unity), we headed to the bus terminal to get the chiva. The chiva is literally an open-top, American-made Jeep Wrangler into which a minimum of 10 and maximum of 21 people can be squeezed for the ride 45-minute from Apartadó to San José. Chivas don’t leave at any regular time, but rather leave when full. We bought vegetables at another open-air market, got some amazing juice, which is served in a 4-cup measuring cup, and waited for the next chiva to fill up with about 17 people for about an hour. We got to La Holandita, the community farther down the mountain from La Unión, at around 4:30, and readied ourselves for the two-hour hike up to La Unión, most of which I would do on a mule.Many of you reading this have seen part of the documentary mentioned above, which I showed at least 13 times before and during my bike ride to Washington, DC, and which I subsequently know much of by heart. It recounts the story of the peace community of San José de Apartadó, and features the land and people who I am now staying with. This documentary has supplemented my memory of my trip here in August, so the first things that struck me were of the slight changes in the community from the documentary: one of the leaders of the community that is featured in the documentary had cut his hair, one of the children was about 6 inches taller, and the stream where the stones were being taken from to commemorate the community members killed in the conflict was a little lower. We did about half of the two-hour hike/mule-ride up to La Unión in the dark, and at dusk, I started hearing the sound of the sapos, or frogs, and crickets that comprised the soundtrack of the documentary.
The hike was beautiful, and we arrived in La Unión with an almost-full moon to the sounds of faint radios and frequent barks, chirps and clucks. After unpacking the goodies I had brought to La Union (movies, nutella, tahini, a mosquito-netted hammock!) AJ took good care of me, as the day had tired me out, and we lay out in our hammocks and enjoyed watching “bend it like beckham” on our computer. Overall, I am feeling soooo excited to be here! I have learned already today: that there are distinct calls to turn away the aggressively
hungry (but not malnourished) pigs, dogs and chickens that roam the streets here; that a folk-cure for clotting wounds is to pour gasoline on them (though they then still need our non-expert skills and supplies to bandage them); and that amongst our other duties in the community, we are a homework help center for the community children after 6 pm. I am happy to have awoken to the sounds of chickens and an unhappy cow outside, and looking forward to the next couple of weeks.Jelacy, a dear child who lives in LU and smiles a lot
Update: we haven’t had internet access since I got here (and now that it is up, it is veeeerrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyy slow, so I apologize in advance for not returning emails over the next two weeks), so that is why the date I wrote this doesn’t match up to when it was posted! Since yesterday, we went to the posa, or swimming hole, with the children of the community, and then sat with the kids and ate guama, a cocoa like fruit – you suck the sweet casings off the seeds, and then, of course, throw the seeds at each other. I am inexplicably sleeping a huge amount, but am feeling well, and ready to continue meeting community members. As you might be able to tell, things are quiet here as of now...and we pray they continue to be.
