
Magi, but not so
Huáscar I. Vega Ledo
with contributions from Jaime
Molina Escóbar
Just like rain |
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the news arrived |
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soaking everyone. |
A little elderly
woman pulled, from her wrinkled copper bosom, a silver cross and stuck it in the mud, she
pushed it until the top of her cane hit the ground; after pulling the cane she covered the
hole while she prayed and prayed in aymará and a bit of latin -who knows where she learned the latter-.
Some pious old
women, known for being gossipers and sort of witches, brought scissors and placed them
open as crosses over the mud. Other pious women brought a couple of knives and placed them
one of the other also as a cross over the mud. These wicked things they did while mumbling
a refrain as if they were school girls:
"Farmer San
Isidro,
pray to God for the sun to come out.
Farmer San Isidro,
pray to God for the sun to come out..."
Mud slides had
blocked all the roads. There was no one dead, but akin to that is an incommunicated town.
The rain destroyed some of the fields. Some terraces holding the coca fields had
lost their right angles. The roots of some of the young orange trees looked like curled up
hands of drowned bodies trying to grab onto the fog.
While the
astonished children watched this mini hecatomb, the towns priest walked around
murmuring: "Oh Lord, what have we done? Could it be that we have sinned of gluttony
on Christmas? Could it be that we abused of the New Years wine? Why do you punish us
Lord? Open a breach. Do it for the children, for the happiness of those innocent little
lambs. Open at least a thread of a road for the Kings to arrive, please oh Lord,
please."
A miracle! A
miracle! El Chojolulo
arrived screaming. Everyones sadness turned to hope and they looked up to the sky.
But it still rained. What miracle? What is going on? "What happened little
orphan?" asked one of the pious old women.
El Chojolulo did not
answer, he did not like being called by his old name, he was now Chojolulo and was
very proud of his name. The elderly indians of Churuhuasca had
explained to him that since Colonial times, the Laws of the
Indies specified, as norms and customs, "that the indians must give their
children the names of the fathers, mothers, and grand parents, but not those of the moon,
birds, animals, stones, snakes or rivers." Since he didnt have parents nor
grandparents, and besides being different times, he had the right to those names. And the
little orphan was so happy with that name of a bird, and with it he had been able to fill
the space left by his progenitors and the history of their ancestors.
The elderly woman,
who previously buried the silver cross, understood those feelings quite well for she was
half indian and half white, and for that reason she asked: "tell us, what happened
son? suma lulitu,
Chojolulitu?
It was then when they found out that a river of mud, stones and tree trunks had invaded
Doña Eugenia Dolores house, it had demolished the living room walls and had
destroyed almost everything in its path. Everything but the Nativity; the best
Nativity in
town and all surrounding towns; it held a baby
Jesus from Cuzco, it was made out of marzipan that
looked like porcelain, its clothes were embroidered with antique thread of gold made by
the yauiñckepa
people. It was a miracle that saved baby Jesus as well as the sheep, the Magi, Virgin
Mary, everything.
From that moment on
the days passed without the sun, though as if there were. The inhabitants regained their
faith and made plans and started the reconstruction. Crews were organized to clean the
creeks, they picked up the small fallen trees and used them to build small bridges for
pedestrians. To the mud they added plant fibers or straw to use it as mortar and to
restore with the stones the multitude of steps that really make up the streets of this
town as they crawl the sides of the hill. The roof leaks...? Those with tile roofs used
tiles -if they had them- or halves of carved out tree trunks. Those with thatched roofs
used straw or tender leaves from banana trees. It almost seems that they are fulfilling the promises
they made while drunk on News Years eve. These are the first four days of the new
year and for some it was the first day they did not drink. That is due to two reasons, the
Nativity that
was spared despite of the mud slide, and the lack of roads for any alcohol to be
transported into town. They finished all the guarapos made
from fermented pineapple, the orange
cocktails, the cherries that had been macerated in singani for several months, and the
always present "tigers milk".
To remember the
midnight of the thirty first of December is to remember the "half-nucha" leaving
with their bags, walking around (this is what people who want to travel in the upcoming
year do). The "chausitos" daughter ate a grape for each ring of the bell
(this is done so food and drink will be plentiful throughout the year). Juana, a black
woman more desirable that a house next to the river, changed her underwear in less than
twelve seconds! (her reasoning, to change her attitude and to improve in all possible
ways).
The celebration
continued until dawn, everyone danced cuecas, huayñitos, polkas and bailecitos. The conversations were over the conversions. "This
year I will plant something else." "This year I will be different."
"It is time find a different woman." "I promised I will build a fence
around the orchard." "Yes son, I will take you to La Paz."
