This past week, for our final group excursion, we headed east to the department of Santa Cruz. It is easy to think of Bolivia as an Andean country - all of the national government is located in the Andes, the two largest indigenous groups are Andean in origin, and until now we had spent all our time there. But, in reality, only one third of the country is located in this mountainous region, and the rest is tropical Amazonia and the dry Chaco. So it makes sense that for our longest trip we would descend to the hot, humid region of Santa Cruz, where life is entirely different.
For the first two days, we lived with families in a small Chiquitano community, six hours from the big city of Santa Cruz. The Chiquitanos are one of the larger original indigenous groups in the area. We lived in groups of two or three because the town was hosting the Plurinational Games while we were there, so many people were very busy with that. Basically kids from ten different schools descend upon the village and compete in various sports such as soccer, volleyball and running for five days. It was quite a scene!
Here is the "house" where Lex and I slept. It is really the weaving space of our host mom, Mercedes, but they hung up hammocks for us inside to sleep in. And much better to be in a structure that lets the air through - the breeze was the only thing that provided any relief from the hot, sticky air!
I really enjoyed cooking with Mercedes and learning the traditional techniques that people there use. The kitchen is simple: a covered outdoor space with a small table, a fire spot and, the most used implement, the taku, which is basically a giant mortar and pestle used to mash meat, banana, yucca, rice, etc.
Here is Mercedes with the taku. The first night we ate majadito, which is rice with shredded charque - a dried piece of beef that is boiled and then mashed in the taku. With boiled ripe bananas on the side.
The cooking fire. A very simple and practical setup with three stones to hold the pot and wood pushed in gradually through the spaces in between.
The next morning we ate masaco: boiled green bananas that are mashed and mixed with cheese (or more charque in our case because Lex, my fellow student, is lactose intolerant). It was delicious!
The banana mash in the taku. Because the bananas weren't ripe, the dish had a very mild flavor.
We headed out to an area of cultivation after breakfast to harvest bananas and plant some crops. All the land is communally-held and everyone works together to cultivate crops and care for animals. They also started an agroforestry coffee project five years ago with help from the government, and everyone participates in the harvest and processing of the coffee beans.
We hacked down a banana tree to harvest the hanging branch of bananas, then planted some corn:
And sugar cane:
We also got to suck on a few pieces of cane, which was delicous! It's hard to beat that natural sweet juice coming straight out of plant!
Their other crops include yucca, sweet potato and lots of fruit trees! Too bad the mangoes weren't quite ripe yet.
In the afternoon, after a lunch of freshly-killed duck, we headed to the pond to cool off. Unfortunately we started sweating again the second we got out! Then we prepared the ingredients to make rice bread the next morning. For this we had to grind soaked rice in the taku and push it through a mesh screen to make flour:
Then we peeled, boiled and mashed yucca, to be added to the rice flour.
The next morning, we headed to our neighbor's house to use her oven to bake the bread:
Mercedes had mixed all the ingredients together: rice flour, yucca, salt, water, oil and lots of cheese. There's really only one kind of cheese here in Bolivia, that has a bit of a sour flavor. I was really into for a while, but I kind of overdosed on it after a month or two!
Scooping out the batter onto pans lined with banana leaves - instead of greasing the pan I think. Though the bread was incredibly oily so I can't imagine it sticking to anything! It was tasty, though very heavy for an already hot morning. We made trays and trays but I could only eat three!
We spent our last few hours learning how to weave on the hanging loom that Mercedes uses:
The weaving is another initiative that began a few years ago to provide an economic opportunity to the women in the community. They make hammocks, bags and shawls mostly. In this photo, the thread has been naturally dyed with plants from the village. There are beautiful blues, purples, pinks, oranges and browns. It was fun to try our hand at the process and see how much care and practice it takes to make a tight, even weave!
The small section that Lex and I did. It would take two full days for Mercedes to complete this whole length!
She also showed me how she makes her own thread from cotton that the community cultivates.
First, a process similar to carding wool, but using a bow of sorts to fluff the cotton.
Then using a tool like a drop spindle, held between the toes, to spin the fibers into thread.
Even though this community visit was a bit short to really get a sense of the people and lifestyle, I enjoyed the time that we spent there. And I hope to try making some of the meals at home! Guess I'll have to carve a taku first!
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