Eye Trip: July 2008

To protect the sort-of-innocent, some information in this blog post has been modified...

Two weekends ago, my host mom invited another Peace Corps volunteer and me to an Inti Raymi ceremony to celebrate the summer solstice. I had no idea what I was getting myself into! Because the Incans were sun worshippers, the summer solstice is a pretty huge affair. I thought it was going to be a big parade/festival type event, but it turned out that there were only 8 of us plus a shaman. The ceremony started at 9:30PM when all of us crossed a gushing river on the sketchiest suspension bridge I've ever seen and hiked up the side of a mountain to a small cleared area. The shaman had set up a a small circular seating area and in the center was a firepit with hot coals arranged in all sorts of patterns. North, south, east and west were marked off around the circle and the shaman sat on a ceremonial lion-shaped stool in front of the fire. In front of him was a blanket on top of which he had laid out all kinds of rocks, crystals, herbs, powders, drums, bells, flowers, and bottles of interesting looking liquids, all of which were used at some point during the night. We got up to the cleared area at about 10:30PM and the ceremony lasted until 10AM!!! Unfortunately pictures were not allowed. A (very) abridged list of events if as follows:

1" diameter tobacco pipes hand rolled in corn husks passed around the circle all night long
Drinking a thick green bitter drink called San Pedro made from a cactus in the area that's supposed to cause hallucinations and allow you to talk to the gods (my friend and I decided to sit out on this one)
Having to listen and watch everyone else in the circle gagging and vomiting from the hallucinogenic drink that apparently affected them quite a bit
The shaman drinking firewater (100 proof) mixed with jungle herbs and then walking around the circle and spraying it out of his mouth all over us
Having to see my mom sit on a ocelot skin in front of the fire, lift up her shirt exposing everything and then watch the shaman encircle her with burning branches. This was followed by more alcohol mouth spraying on her stomach, and body slapping with branches and grasses.... all in an attempt to cure her gastritis.
Watching others pour alcohol mixed with tobacco juice into their nostrils from a conch shell and then gagging and puking some more to 'cleanse' themselves (we politely declined, once again)
Burning corn, fruit, and flowers as an offering to the gods
Being pelted with colored sprinkles in the morning
Laughing uncontrollably after being awake for 28 hours when I saw a white carnation in the back pocket of my friend's jeans and thought she was wearing a bunny costume
Sneaking a banana and cheese doodles out of my backpack at 3AM and trying not to crinkle the bag so the shaman wouldn't scold me
Being asked to return to my "place" in the circle when I went to stand on the other side of the fire to avoid passing out from excessive smoke inhalation
Lots of drum banging, bell ringing, conch horn blowing, and chanting
Freezing my ass off since it was drizzling half the night
Getting 6 mosquito bites on my forehead

The guest list only made this event even more interesting:

One Shaman, age approx 40, fond of hand rolled tobacco
Two Ecuadorians, mid-20's, nearly mute
One host mom, age 60, needs to reduce white rice and cheese intake and increase fiber consumption
One 6'5" skinny German guy, age approx 58, claimed that the Finnish are so drunk that they fall over while pushing their kids in strollers
One English guy, age aprox 50, did way too much acid and shrooms in his life and now speech is permanently slurred. chronic chain smoker coughing up phlegm all night long
Wife of English guy, age approx 50, ex-PeaceCorps volunteer, chain smoker, strong believer in the power of the woman
Two Peace Corps volunteers, age 23 and 28, freaked out

The next ceremony is for the fall equinox... not sure if I'll make it to that one!

Aside from this experience I've decided to move out of my host mom's house and get my own place. After looking at about 10 places I finally came across a good one. It is by far the strangest building I've ever seen in my life, complete with robot statues in the fence, an observatory on the roof, lighting bolt doors, and hexagon-shaped windows. I'll probably be moving over there this weekend and I'll let you know if there's an alien dissection room in the basement. A few pics are below. Hope everyone is doing well!