Flower baths and chainsaws

Hello friends

This week I turned 34. Not that I am someone who has ever really embraced the whole birthday age thing but there was a poignancy in this day that I felt to share that really sums up the random daily experiences I am having here in Peru.

My day started with a flower bath. A ritual I come to familiarize myself with working with Curandera’s in this country. Usually this pleasurable experience happens prior to ceremonies and treatments. This one was different however, as a close friend of mine gifted me with the flowers as a birthday present. This gift had such a profound effect on me, as the flowers seemed to have the scent of my family and friends. I prepared the flower bath the previous night under the stars and sang in the noisy silence of the Amazons nocturnal creatures and insects. I tugged at flower petals dropping them into the water filled bucket and allowed the unforced sounds of harmony to release from my throat. Emotions rose and I cried for the first time since this whole thing with Mum started. I cried for my pain physical and emotional, I cried for my family and my friends. I cried for the Amazon and the ignorance of it’s people who are destroying it in blatant ways and cried for the potential of loosing Mum.

It was weird as it wasn’t about the cancer taking her but more about her story of traveling out to the retreat the day before on one of the crazy over packed and over stacked mini buses. The driver who was falling asleep at the wheel had a near miss with a little boy on a push bike who had veer into the middle of the road and to avoid the kid the bus had to run off the road into a muddy ditch. A potentially fatal situation that shook up even the most fearless Peruvian. Those emotions that were injected into her body in that incident some how transferred themselves onto me and I was now a conduit for tears. I sang and cried and sang and cried into the night until there was only song left and that is what still remains today. The song of the earth that I feel so deeply.

I didn’t dream that night.

I awoke on my birthday to the thought off washing away my fogginess with that flower bath of tears. I am now 34, my Christ age now behind I was able to reflect back on my year of 33 and what I noticed was that me being in service to my family and community my greatest potential on this planet was revealed to me.

After my bath I made one for Mum and resided for a light breakfast of rice and eggs in the dinning Tambo. I practiced a bit of Spanish with Mum and went back to my hut to chill in the hammock and work on a peace of timber I had been widdling. (Very old man styles I know.)

After a couple of hours I was summons by Otillia’s son Neno to be with Mum for one of her treatments. For the past 4 days Mum had a resin plaster smeared over the largest tumors on her left breast. This was to draw the tumor to the skins surface. Nearly everyday for the past 7 weeks Otillia has been working on this area intensively with massage. The idea to break the cancer away from the breast wall and excrete it by force out of her nipple. Well as I sat witness I watched and felt this process happen. The top section of the tumor broke away from of the breast wall and was moving down into a position behind the nipple. Then Otillia would squeeze and rub the tumor forcing it to seep out of the pores of her nipple. This amazingly didn't seem to hurt Mum even though she was using a lot pressure. Everybody was very excited by this and Mum was able to weep with joy as her hard work is paying off. The pain of the treatment hits her later on when resting but she deals with it gracefully and great-fully.

Now one of the things that have amazed me with these South American dudes is their ability to build their homes from the natural habitat. Their constructions are very simple but effective. The houses we live in are called Tambo’s. The frame work are straight sapling trees. The floor and walls are boarded planks and the roof is made with weaved leaf thatched roofs. When I first arrived I often pondered on how the got their materials in as the timber factory are miles away and to carry these massive 25 x 15 x 3 meter planks from the main road through the jungle into camp would be a mission and a half.

The answer to these questions were answered however when Neno produced from under his bed (of course) the biggest chain-saw I have ever seen in my life. This Hasqivana beast has a blade over a meter and a half long.
He and a couple of worker mates would head of into the Jungle spend three hours making alot of noise and the come back huffing and puffing with two of these planks freshly cut on their back using a interesting system of tying a support rope around their foreheads to balance the massive weight with the neck muscles.

Intrigued by how they actually cut these slabs with this massive thing. I figured that on my birthday I would just ask if at some time they would show me how they use a chain-saw.
In my broken Spanish my translation must of come across as. “Can you show me how to mill a tree now.” With massive smiles on their faces and the enthusiasm of kids with a new xmas toy they jumped up and started oiling their pride and joy and sharpened its blades. They sent me off to put some boots on and were waiting for me on the path to show me what they do best.
I have to admit I was enjoying my day of nothingness but the enthusiasm of these guys to share their knowledge and skills I couldn’t refuse. They wouldn't of understood me anyway.
Half an hour later I’m wielding this massive tool, cutting blanks for the next Tambo that is in construction. The paradox hit me whist watching Neno in his thongs (might I ad) hacking into this once great tree. There is such a fine line between living and dying. In order for Neno and his family to live they need to kill this tree. This seems to go for all of us in all our homes. This was the closest I have ever come to this process and in this way I feel alot closer to the earth. There seem to be an understanding from this particular tree of it’s purpose. I suppose it is just like killing an animal yourself before you eat it instead of just buying from the supermarket. In this way there is a chance to thank what you are killing so to serve your purpose on this planet.
If in fact this can be just.
The parody of existing as a human being slapping me in the face again.
So I sang a song to the earth an retired from my duties.

I took another bath had, some lunch and resided into some sleep. Awoken by the dinner bell on dusk, I donned my mozzie armor and joined Mum for dinner. Mum had a thought there was some kind of surprise awaiting me but dinner was more rice and eggs so there was no surprise there and the camp was empty except for a couple of the working staff.

We enjoyed each others company a pretended the candle in the middle of the table had a cake under it and I blew it out. I was tired and ready for bed when the family arrived home. They had gone into town to get takeaway chicken, rice and chips. Now town is nearly two hours away some you could imagine the state of the chips sitting in a polystyrene box were in. There gesture was so sincere. They were so beautiful they had even made me the biggest chocolate cake with
Feliz Compleanos Roberto written on top.
(Happy Birthday Roberto) and Neno the comedian place one of those never go out candles in the middle so everybody got to have a big laugh as I struggled to blow it out. Such simple humor but such joy. They showered me with gifts and so I gave back with guitar and song. Otillia went and got her tape recording device to record some of my songs. So now on some quiet nights I here them playing me loud and distorted (just the way they like it over here) on their little tape player. It’s all a bit surreal hearing yourself in the distant jungle on the radio.

In some way we are a part of this family now and they a part of ours. I hope the future allows this connection to stay close as I hope some of you my friend will have the privilege to experience something similar to this in your lives. It’s what enriches our soul that are the true riches we have. Right now I feel loaded.

I hope to here from you guys soon. If the diagnosis is correct Mum and I should be back in Australia in 5 weeks. Can’t wait to catch up.

Muchos Love
Roberto