall grass and scraggy trees with his machete.  Though I brought along gardening gloves, for some reason I didn’t use them until it was way too late – by the time I thought to put them on, I’d already rubbed and burst open a blister on the inside of my callus-less right hand (which now, incidentally – almost two weeks later – still hasn’t fully healed).

Me swinging the machete! carretera, Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

Me + other workers in the carretera, Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

Una langosta (a locust) that jumped on my nose suddenly in the carretera, Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

Omar and other workers in the carretera, Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

After a couple of hours of work, we enjoyed a feast of tuma, casabe, pasta, rice, beef, fariña, and salad, which some of the ladies from the community had been very kindly preparing all morning for us.

The hut where we almorzamos (ate lunch) after working in the carretera, Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

Julia setting up the ‘buffet,’ Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

Good eats! Casabe, beef, and tuma (in pots; plus drinking water in the buckets) Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

My Growing Bowl at the Carretera Feast

Beef, pasta, and casabe dipped in tuma, Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

Beef, pasta, casabe dipped in tuma + rice and salad, Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

Beef, pasta, casabe dipped in tuma, rice, salad + fariña and barbecued beef, Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

Gloria (the ambulatory doctor, who arrived a few days before I got sick), Lixi, and me, almorzando (eating lunch), Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

Gloria munching the cow leg, Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

That afternoon, after I walked back to town with Omar, I felt like swimming, and he needed to work with the cattle just beyond the River Awaraparú.  So instead of going alone, Adri and I ended up riding Omar’s horse, Baygón, about half an hour or so through the savannah (while Omar walked alongside us), and then we swam for a couple of hours in the river while he did his work further up the hill.

Me and Adri riding Baygón to the River Awaraparú, Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

Omar + Baygón, quenching his thirst at the River Awaraparú, Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

Omar + Baygón heading to the cattle from the River Awaraparú, Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

Adri climbing a tree near the River Awaraparú, Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

View of the savannah/Chirikayén Tepui on the way home from the River Awaraparú, Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

Omar riding Baygón back to town from the River Awaraparú (Chirikayén Tepui on left), Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

Adri and me riding Baygón back to town from the River Awaraparú (Chirikayén Tepui on right), Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

Riding Baygón home toward the sunset made for a lovely ending to one of my best days yet in Chirikayén.  However, the previous week wasn’t the happiest; on Monday, 23 July, Sandra informed me that she’d been having pain in her abdomen for a couple of days, so on Wednesday (25 July), she and Federico traveled to the hospital in Santa Elena. 

On Friday (27 July), the doctors informed Sandra that her 7-month-old unborn child had passed away.  Thankfully, however, during the operation last Monday (30 July), they didn’t have to make an incision to remove the baby, and by now, Sandra is feeling okay.

View of the sunset on the way back to town from the River Awaraparú, Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

Adriana, Baygón, and Omar at sunset, Chirikayén, 30 July 2012

On a more uplifting note, I had the opportunity to visit some incredibly beautiful places over the last couple of weeks, so stay tuned for my next few posts.  As they say in Chirikayén, ¡Chau, pues! (roughly, “Bye for now!”)