Pachamama

Today we went to an indigenous ceremony called Pachamama. That means "Mother Earth," and that's what the ceremony was about.  We met at UBP and took a bus to the location.  The location this year seems to have been an odd one- the ex clandestine detention facility La Perla (future post material).  Regardless, that's where we went for the ceremony.  We went early to explore La Perla some, but I won't focus on that because we'll be going again soon to specifically learn about it.  

The site was on a hill.  Two holes had been dug- One whole was empty, but surrounded with food and other possessions.  This hole represented the mouth of Mother Earth. The other hole had a fire in it.  I think that one represented the heart.  There were the flags of each tribe flying in the wind. 

Someone (I think he was the najuan) started things off and covered people with smoke from perfumed wood. Then there were different people who did different things.  Some tended to the fire. Some walked around with a rain stick, Everyone who wanted went to the mouth, drank a little wine, gave thanks to the Earth, and put food in the hole. That was the basic premise of the ceremony.  Since so many people wanted to thank the Earth, we didn't stay until the end.  Apparently, there's a celebration afterwards, with dancing. 

Anyway, we went over to some lunch tables and had comida a la canasta- Everybody brought something to share, and we all ate together.  That was pretty fun.  From there, we returned to UBP.  I went home, and later to a friend's house for a "tailgate" party.  The other US students wanted to watch their team play, so they had this party to watch the game and enjoy choripan together.  Finally, I went home.  I'm tired. And tomorrow's going to be a good day too. Better get some rest. 

Special classes about different cultures

Today was a good day. An interesting day. I had to to go class early today because the daily schedule was modified for some special classes today.  As a student in Argentine Popular Culture, I was required to go to these classes, but they weren't bad.  The first one was an Andean Instrument class.  The instructor had a table full of instruments from the people of the Andes. He explained to us a little about each- what they were used for and how to play them, and he even let us play some of them! Some instruments were used to communicate with others.  Some are used in ceremonies and when they are played together, they represent the unity of man and woman. He told us that most of these instruments were often played while standing in a circle, also representing unity. I love Andean music, so I enjoyed this class.

Then we had a short recess, and came back for a class on Pueblos Originarios (Original People, the indigenous people of Latin America.) The speaker was a member of the Ticas community from the native tribe of the Comechingones. She told us a bit about her people, some of their customs and about a ceremony that was going to take place on Saturday.  The Ticas are very connected with nature.  On the longest night of the year, they have a festival where they say goodbye to the sun, ask it to return, wait all night and celebrate when the sun rises again.  Their chief is called a najuán, which in their language means a servant leader. The flag of the Pueblos Originarios is a square flag, made up of tiny squares of many colors.  From tribe to tribe, the color pattern changes, but the flag is the same.  The ceremony this Saturday is called Pachamama, and they thank Mother Earth for providing for them and sustaining them. 

After this talk, we took a picture and that class was over too. 

At that point, many students were finished.  But since I'm also in Argentine Literature class, I had one more class to go to.  But it was not bad at all. We watched one of my favorite movies- La Historia Oficial.  It's so sad! I might talk about it in a later post. After this class, I was finished too. It was a good day. I learned a lot.