Friday, May 29, 2015

May 23 - Visiting an Embara Community

Today we woke up again, this time before the sun. We are traveling to the village of Mogue and need to leave early in order to miss the tide. The boat ride took about an hour and a half and we cauhgt sight of some flat nosed dolphins.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by Emeliano, the village elder who coordinated the music played by the kids there and other indigenous members of the community. They were dressed in traditional Mogue clothing, which for the men was nothing more than a brightly colored loin cloth and the women wore skirts made with beautiful fabrics. 
They played upbeat music to welcome us as we settled in. We were told that the village was ours for the day.



Their houses were called Tambas, build to allow the cool breeze to enter throughout the day and raised off the ground to protect from rainstorms.
Our tents were waiting for us along with a delicious breakfast.
This is a picture of some of us trying Guava for the first time. Very tasty!
When we arrived at the village we nothiced that the people were beautifully decorated with paintings on their body. Our friend, Basilika, made the henna-like ink out of the nectar of a fruit called Jagua. The symbols represented the nature and he culture found in the vilage.
We were able to dress like the village people, and Amir and John even put on their loin clothes like champs. Many of the older women were comfortable wearing nothing above the waist and others had bra-like tops made of beads.
We learned many of their traditional dances used to call upon nature when they are in need of something. This dance we are doing below is called the bee dance. The people call out to the bees and hope they arrive in order to help pollinate their flowers and fruit so that they can have an abundance of food for the community.
After the cultural experience, some of us decided to go on a hike while others stayed behind and played with the children.
That night, we had a big dinnner together and popped open a few bottles of wine while reminicing on our adventures thus far. Visiting this village was such an incredible and humbling experience. These people who had so little were full of endless love and happiness.



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