"We will leave this town once and for all." "We wont return to
Europe, we will stay in Churuhuasca, to grow and export crops, "This year we will change
priests, this one has not done a thing to make the rain stop."
Parallelling these
desires, the indian elders whispered something that sounded like "mara" (year),
waiting for "alli"
or "sapa mara" (the year
of good crops), beginning on this month of "chino pahkhsi"
(January). They spoke of the "uru" and "aruma" (day and
night) and of the "kharuru" (tomorrow) and went on and on in very complex Aymará. They spoke
of the "wara
wara" (stars) and the hacha wara wara"
(planets). And for listening and trying to understand these ancient sciences is that the
seven year old boys eyes and wonder grew so much.
Fortunately on the
fourth day the true "sapa mara" began, as everyone was working to fulfill their promises.
Almost all the collective labors of maintenance were carried at the sound of hualaychos,
Those able used improvised drums, quenas, small guitars, chulluchullos,
and whatever they could; they sung the latest popular villancicos or
huayños or bailecitos, changing the lyrics and amicably laughing about life and the deeds
of the towns people.
Chojolulo became
the central figure as all the groups of hualaychos
wanted him to be their singer, besides, he turned out to have an agile mind to make up
humorous verses, given that he was an orphan and that his short life had been spent
bouncing from home to home and, thus, learning the comings and goings of almost everyone
in town, things he related with subtlety and irony in verses and songs.
Everyone was happy.
Even the children could sing about the towns Santa Rita without being pinched nor
having their ears pulled. It even seemed that Angelucho -el malcriaducho- (Angel, the
bad-behaved one) created these verses but because of his chaja-voice he
could not sing it so he gave it to Chojolulo:
"Niño
Manuelito, suma
lulitu.
Ay! Santa Rita,pita
faced.
When will the Magi arrive,
with their magueyes,
We are not bad, give us presents!
Ay! Santa Rita,Ulupica
nose
Let us play on you altar.
Before the Magi arrive and beat you.
Please let us, please let us"
Finally the Magi
were coming, January fifth and no rain nor sun. The roads were still blocked. Some adults
were waiting in vain for the mail and parcels. All the children were happy and dressed in
their best clothes, and well behaved, not rolling in the dirt, not being mischievous, not
playing with mud and splashing the dirty water from the puddles onto the womens
calves and dresses.
Some giant drops
remained hanging from the window sills, they looked like multi-colored frogs waiting with
their mouths open. They were the little shoes and stockings that are usually hung from
windows. Some children would hang up to three pairs of shoes, thinking that they would get
more presents. Other changuitos hung their ventiúnico
pair, other shoes looked old and with holes on their soles, the indians would hang their abarcas and thus
would remain barefoot, their eyes sparkling with hope. Some grandmothers would hang
stockings they had knitted for their infant grandchildren.
Meanwhile the
adults prepared their last wine or cocktail demijohns. They prepared the truths and lies
they would in the shoes indicating where they had hidden the presents -when the presents
were too big, as they frequently were.- The adults hid the presents under piles of
firewood, or inside holes in trees, on the roof line, inside large jars in the kitchen,
inside the adobe oven, amongst the fruit sacks, beneath the broken floors, always in the
most unimaginable places. That tradition caused the children to start watching the adults
actions from an early hour, it was some sort of policemen and thieves game, where
neighbors, grandparents, uncles, servants, everyone participated and covered it up. This
went on until midnight when all the changos would jump through and out to the windows,
seeking the present or the note in their shoes, and then hurry to "uncover" the
present before a friend or cousin did it first, and all ended up in fight and tears.
In the
plantations main house, uncle Abundio smiled trying to conceal his worries. -How
would he come out of Los Yungas? The day after tomorrow he should be travelling to La Paz, then he will
return to his second country. Will the roads be repaired by then? He wondered. This
country is not good for anything, it doesnt even have decent roads, that is why I
left, that is why I am leaving. He repeated to himself. At the same time, seeing the joy
of his people, remembering why every year he would die to return to these lands, he erased
what he said before, and licking his moustache he smiled and said: Who gives a damn about
these shitty roads! What matters is my people, my heart is here, with the candor and
warmth of my people.-
We could say that
the scream of happiness of his seven year old nephew woke him up; the changuito was
drunken with the present the old-grandfather had brought for all the children. The
collection of books "Treasures of Youth" had made him remember moments when the
grandfather tried to teach him to read and told him marvelous things about those books and
promised to give them to him once he could read. But the old-grandfather died before, and
though it may seem strange, the boy learned to read thanks to Candelaria. That indian
woman didnt read very well for her age, but she could read. She used to teach the
indian children to read, and this changuito from the plantation "snuck in," and thanks to his
intelligence and Candelarias natural pedagogy he learned very quickly. The boy was
so happy that he seemed to have his grandfathers smile while he read out loud on the
"Treasures of Youth," to the delight of the whole family and some guests, for he
read with the phonetic deformations of the cholada, for
instance, instead of nuevo (new) he read"Noivo," instead
of que pasa (what is happening) he read "ki pasa." And though he became aware of
those errors, he went on doing them just to be mischievous. But deep inside, he felt the
vortex of the vast human knowledge opening up right before his eyes. He felt as if the
spiral of the history absorbed him like a whirlpool and forced him to follow it curled
like a snail. Finally he fainted and the adults laughed thinking it was another prank of
his, not realizing that time was taking him for a ride.
