The community here, extending to Cotacachi but mainly this little Kichwa space, such a beautiful thing. It also, the way it is managed means that with their trust beautiful beautiful things can be achieved. Leaving, is not in the interests.
The walk to town for the morning coffee, the trip in any direction for a minute or four to watch local sport on the weekends, the ridiculously diculously beautiful people and a space that is Eden, Frederick’s personal Eden, how could one even consider leaving?
The garden is full of fruit and medicinal plants (the non-drug type, except for cactus now), a neighbour bought a bag of bananas grown from her own trees where bananas are apparently not supposed to grow. There is a stupid amazing lemon field, green grass, bodies of water and thriving plants in every direction, cows are everywhere mowing the lawns for the community. The casa is in the middle of it all.
Climate, oh the climate, it is phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal.
Leaving, nope, not a consideration.
Self-government
Talking with Rodrigo about finishing the sheep fence and move on to other things. Mention that yesterday when walking to the Peguche waterfall somehow, instead, ended up on top of, don’t know, going to call it Peguche hill. A 30 to 45 minute return walk turned into a 2.5 hour loop that ended up back in Otavalo, near the city, rather than the starting point some kilometres away.
Told Rodrigo about how we are taught to fear these situations, that they are dangerous for tourists but it is not really like that, not at all. Plenty of experience now to know these experiences are no different to the minority of similar cases on our own shores. Fear is what developed countries are taught to live in.
Rodrigo laughed a little and replied with the same words. In fact, in communities that are organised and governed well these type of events are a rarity.
Rodrigo retells a story;
Just two days ago (the day of getting lost above) a man came into the community and tried to steal a cow not far from the casa. The community came together and caught the guy, brought him back to the central hub and imposed tribal justice.
The justice included multiple things: stinging nettles all over the body, cold water, whipping and a walk of shame from the community to the centre of Cotacachi. A walk, with the speed these people move at, that would have taken hours. The event started at about 7:30pm and finished after 11.
These things cannot be let pass in community, when they are it shows that the community is not organised and abuses continue to occur. When the community acts swiftly and shames the person justly and publicly demonstrates a strong organisation.
The final word was beautiful too, being strong was not enough, it is the organisation of the community as a whole which makes it what it is. Makes it safe. Safety, it is the pursuit of a lifetime, a pursuit which may just be available in these spaces and places.
How far the self-government extends, not sure, the questions and answers will come as they do. However, with no intention to be an international drug mule, instead a simple bloke who gives people support and doesn’t ask for or take anything in return, can be pretty confident it extends this far. After all, they’re already okay with growing, cooking and eating drugs here.
The drugs are beautiful now, the relationship is turning from work to play, life is turning from work to play. Hence, part two continued, part 2.5 is the process. A little yelling and screaming, mostly not though, still have some stuff to say to Australia and the rich intelligent world of privilege.
Play means growing them, caring for them, cutting them when they are needed but too, being a fantastic medicine provider, trying them out at high doses first and having a bloody good time of it.
Found out that mushrooms in smoothies are fantastic, San Pedro in smoothie not so fantastic!
It extends too, the communities acceptance to this point of the journey allows experimentation, the words were used. Next step is to provide/support others in journeys and again, throughout, listen to the people around the space before growing it further.
It is the key to the drugs too, listening, which should be your only intention regardless of stage of the journey. I am here today to listen, to learn, to be taught for I know that I do not know, and until you absolutely know nothing should change. Admitting you do not know, humility, a medicine and healing prerequisite.
How do you know you do not know? Do you use the words I believe, I think, my opinion is, I have faith? You do not know. Can you answer where that thing/God/entity/machine you think is driving this experience comes from? No, then you do not know.
Understand the simplicity and free yourself completely.
It needs a photo
A few years ago driving in New South Wales and came across a site which cannot be explained rationally.
There is a gathering of three or four cars and a truck, one of the smaller tip trucks, there is something wrong with the truck however. Getting closer the truck, on a perfectly straight country road without obstacles is upended, not upside-down, upended. The arse of the truck is pointing stright up into the air, the windscreen the only part touching the pavement, it did not make sense. Clearly did not make sense to anybody, there was a hell of a lot of head scratching going on.
There is a truck (well it is a ute, but they say truck here) up a tree in the community, it is a warning, before it was put there was burnt out. The cow stealer, it is his truck, the community now publicly displaying what they do with people who try to take without asking permission. Clearly, it is designed as a significant deterrant to others thinking similar dishonest thoughts.
Here both understand and disagree with this step in the process.
A person stealing and being punished in a manner beyond the act needs greater attention. Australia, for example, our bastardised English is in big part a result of the low status in society of the people who first attended to colonise, along with the geographical isolation.
Convicts had no choice to get on the boats leaving England for Australia. Some did not only commit petty crimes, others, many did. For instance, many were given a couple of options, you can lose that hand or you can get on the boat, you can be hanged or you can get on the boat. The detail which is most important for these folk, and our story, a lot of the convicts were forced into this scenario for stealing a loaf of bread, vegetables, fruit, grains, meat, shit to feed their family, themselves.
Side note, somehow the Australian government thinks after what happened there, how colonial Australia came into being that we have the right to turn others away, others escaping horrible lives, and send them to the most inhumane of inhumane camps on other shores. Somehow, they think they are not continuing genocide when they absolutely are, only difference is they have added more people than only the black folk to the genocide now. Australia, she continues to murder the innocent, those in need, people looking for a safe life.
Returning to the truck, my assumption is that in order to steal, especially something like a cow that provides many forms of sustenance for a family/community means that purchasing one was not an affordable option. The likelihood is the man, his family, community are struggling with poverty already. Now, they have no ute, no way to replce it, little options to create a safer environment for the people they love.
It’s hard, of course, it is difficult, of course, but maybe the public shaming would have been sufficient, the further disadvantaging of already disadvantaged people am not so sure about.