"Not many Saramaccans have seen this."--Boatman Asigide, at Awaadan
I have been living on the Upper Suriname River with the Saramaccan people for 18 months. At this point, I know and have been to almost every village between Atjoni and Tuliobuka, a shrine dedicated to the first Saramaccans where the river splits into the Piki Lio (Little River) and Gaan Lio (Great River); the villages that run North to South between Atjoni and Tuliobuka are only accessible by motorized canoe and when the water is high it's about a 4 hour ride from Atjoni to Tuliobuka where Saramaccans residence on the river seeminly ends. But in fact, beyond Tuliobuka, above the Tapa Wata (Stopping Water) rapid, on the Gaan Lio (Great River) there is a clan of Sarmaccans who reside in several villages even further south on the river.
I had yet to go beyond the Tapa Wata rapid and venture to an area named for the clan that inhabits it, Langu. The last group of Saramaccan villages, Langu is a name that originates from an area near the mouth of the Congo River in Africa where two of the original Langu descendants were born before being brought to Suriname as slaves (First Times by Richard Price). Since most Saramaccans can not afford the expensive transportation costs to venture to Langu often if at all, it's become a place of mystery and legend to most modern Saramaccans. Before leaving Gunzi for Langu, I was told to be on guard for witchcraft,
forest spirits and potentially unfriendly Amerindians.
My transportation to Langu was set up by another Peace Corps Volunteer. In order to afford the trip ourselves, we had to get a boatload of Peace Corps Volunteers to commit to going to Langu and use local contacts to give us friendly prices. The boatman for the trip who helped set up the trip was Asigide from Kajapaati, who is regularly employed by the Peace Corps as a boatman and guide on the river. After preparing the boat and oil in Atjoni, Asigide drove the boat from Atjoni to Gunzi which is about an hour ride, after I got on the boat, we made several stops picking up volunteers along the way until we arrived in Zemoise, a village with 2 Peace Corps Volunteers and about two and a half hours up river (south) of Gunzi. Due to the length of our journey, we had to spend our first night in Zemoise at a small guesthouse where 9 of us tied hammocks.
The next morning we were on the river and departing Zemoise at 9 am. About 30 minutes later, we reached Tapa Wata, the rapid that blocks entrance to the Gaan Lio where the Langu clan resides. We walked through the village searching for any helping hands that could help us haul our boat up the Tapa Wata rapid which has an angle of about 45 degrees and stands about 20 feet high with water rushing down a daunting rocky stairway. We finally found a few young men near the river washing their clothes who volunteered to help our Saramaccan guides haul the boat up the rapids. What I thought would take anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes took exactly 4 minutes to get the boat from bottom of the rapid to the Gaan Lio which lies above the rapid. Asigide was revving the engine while two guys at the front helped pull the boat up with rope and three young men at each side of the boat walked up the rocks and pulled the boat up the rapid with relative ease.
It was quite an amazing feat to ascend the rapid so quickly.
After acsending the Tapa Wata rapid we were on the Gaan Lio. After a quick bathe in the river, our boatman and guides got back in the boat and we went another 45 minutes up river when we finally arrived at the Gaan Dan (Great Rapid). This rapid was impassible due to its steeper angle, height and faster rushing waters--in Saramaccan oral history, an infamous canoe crash took place at this rapid around 250 years ago. Luckily our boatman had made arrangements prior to our arrival and so we dodged trouble by walking around the Great Rapid on foot to where our new boat and guide were waiting to take us deeper into the jungle into Langu along the Gaan Lio. (However, on our return trip three of the Peace Corps guys helped a few Saramaccan men haul a boat up and around the Gaan Dan)
After another hour of boat rides, we made it to Langu. Immediately, I realized a lot of the stories I had heard about this place probably were not relevant any longer. Entering Langu, I noticed many modern houses with zinc roofs, as compared to the predominantly thatch roofs in Gunzi, and a huge church that overlooks the river in one of the first Langu villages called Longolio. When we finally arrived on shore at the village of Kayana where we were staying, people were not overly startled by the fact that a boat full of random white folks showed up who could speak Saramaccan. Overall, people in Langu were very friendly--there are several up-scale tourist camps in the area where rich Dutch tourists pay big bucks to fly into the area by plane and enjoy the most amazing and wonderous nature I've seen in Suriname up to this point.
