During our travels to the Amazon, one of the first villages we had the pleasure of visiting was Palmeras ll. Villagers from Palmeras ll are part of the Yagua tribe. We had three unique experiences with the village. First, we got to learn how to cook a traditional meal, papa rashika, with some of the woman from the village. Second, we got to experience their culture and puchase hand made crafts unique to thier culture. Third, we got to go to the village and deliver school supplies to the community with Conapac and their Adopt-A-School program. During the activity we made traditional food with three amazing cooks, Dexie, Linda, and Delphine. We did some hands on learning how to prepare and cook the fish along with getting to skew (and then try) larva. We also tried different fruit. None of the woman could speak english so we tried our best to communicate with them with the help of Roldan and the little Spanish we knew. The second experience we had with the people of the village is when we went to an area where the descendants of people of the Yagua tribe gave us a performance. First, we all had achiote (similar to paprika) applied to our faces. This was because centuries ago the Yagua tribe would rub achiote all over themselves because it is a natural mosquito repellent. We then had the unique opportunity to watch and then participate in traditional dances along with traditional music. Next we learned about how the men would use blow guns to hunt for animals. We all took turns trying out the blowgun and trying to hit the target. After learning a little bit about their culture, we had the opportunity to purchase hand made crafts unique to this culture. When first arriving to this village and immersing ourselves into this community, we all felt a little unsure of things as this was something so different than any of of us had ever experienced in our lives. It was a great way to start gaining empathy and understanding the people of this region of the Amazon.
LENA ARMIJO
Yagua VillagE/Palmeras II