Barely a week after we got back from La Paz, we returned to the Cochabamba airport at 5:00am to depart for Santa Cruz! The flight was short and painless, but I can't say the same for the bus ride. We had a 6 hours ride from Santa Cruz to Concepción... we stopped in San Xavier for lunch and there was a festival going on, and because we've all been in Bolivia for so long, we all got to eat the delicious fair food! I paid 20 bolivianos for a delicious skewer of beef, sausage, onions and peppers, a side of yuca and cheesy rice! It was so satisfying and the perfect meal to tide me over until dinner later that night! Most of the towns in the Amazon were colonized by Missionaries and when the missionaries arrived they moved the indigenous people into their new 'city.' The cities were literally built around the church, and the missionaries showed the indigenous people an entirely new way to live, to organize themselves and of course shared their religion. Even groups that no longer have missionary influences are still practicing the same organization and agrarian techniques that missionaries taught them decades ago. We visited la iglesia in San Xavier and it was quite incredible. When the missionaries came over from Europe they used the same Baroque style that was prevalent there to build the churches in Bolivia. But there isn't nearly the amount of stone available here, so they used wood and adobe instead and the carvings and intricate detail is mind blowing! When we entered the church I was sure I had been tele-ported to Europe. I was no longer studying abroad in Bolivia, I was in a beautiful Catholic church in Germany or Spain or really anywhere but Bolivia!
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| La Iglesia de San Xavier |
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| The altar.. remember I'm in the Amazon of Bolivia... |
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| This is all wood... |
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| This little boy followed us around the church trying to sell us candies, and I didnt' buy any, but he wanted his pictures taken with the bells so I think we're even! |
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| The deliciousness that is Bolivian fair food! Photo Credit: Kai Neander |
After exploring the plaza we boarded the bus and continued our journey to Concepción. We finally made it and it turned out our hotel as really an oasis! There were hammocks, a pool, and tons of plants! It really felt like I was in the rainforest, although we weren't there quite yet. Luckily we didn't have anything else to do but eat dinner that evening, so we just rested until then! We had about an hour to relax before we went on a tour of the Church museum in Concepción. It was interesting to learn about the history of the church and the reason behind the carvings on the pillars, but it was mostly wooden saints in various stages of disrepair which after four or five rooms gets old. But the last room was fascinating! It was dedicated to the architect of the church and showcased many of his other works, his plans and to scale models! Although my heart ached a little because many of the blueprints and plans were on paper in pencil and were not protected by any glass or anything! And with the humidity and hot weather it's a miracle they are still intact! But I guess if they've lasted this long, what's another 50 years? After the museum we headed over to the church, which was somewhat awkward because Mass was about to start (it being 7:00pm on a Sunday night) so when a bunch of gringos walked in with cameras I think a few people were a little upset. I took a few photos and left, which I think was a good decision. A few of my classmates stayed for part of the mass, but dinner was more important! It was a typical Bolivian meal, but with a few new additions of heart of palm, fresh pina, and the table lacked llajwa (spicy salsa)... but we were hungry so I'm not complaining!
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| Museum of la igelsia de Concepción |
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| My favorite room full of the work of Martin Schmid who also happened to be a Jesuit missionary |
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| Inside la Igelsia de Concepción before Mass |
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| The pillars are carved like that to mimic the vines of the forest |
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| Maybe my favorite part of the church! "You came here to talk to God, turn off your phone." |
The next morning we were up bright and early to visit Santa Rita, a Chiquitana indiegnous group that lives about 40 minutes outside of Concepción. We spent about an hour and a half talking to three men and three women about the village. They have lived in Santa Rita since their grandparents left the Hacienda (and partial slavery) and moved their families to the other side of the forest. They are all Christian and have a large church near the center of their village and attend mass every Sunday. The children attend school in the village but the teachers come in from Concepción. The children also learn Spanish and some children go on to high school, which is in Concepción. Right now there are about 12 Santa Rita teens at the high school, and they all live in one house in the town, without having to pay rent! For the most part they are able to cook and take care of themselves, but there are two or three mothers that rotate living with the students in the town to make sure they are eating properly (I'm convinced all parents are the same)! The Chiquitano are proud that their children are attending school, but are very conscious that their children are not learning the traditional lessons of their community. For example, each family in Santa Rita has their own garden and in the garden are plants for eating, healing and medicinal purposes, dyeing fabric and construction! Pedro showed us his garden and we easily spent over half an hour talking about the different purposes of only a few of the many plants he had! We asked how many plants he had and his response was that when his grandfather was alive the gardens had even more plants, but they have lost a lot of the knowledge over the years. And because the children spend their days in school they don't learn the uses of all the plants from their parents and over time more and more home remedies are lost. Because they are aware of this phenomenon I think they are making an extra effort to teach their children. But the other side of this problem is that the children don't always want to learn about the traditional ways of life as Santa Rita isn't completely isolated anymore. The Chiquitano are able to buy things from Concepción and the school teachers are from the town as well, which exposes the children even more to this other world that seems to operate very differently from what they know. But their parents are still trying to share their knowledge of plants, because if you're sick and Concepción is 40 minutes away, you need to know which berry to eat to feel better! Plus, for child birth most women prefer to stay in Santa Rita. All of the women we talked to had their babies at home with the help of their mothers and those magical plants. They said that some women travel to the town hospital, but the men seemed to be the ones that thought that was a good idea. Then again, they aren't going to be the ones with contractions, giving birth and screaming...
They asked us a few questions, but for the most part the only things we talked about in regards to the US was that Bolivia and the US don't get along. Although they did ask us where we were from, and we said "Everyone is from the US." Then a few minutes later, they pointed at Dia, Ajai, Gabrielle (who are African American) and Heleena (who is Indian) and said, but where are they from? They refused to believe that they were from the US, which gave us an interesting look into their perspective of Americans -- that we are all gringos. Although they did know that Barack Obama is our president and that he's black... so I'm not sure how they deal with that anomaly. Anyway, we went on our garden tour and then ate lunch which the women were proud to inform us that the chickens had just been killed and didn't have any hormones in them! (And it was amazing chicken!) A small band sat in the shade and played music for us and some people got up to dance. I saw weavings so I headed that way and ended up talking to Mercedes about her tejidos. Each family has their own loom, which they make themselves and it takes about three days to make one tejido. She pointed out all the natural fibers and colors they use, and which ones were dyed. I really enjoyed talking to her, and although she was a bit shy I think she was proud to be showing off her work! Our last stop in the village was the Lagoon. When we arrived there were a few women doing laundry and some children swimming. A few of my classmates got in, but I opted to stay dry and just stick my feet in! Although in the Amazon heat I'm sure it was quite refreshing, maybe if I had packed my swimsuit!
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| A few of the Santa Rita residents we spoke with |
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| Pedro showing us his garden We all got to try these berries, they're to prevent diarrhea and the skin is sour, but the inside is deliciously sweet! |
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| Perdo's backyard... |
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| The band! When I asked to take their photo they told me to wait, all took off their hats and then posed for the picture! |
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| This woman is one of only 4 people to speak her language! Can you imagine that? She's trilingual, she speaks the almost dead language, Chiquitana and Spanish! |
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| My new friend Mercedes and her loom |
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| The tejidos! There was an orchid festival a few days before, hence all the orchids painted on the tejidos |
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| La communidad |
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| Walking to the lagoon |
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| The lagoon I have no idea where that water pump goes to... |
I'm going to stop this post here, because the rest of the day was more environmental and ecologically driven and this post is long enough!
To two days spent in two distinctly different, but connected worlds,
Carly
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