The tourist camp where we stayed was an upstart without even a name, cheap and really the only one we could afford in the area. So, some slept in beds, some slept in matresses on the floor and some of us slept in hammocks. Upon arrival at our nameless tourist camp in Kayana, one of the Langu villages, we explored the area and we sat down and had a free beer with the owners of one of the other local tourist camps. Gaan taangi fii (Thank you)! As we continued to walk around, the local kids looked on with bewilderment and amazement and sometimes just giggled as our huge group spoke fluent Saramaccan and the Peace Corps girls wore their traditional Saramaccan skirts (koosu).
Upon further exploration, I did run into a man of Amerindian descent who worked with the tourist camp. He was a nice gentleman and did not have a tail or try to eat me like my Saramaccan villagers believed would happen.
(Although these details were told to me more or less jokingly, I sensed a hint of seriousness to these Saramaccan beliefs)
On our second day in the Langu area I woke up with a cockroach on my face. Again, it was the only tourist camp in the area we could afford and that's why it is important to always carry your mosquito nets, Sur-17. We boated further south, up the river, past the last Langu clan settlements to a place called Awaadan (Right-Now Rapid).
We started at the bottom of this massive rapid on a small island where a very expensive tourist camp has been built. We ate lunch, swam in the river and mingled with the Saramaccan staff at the tourist
camp who were all interested to talk with us and hear about the villages where we lived. During lunch, we could hear the calls of a troop of monkeys in the distance--we suspected Howler Monkeys. After lunch, we boated a bit further up the river around the base of the Awaadan rapid up to its mouth. A fitting and scenic to the end of the Saramaccan territory. The mouth of the Awaadan is a series of stone steps covered in green algae and exotic water tolerant plants creating a very beautiful contrast of rock, rushing water and plants. The rocks where we docked our motorized canoe had marks which looked like they had been tampered with by humans. One of our guides believed the first Saramaccans to enter the jungle used the stones to make tools. And there we were at the end of the Saramaccan land. When I looked out beyond the Awaadan rapid on the Gaan Lio which continued to run south I knew there were no more Saramaccans, just jungle and some very isolated Amerindian villages several hours south, on the river which our boatman said comes to an end at some forgotten mountain beyond the distance.
And that was our trip. The next day we woke up and left our nameless tourist camp around 10 am and I arrived back at Gunzi around 6 pm. During this voyage to Langu I gained a newly found appreciation for the Saramaccan people who fought for their freedom from slavery, escaped into the jungle and for more than 300 years have resided deep in this beautiful, mysterious and at times treacherous jungle.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Jari (Yari) 2011
"Jari! Jari! Jari!"--Surinamese New Year's greeting
After the Gunzi Brokoday, I went into the city for a quick 2 day trip. The two day trip consisted of a meeting with an organization whom I had to write a report on a latrine project in Gengeston, another village on the river, and, of all things, to attend a wedding with a friend from the new Peace Corps Suriname group, Matt Day, also a Californian. On the day of the wedding, Matt and I got picked up and car-pooled out to a district in the west called Commewijne. Our link was to the groom whom Matt first met in his village which is on the eastern border of the country. I had met the groom twice, once in the city and then again in my village. The groom's family is Javanese which has some similarities to the Philipino culture I grew up around in the bay area. The people are very friendly and generous; they want to fill up your belly with delicious foods. And that they did. Matt and I were given Javanese soups with some kind of concoction with hot peppers, a local fried noodle dish called bami, chicken and even tasty family desserts like coconut candies and cake. The wedding was held at a mosque. This was the first time I ever attended a ceremony at a mosque, I have previously been in a synagogue and a Hindu temple while in Suriname. It was a very simple ceremony, the man and woman dressed in Islamic robes, the groom kind of looked like a sultan from a movie and the bride wore a red veil over her hair. The old men sat around the table in their big, tall black hats and conducted the ceremony. Upon its completion banana leaves were placed infront of every attendant at the mosque and rice, fish, vegetables and cookies were placed on top of the leaves. Given no utensils, we had to eat the meal with our hands. For reasons unknown, I had trouble doing this despite usually having indifferent table manners which include regularly eating with my hands.
