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Calleria

I headed to Calleria with Betto for two days. He was attending the promotion of his eldest daughter (5) and I had never seen this village or attended a promotion before so it sounded like a good idea to yag along.

Calleria is a small shipibo community between 6 and 8 hours by bote from Pucallpa. It is beautiful and very quiet. A lush green lawn with rows of coco trees stretches through the village which is hugged by the jungle off the one side and a tranquil river the other.

A promotion is Peruvian tradition that has been carried on for many years. It is a ceremony that for children completing certain phases of their education. In this case it was a junior promotion for young children around the age of 5. They also hold promotions for older children, or shall I say teenagers, finishing the Peruvian equivalent of High School. Suffice to say that this type of function is their form of graduation combined to a matric farewell.

A promotion, regardless the age of the children, involves lunch in the afternoon for the promocionistas (graduates) and their families or partners (for the older children). In the evening a graduation ceremony is held in which they receive their diplomas. This is followed by dancing. These events are normally held in one of the classroomes of the school since their schools are simple buildings without facilities such as a grand hall.

The lunch was great and the ceremony as well. I turned into the local photographer since they don't have cameras to record the event. It was fun. Another interesting fact I realised about Peruvian people is that it is not their habit to smile for photos. I am working hard to erode this unhealthy habbit.

Afterwards when it was time for dancing I encountered a phenomenon I never thought I would find the depth of the jungle. When the music started playing all the females left. Betto explained that this community is seriously religious and all the women and most of the men belong to a Christian Evangelistic church that prohibits dancing and drinking alcohol. I find this very strange since the shipibo culture is rich with music, dancing and tradtional alcoholic beverages made from various plants. I have nothing against religion but did wonder whilst walking through Calleria why the people whilst friendly were not really smiling or radiating happiness. With all respect to their religion I think they really need to destress and have some fun. It is a sin not being happy whilst living in such paradise. I suppose this phenomenon would also explain the large number of gay men in this community.

So there I was, the only female amongst approximately 30 men. Ai, ai, ai. So many men so little time - the music stopped promptly at twelve so I did not have to worry about my coach turning into a pumpkin or my prince into a frog for that matter. Despite my ambitions I ended up dancing only with the two teachers from the school and Betto. The one teacher, or professor as they are called here, turned out to be an excellent dancer. We even did the Lambada. I like the Lambada. His name is Atillho he gave me a beautiful silver ring with green Berryl stone in the shape of an eye and sun rays in memory of our friendship. He is a very kind guy and a good friend.

Calleria does not have a shaman so I ended up treating people for skin deseases and headaches. Betto and I also worked on the energy of the village since it was a bit depressing. 

We left for Pucallpa at about 16h00 in the afternoon. It was my first bote trip at night and the jungle is a spectacular sight from the boat at night. The trip was really long a we arrived back in Yarina at 00h30.  

Travel tip: Never drink all the milk of a huge coconut immediately before an eight and a half hour boat trip.

I will add more photos of Calleria at a later stage. Don't have them with me now.

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