Aug 1

Im in Chiclayo, now. I just spent the last 2 nights in the Salas, the capitial for shaman. It was so incredible hot in Salas. Some of the local kids took me out hunting. They ranged in age from 18 to 7, so I was a little nervous that they had a gun. It was a really old fashioned rifle were you load the gun powder and pellets seperately, and you have only one shot before you reload. We didnt shot anything and nobody got hurt. I saw the Shaman in the night. I was lucky to have meet a Lima kid who spoke english because he translated for me. The Shaman, named Crosvi, took us 7 to the farm around 8 or 9 at night. We rested before the ceremony began. Crosvi would ask and say your name and tap some rocks to begin. There was a lot of cleaning during the night. Using special sticks and rocks, the shamans helpers cleaned away the bad spirts. This cleansing was repeated dozens of times through the night. There was some chanting and whistling. Lets not forget, there was a lot of drinking through the nose. I didnt drink by nose, though. The only thing I drank was a lemon drink at the end. THe shaman told me I would dream of silly things. The ceremony was over around 4 or 5 in the morning. We rested at the end, also, and the shaman and others joked for a minute. it was a really cool experence. Now Im off to Tumbes and Ecudor in the north.