After the wedding I went back out to Gunzi for a few days. I had decided to spend Christmas with Josh aka Tutubala in Tutu and attend church for the first time since home based training in May 2009. On a funny side note, this was my first appearance in the village Tutu since Camp GLOW and my post-camp radio interviews. Walking by one of the houses in the village I was mobbed by a group of four screaming girls who hugged me and wouldn't let go of me. I felt like a Beatle and slightly embarassed but definitely appreciated. Anyways, Christmas Eve was spent making five pizzas and drinking a little scotch before attending the evening mass which was quite an enjoyable festivity. The mass ended with each member of the congregation given a lit candle to carry home. Of course, the local kids used these lit candles to light their fireworks after mass which they threw in every which what direction. So the walk home was a frantic. On Christmas morning, I woke up and ate the leftover pizza. Not cold pizza because we didn't have a fridge, so leftover pizza. It was still delicious. Josh and I attended the 9 am mass and then I walked back to Gunzi where I called two local friends to wish them Merry Christmas--my home stay family and one of the guest speakers from Camp GLOW.
After just five nights in the interior, I went back to the city for two weeks to attend the second leg of the wedding, celebrate the New Year's and travel around. In Suriname, everyone gets married twice apparently. First, in a religious ceremony and then at city hall. After the city hall wedding and the reception, I attended a pre-NYE party at a sports club where I saw Surinamese pop-star Damaru perform. December 31 is a story and a half, Matt Day, Sur-15 volunteer Dave Scott and I could only agree afterwards that it was the greatest New Year's we all had ever experienced. I'm not sure where I could even begin, the night was really random which is basically the Suriname experience in a nut shell. I'll just say that the night ended with a redonculous private mansion party, a lot of fireworks and then having to walk home four miles because we couldn't get a taxi.
After New Year's Eve, Matt Day and I hung out at PCV Ian Loveless's apartment in the city where we shared a lot of photos from home and our previous travels. After hearing his stories about Burning Man and attending music festivals, I've determined he's like the Wes Lee to my Jim Rodriguez. He's a cool guy. Then we did some travelling. We spent two days with another volunteer, Christine, in the county of Commewijne where the first wedding had been held. On the first day, we toured an abandoned local rum factory where Matt and I boarded an old model train and called for "All aboard!" Christine captured our shennanigans on film with my video camera. It'll be an America's Funniest Home Video if they ever bring that show back. I was also introduced to new things that I had not been acquainted with yet, spam and Spaceballs. Personally, thought the spam was better than Spaceballs.
Sorry Matt. The next day we attended Christine's computer class at the local middle school. Coming from the interior, it was rather foreign to see something actually organized and instruction being given in English! After school we then toured an old Dutch fort that was built on the coast where the Suriname River(which I live on) meets the Commewijne River and flows into the Ocean. It was nice way to end the trip, seeing the Ocean and feeling a good breeze again. That San Francisco breeze isn't so far away anymore these days, just 7 months to go.
