Visiting a Native Family

Well, we lost another couple of folks to traveler's stomach... All but three made it onto the boat for our trip to see a "native" family. In Amazona, a native is considered a mixuture of European, African, and Indigenous decent. We left the hotel around 9:30 during a heavy down poor. It took about 30 minutes to reach the village from the hotel - needless to say - we were pretty soaked when we arrived. The faimily we visted were the relatives of one of the boat drivers during the week. His mother and father had made a trip to down river to Manaus. The family resided on the banks of the river on a plot that provided all of their necessities. Mike, our guide, explained that although no luxuries existed, the natives lived the three "H's": hard, happy, and healthy. In fact, many natives who had left the forest for the city, are now beginning to return due to the lower stress level and healthier lifestyle.

In the household we visited, the parents and three of their youngest children still resided there. Two older brothers, now both married, as well as an older sister, who was also married, all were there visiting for the day and helping out while the parents were away. An eight child, an older daughter, had rececntly given birth to a very healthy looking baby boy. Also visible were two pet dogs who were very friendly and well behaved.

Then Mike began taking us through the various parts of the family's property. They had a large cooking surface that was used to prepare tapioca to sell in town. For their personal cooking, the family had a much smaller cooking surface. While we might catch twenty fish and freeze some and eat some, the native families may choose to eat all twenty in one sitting, relying on the Lord to provide more tomorrow. All of the family members present (except the baby) were actively participating in preparing various foods for us to try. We tried "Brazil" nuts, a fruit that was somewhere between a banana and a pineapple, tapioca (with and without butter). Courtney and Marietta were both adorned with red ink that the Brazilians had exported to Europe as a dye in the past.

Marietta was very excited to finally see the Asahi berries that were used to produce a very healthy and flavorful drink among other things. In order to get the berries, two of the sons (one married, one much younger) tied a piece of cloth between their two feet and climbed about 25 feet up the tree trunk to the fruit.

We also had the opportunity to see the Rubber tree being tapped. One of the married sons made a small incision in the tree bark and we all watched as the latex dripped slowly from the fresh scar. Mike explained the same tree could be tapped on four sides continuously for 15 years before it was "spent". Then the tree could still be used for seeds for other rubber trees. The native family had also offered for sale many different crafts produced locally which many of our group took advantage of. Unfortunately, the dolphin swimming was cancelled due to the early morning delays caused by the rain. Everyone got a big lunch and packed up for our boat trip back to Manaus. Hopefully everyone's luggage makes the entire trip with us this time around...