Baruca

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This is Kate.

Just want to say in the beginning that the pictures don't really line up with the text and most of them are at the bottom of the page. Also, some of the pics and video are in night-vision because my video camera doesn't have a light. I will be putting the videos up later because I am still trying to figure out the best way to do it.

So... our trip this past weekend was quite interesting. We went to visit a native Costa Rican tribe, the Barucans. My private Spanish teacher, Omar, is Barucan and was the leader of the trip. He also teaches at the TEFL school, so there were lots of TEFL students with us as well as some students and a teacher from the nearby Spanish language school, COSI. We all met at the TEFL building to have a short talk first and then departed around 9:45am on Saturday morning.

We had decided to eat lunch in Palmar Norte, which is about 2.5 - 3 hours from Quepos. However, it appeared that many of the TEFL students were hung over, and therefore we needed to stop on the way so they could get some beer to help with that. The way down was very nice. We were riding in tourists vans that fit about 11 people each. There were 18 of us all together plus Omar and his kids. We passed by the palm forests and the teak fields as we ventured south. The land became greener and more lush as we went. Finally, we saw the ocean when we were passing Dominical. That is the furthest south Eric and I have been, so we broke our record! As we kept driving we passed by Uvita and headed up to Palmar Norte.

Once getting there and before we ate lunch, we went to see some mysterious spheres. These spheres are perfectly shaped and made of different kinds of rock, but no one knows what they were used for or who made them. It is hypothesized that the native Indians made them and arranged the stones in the shape of constellations and other meaningful shapes. Some are very large, up to 2.5 meters, and some are small... like 20 centimeters. They are found throughout Costa Rica now in museums and places of honor, but originally most of them were found on or near the Osa Peninsula.

We ate lunch and continued on our way. We started to get into the hills of the reserve. We stopped to hike to the top of a rock that overlooked a river. Omar told us the story of how the Spanish used that river to conquer the Barucans. He also told us of the 2 spirits that come down from each mountain on either side of the river to meet every full moon. They would play like children and then sit together and talk long into the night.

After seeing that place, we tried to go the short way into the reserve. That did not work as it had rained earlier and the vans couldn't get up the muddy hill. We had to go the long way around, but I was glad because it was very scenic. Rolling hills and valleys with mountains in the distance. Very nice. It took awhile to get there, and when we finally did we got out at Omar's parents' house. They have a small house with a tin roof and dirt floors in most of the house. Their living area consisted of a couple chairs and a hammock plus a t.v. Omar's mom was busy preparing a big meal for the guests. While it was cooking, we went to one of the small stores nearby to get a short look at some of the crafts they have for sale in the village. We saw some masks, bags, belts, shirts, and mats. We also got a lesson in how they make the thread and dye from nature. We got to see how to use the looms they have there as well.

After visiting the shop, we went back to Omar's house for dinner. We were served pork, plantains, palm hearts, and rice. It was delicious. We all ate quickly and helped clean the dishes. By then it was dark, and we were heading off to see the dance of the devils! We walked to another part of the village where the chief of the tribe lives. His house also had a dirt floor and tin roof. He was sitting in a hammock that appeared to also be his bed because I did not see where he would have an actual bed. He told us a story about when the Spanish came and what the dance of the devils means. Basically, the Spanish called the Barucans devils when they first saw them b/c they were wearing masks to fight. So, when the Barucans dance, they dress up like devils with masks. The Spanish are represented by a giant box shape that has a bull head on it. The Barucans dance and yelp and taunt the bull. The bull charges them and knocks them down to "kill" them. In the version we saw, which was short, the bull kills all the Barucans. However, in the long version, the Barucan warriors come back to life and kill the bull.

After the dance, we sat around the fire and Omar told us a few Barucan stories. We drank out of bowls full of "chicha", a drink made by Barucans out of fermented corn. It was ok. I was extremely tired and ready to get to bed. After hanging out at the chief's house, we gathered back at Omar's place and he gave us our assigned host families. Anyone that was going out would meet back there in 10 minutes. Eric and I were not going out because we were very tired, so we settled down at our host family's house. It was a small 2-bedroom house. The parents were sleeping in one room and we had the other. Their son was going out with the group. We got a foam pad with some sheets on it. We were basically sleeping on the floor, so, needless to say, it wasn't good sleep.

When we woke up the next day, we were looking forward to seeing the waterfalls and more art. Our host mom had her own art on the porch and we purchased a woven bag from her. We chatted with her for a bit and then we decided to walk around the reservation. We had woken up at 6:30am and we weren't meeting for breakfast until 9am. We saw some beautiful scenery and tons of mango trees! We were quite hungry so we threw up some sticks and got a few mangos for a snack. Around 8am we came back to our host family's house to pick up our stuff. We decided to walk to Omar's house to see if anyone was awake. There were a few people outside on the porch, and it appeared they were eating breakfast. Yay!

We walked up and got some breakfast. People were talking in hushed tones and no one looked happy. We we came out and sat down to eat, we found out we were leaving right after breakfast and all the activities had been canceled! We didn't know why and the girls sitting by us said it was inappropriate to talk about at the time. As more and more people showed up however, what happened came out and it was being loudly and heatedly talked about. Apparently when the group went out the night before, some of the Barucan guys, including Omar, had tried to molest 4 of the girls and called them racist and made them cry when they said no. Also, one guy almost had a Barucan try to fight him. They seemed very traumatized especially since Omar was their teacher at TEFL. Omar did not admit blame though and claimed that the group had been saying racist things about the Barucans and that's why they got mad at them. That was also the reason he gave for us leaving immediately. I am not sure what to believe, because I always thought Omar was a good guy and what they were saying seemed so unlike him. I also felt very uncomfortable because he is my private Spanish teacher and now I don't know if I should continue to take lessons with him. So, there was a lot of shouting and getting angry and discussing the ins and outs of what happened among the group. All this was taking place right on Omar's porch. I think he is probably the only one there that speaks English, so he is the only Barucan who heard what they were saying. However, it was all bad stuff about him. I felt bad for him and disgusted at the same time. I wasn't sure how to feel. I think Eric felt the same as Omar was his teacher at TEFL and he always liked him.

So, around 10am we headed back. The ride home was uneventful. We were exhausted from not sleeping well the night before. We stopped for lunch at a place that wasn't that good and finally got home around 2pm. We were extremely happy to be home. We had also purchased a present for Steve, a warrior's knife, which he liked a lot.

Unfortunately, we did not see the waterfalls and we did not see all the art or all of the reservation, but we did get to see another area of Costa Rica and we did get to experience something of the native culture. I found out today that Omar was asked not to teach this month. It was a decision made by the current students. So, he did not get fired, but he is not working all month. I am still undecided about whether to take Spanish lessons from him. Eric thinks I should, and he was always professional with me, so it is probably ok.

Hope everyone enjoys the pictures and the videos (when they come)!

Pura vida!

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Photos

Park
The spheres we looked at were located in a park.

Train
There was an old train near the park.

Park
A cool, twisty tree.

Park
I love yellow houses! This one was by the park.

Eric
There was a weird root on the ground and Eric was going to eat it. :P j/k

View
Here is a view from the park.

Eric
Eric sitting on a smaller sphere.

Eric
He is standing next to a tree with cool bark.

Tree
Here is a close up of the interesting bark.

Tree
Another interesting looking tree.

Me!
Sitting on a large sphere.

Park
Some cool, painted canisters across from the park.

The river
Here is the river the Spanish used to conquer the Barucans.

The hills
Here is one of the hills near the river that the spirit comes down from.