Megan's Perusings: Two Recent Trips

I've been fairly busy in the past week or so, trying to put together all my information for my University project so that I can start writing, and visiting a couple of places to do research. The first trip was last Friday, when Marion took me to a native community of the Aguaruna people in Bajo Naranjillo. They are indigenous people who have maintained a fairly unique and separate lifestyle to the 'mixed' Peruvians around them (in Peruvian history, the native groups such as the Incas and the Chachapoyas were conquered by the Spaniards, and there was intermarriage that created a race of 'mestizos').

In the past Marion had worked with a Presbyterian church in Bajo Naranjillo, so we went to visit the pastor and his family so that I could do an interview with them. They were very kind in welcoming us to their home, and the pastor was very patient in answering my many questions about the culture of the Aguaruna people.

The houses are quite spread out in the village, and many of them are in the traditional style of wooden walls and leaf roofs. The pastor's house had an open fire at one end and a simple earth floor. This family bathes in the stream/pool just outside their house, and they keep lots and lots of turkeys and chickens and ducks. The pastor has his own 'chacra', which is like a farm, where he grows things like beans, coffee, yuca, banana, sugar cane, sweet potato and peanut. Their native language is Aguaruna, but most of them speak Spanish as they learn it in school. The pastor told me that they do not yet have the Old Testament translated into their own language, though some missionaries years ago had translated the New Testament and a hymnal. Though not as strong as before, there is still an influence of witch doctors in the community.

Interestingly enough, when I was asking about some of the most well known customs, I saw some similarities to the Amish in Pennsylvania! Not that we would call the Amish a 'tribe'... The main similarity was the construction of houses, a community activity in which all the men participate. I thought that was interesting! Perhaps it's done all over the world, and I just don't know about it...

After interviewing and eating, the pastor brought out the typical costume for a man and woman for a special event. They both wear a blue material as a skirt or dress. The women put lots of beads around their neck, while the men have two crossing beaded sashes and a headdress made out of monkey fur. Marion and I tried on the costumes, creating much hilarity, and we mixed the two outfits so that we could wear the beads and the headdress!

My second trip with Marion was to the town of Lamas, about two hours from Moyobamba and near to Tarapoto where the airport is. The town is built on a hill, with about three levels - first level is for the native community of Wayku, where Quechua is spoken; second and third levels are for the 'mestizos' (the Peruvians) with lookout points at the top. We left Moyobamba after church on Sunday morning and arrived in Lamas in the afternoon. We looked around for a while, taking photos and finding a hostel to stay in. In the evening we went in search of the evangelical church. It was the church that Annie Soper and her fellow missionaries had founded in Lamas along with a hospital and theological centre and school (if I remember correctly from the books that I've read). Marion and I were obviously very interested in visiting that church. It took a long time to find it! Everyone we asked sent us in different directions, and we walked in circles all over the centre of Lamas! When we eventually found it, they were very few in number but friendly. Lovely people.

On Monday (only yesterday, but it feels like ages ago!), it was absolutely tipping it down all morning, and my feet got soaked. I put my sandals on after that! We visited a castle that had some nice paintings. When I heard 'castle' I thought of those wonderful English and Scottish ruins that form such an important part of my childhood memories, but this was a new castle, built only a few years ago. There are great views from it across the town, but I'm still not entirely sure what its purpose is. We also visited a museum and went down to the Wayku community for a little while.

In the late afternoon we visited a missionary couple. The husband is Peruvian and is a pastor in Lamas, and his wife is English and is the daughter of the (late) missionaries Edward and Eileen Ball, who were well known in this part of Peru. We didn't stay long, but it was great to meet them.

Because of all the rain, there was a huge landslide on the road between Tarapoto and Moyobamba. This is my third landslide in three weeks! We were in a car with a few other people, and our driver was a confident chap who was speeding ahead of the waiting lorries and buses to get to the front of the queue. We ended up staying there for 2 hours, while the road was being cleared a little and while the cars and trucks that were stuck were being dug out. Marion and I needed to go to the toilet while we were waiting there, so we asked at a little house by the side of the road (this is a rural area, by the way). We were directed through a boggy loch to a little hole in the ground. Not the most pleasant experience, and my feet in sandals became very brown and wet!

By this time, the sun had set and people were trying to clear the road by the cars' lights. When it was a little clearer, our driver decided to plunge forward through the mud. We did get stuck for a while and needed some pushes from behind. The piles of mud and trees and roots that had fallen from the hillside were taller than the car on both sides! Eventually we got through and after waiting a little longer for the traffic to clear, we went speeding on to Moyobamba. The driver was going so fast that I was quite alarmed, but Marion told me that perhaps he was doing that because it was now night time and there was the risk of robbers shooting at the car to stop it and steal all our belongings. That scared me much more than any landslide, so I closed my eyes and tried to imagine that I was in a plane instead. :-)

I'm still quite tired after the trip, and I still have mud in my toenails. But they were very interesting visits to new parts of the area, and it was especially good to see what life is like in a native community.