Adults and children
stayed up until dawn, the first eating and drinking, the others playing and sharing their
toys with friends, cousins and brothers. All were having fun. All were willing to play
with tablapayasos,
ckulluwawas,
wheeled
horses, ckusillo
dolls, kgarwa,
ttejheña
soldiers and cholitas, tops,
chocas, puzzle cubes,
etc.
In all the town
homes the atmosphere was the same. Notwithstanding, lifes contradictions made Chojolulo the
most fortunate one, as he received his present in the plantation, ate at Doña
Eugenias, received some clothes from Candelaria, new abarcas from the
shoe maker, the owner of the store on the townsquare gave him notebooks and pencils, the
priest gave him sweets and a catechism, and on and on, almost the entire town gave him
something. Thus what uncle Abundio said was confirmed, "Who gives a damn about the
roads!. The route is in the hearts of people!".
Finally the roads
were opened and the parcels arrived, uncle Abundio left the next day. On January eighth
everyone returned to planting, to their everyday chores, to fixing and making everything
pretty again. A good number of the crafty hands began making the miniatures for the Alasitas
festivity. The men carving tiny pigeon eggs, making little tea sets that fit on the palm
of a hand, so detailed that one can even fill the pot with water and pour it in the cups.
They also made pots, kitchen utensils, ladles, tables, armories, beds, nothing bigger than
a fistful of a five year old guagua and most of them made out of orange wood. Meanwhile the women
used bread crumbs to make tiny dolls, ladies in colonial clothing, bowls with tiny fruit,
fruit of all sorts and colors, bundles of flowers no bigger than the third of a pinky, and
many other little things. They also made small coconut sweets shaped like bananas, oranges,
watermelons, etc. And of course, they baked the mini bizcochuelos
yungueños, which are sought after by paceña during the Alasitas
festivity.
Along with these
activities, the children played and played until they collapsed exhausted, other children
joined in the farming work to help their parents, yet others helped with the handy crafts.
Normalcy was gaining room.
A score of cousins,
boys and girls from the plantation, returned little by little to their homes. By the third
week the only ones remaining were the ones who lived in La Paz and Cochabamba. It
didnt rain much anymore, but through one of the windows, the eyes of the little
grandmother seemed to melt and run down the crevices on her face, just as the creeks and
rivers come down to hug this land.
The Alasitas festivity
is takes place on January twenty fourth in the city of La Paz, and some
yungueños crafts people worked until midnight of the twenty third, and in the morning
they climbed on the trucks, on top of all the fruit and drums of coca. They
headed for La Paz
to sell their merchandise. Some guaguas cried for they wanted to go with their parents, or they wanted
to go sell the tiny cars and horses that so excitedly carved. The parents claimed in all
truth- that the road was too dangerous and that they would be better off staying here, in Churuhuasca,
and besides, sleeping in the tambos was not very
healthy for children. But the kids refused to understand, and worse when they saw the last
children from the plantation climb onto the trucks and started eating and playing with the
fruit, as if for them it werent dangerous to travel, as if they were the owners of
the fruit.
Finally the trucks
departed. The guaguas
remained crying. And the last Magi of January, Ekeko, was waiting in
the festivities of La
Paz.
The
girlish-grandmother made the sign of the cross while staring out the window. She was no
longer crying. Her grandchildren had to leave, they had to go study. The school year was
about to begin. And the habit of living the unexpected kept her from throwing herself onto
the road to stop the vehicles and play with the children. The bulging and terrified eyes
of the seven year old boy penetrated the elderly womans clothes until they tickled
her soul, she smiled, looked at him, pinched his cheek lovingly and said: go my child, go
get one of the "Treasures of Youth" and read something for me, while I sleep,
while I calm down.

Comments to:
©Huáscar Vega y/o
Jaime Molina