After the Gunzi Brokoday, I went into the city for a quick 2 day trip. The two day trip consisted of a meeting with an organization whom I had to write a report on a latrine project in Gengeston, another village on the river, and, of all things, to attend a wedding with a friend from the new Peace Corps Suriname group, Matt Day, also a Californian. On the day of the wedding, Matt and I got picked up and car-pooled out to a district in the west called Commewijne. Our link was to the groom whom Matt first met in his village which is on the eastern border of the country. I had met the groom twice, once in the city and then again in my village. The groom's family is Javanese which has some similarities to the Philipino culture I grew up around in the bay area. The people are very friendly and generous; they want to fill up your belly with delicious foods. And that they did. Matt and I were given Javanese soups with some kind of concoction with hot peppers, a local fried noodle dish called bami, chicken and even tasty family desserts like coconut candies and cake. The wedding was held at a mosque. This was the first time I ever attended a ceremony at a mosque, I have previously been in a synagogue and a Hindu temple while in Suriname. It was a very simple ceremony, the man and woman dressed in Islamic robes, the groom kind of looked like a sultan from a movie and the bride wore a red veil over her hair. The old men sat around the table in their big, tall black hats and conducted the ceremony. Upon its completion banana leaves were placed infront of every attendant at the mosque and rice, fish, vegetables and cookies were placed on top of the leaves. Given no utensils, we had to eat the meal with our hands. For reasons unknown, I had trouble doing this despite usually having indifferent table manners which include regularly eating with my hands.
After the wedding I went back out to Gunzi for a few days. I had decided to spend Christmas with Josh aka Tutubala in Tutu and attend church for the first time since home based training in May 2009. On a funny side note, this was my first appearance in the village Tutu since Camp GLOW and my post-camp radio interviews. Walking by one of the houses in the village I was mobbed by a group of four screaming girls who hugged me and wouldn't let go of me. I felt like a Beatle and slightly embarassed but definitely appreciated. Anyways, Christmas Eve was spent making five pizzas and drinking a little scotch before attending the evening mass which was quite an enjoyable festivity. The mass ended with each member of the congregation given a lit candle to carry home. Of course, the local kids used these lit candles to light their fireworks after mass which they threw in every which what direction. So the walk home was a frantic. On Christmas morning, I woke up and ate the leftover pizza. Not cold pizza because we didn't have a fridge, so leftover pizza. It was still delicious. Josh and I attended the 9 am mass and then I walked back to Gunzi where I called two local friends to wish them Merry Christmas--my home stay family and one of the guest speakers from Camp GLOW.
After just five nights in the interior, I went back to the city for two weeks to attend the second leg of the wedding, celebrate the New Year's and travel around. In Suriname, everyone gets married twice apparently. First, in a religious ceremony and then at city hall. After the city hall wedding and the reception, I attended a pre-NYE party at a sports club where I saw Surinamese pop-star Damaru perform. December 31 is a story and a half, Matt Day, Sur-15 volunteer Dave Scott and I could only agree afterwards that it was the greatest New Year's we all had ever experienced. I'm not sure where I could even begin, the night was really random which is basically the Suriname experience in a nut shell. I'll just say that the night ended with a redonculous private mansion party, a lot of fireworks and then having to walk home four miles because we couldn't get a taxi.
After New Year's Eve, Matt Day and I hung out at PCV Ian Loveless's apartment in the city where we shared a lot of photos from home and our previous travels. After hearing his stories about Burning Man and attending music festivals, I've determined he's like the Wes Lee to my Jim Rodriguez. He's a cool guy. Then we did some travelling. We spent two days with another volunteer, Christine, in the county of Commewijne where the first wedding had been held. On the first day, we toured an abandoned local rum factory where Matt and I boarded an old model train and called for "All aboard!" Christine captured our shennanigans on film with my video camera. It'll be an America's Funniest Home Video if they ever bring that show back. I was also introduced to new things that I had not been acquainted with yet, spam and Spaceballs. Personally, thought the spam was better than Spaceballs.
Sorry Matt. The next day we attended Christine's computer class at the local middle school. Coming from the interior, it was rather foreign to see something actually organized and instruction being given in English! After school we then toured an old Dutch fort that was built on the coast where the Suriname River(which I live on) meets the Commewijne River and flows into the Ocean. It was nice way to end the trip, seeing the Ocean and feeling a good breeze again. That San Francisco breeze isn't so far away anymore these days, just 7 months to go.
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