Lucas Posada y Levi Martin

Our focus for today manifested itself with the Frida Khalo quote “I paint flowers so they will not die”.
As Líders del Día, we chose this quote because we felt that it gave our fellow Glimpsers a focus and kept them all on the same train of thought. The focus of today was culture. We visited Cacha, a region of Ecuador home to the Puruha people. The Puruha is the major indigenous nationality of the area. Our activity of the day was visiting Pucura Tambo, an indigenous site located in Cacha, which is surrounded by 23 communities. While there we learned about the traditions of the Puruha people and the Pucara Tambo site, we toured the botanical gardens and the museum. While touring the gardens we learned about the different types of medicinal plants like manzanilla which is used to clean eyes. Another plant grown there is ruda, which is typically used in a “baño.” Baños, we learned are a way the Puruha people cleanse themselves of negative energy. As our guide, Carlos put it “Our garden is our drugstore.” Later in our tour, we learned about the history of the Puruha people as well as some of their traditions and customs. To end off the tour we ate lunch “pambamessa” style, which is a customary way of eating in which food is placed on the table and it is eaten as a community. Our meal included corn from the Andes as well as queso fresco and cuy, which is guinea pig.

After our tour concluded we arrived back at our hotel and continued our reflection of culture and communities, which was then followed by a traditional dance class led by the Grupo Renovación Ecuador, a local group that teaches traditional Andean, Ecuadoran, and Riobamba dances. During the class, we wore traditional clothing and learned the traditional dances and roles/characters in them from the area.

To cap off our day we felt as if it was an opportunity not just to learn but to experience firsthand what culture really means to the Puruha people and all of the different forms culture comes in. Throughout the day and during all of the activities we were all able to come together as a group and plant a seed of compassion and understanding which will continue to grow in the coming days.

Big love ❤️ Lucas and Levi