Leaving the Rupununi

Leaving the Rupununi

Blog post: Tricia

Wednesday was our last day in Yupukari, and it was a lovely culmination of a beautiful week. In the morning we went to visit Auntie Madeline Francis again to see her bake the cassava bread she made from the roots we picked, grated, and squeezed yesterday. I have had dried cassava bread before, but never hot and fresh from the iron griddle set over burning sticks. It was wonderful, especially with the local peanut butter we brought along. Then it was back to Caiman House for a demonstration of mokru fiber work – this is the harder fiber used for mats, wall coverings, sifters, backpacks, and all sorts of functional basketry. As with the tibisiri fibers, the preparation of mokru  involves extensive preparation followed by incredibly complex manipulation. In this case, abstract and figurative patterns are created using different colored parts of the fiber and the weaver must plan ahead for every aspect of the pattern. It’s very hard to explain, and even harder to try and do – we were all in awe of the skill of these artisans.

After lunch we headed to school for our final session with the kids, working with the cut cardboard patterns to make animals figures with moveable arms and legs (really cool). Tricia, Kendry, and the older kids finished their 40 foot painted fabric mural, with the addition of larger versions of the anteater and jaguar cutouts to complete the picture of the river, the savannah, and the rainforest. We nailed the mural up on the outside wall of the school, and it looked just wonderful. The children all came together for a special presentation for us of singing, dancing, and dramatic poetry, and we had such a difficult time with the realization that it was coming time to say goodbye. But we were all very excited with the prospect of tonight’s evening campfire celebration, so we wrapped up our efforts at the schools and went back to Caiman House to prepare.

After dinner we heard the ‘gong’ sounding to call us to the center of the village (its actually a big metal pan they bang on but it works just fine). There was a huge bonfire marking the gathering, and dance music pumping from the dj with his computer and speakers, and a full program set up of dancing and storytelling. We had already met many of the presenters, and enjoyed so very much traditional stories by Uncle Isaac and Auntie Madeline and contemporary dances by groups of our students. When the time came for our contributions, the village of Yupukari was treated to a hilarious dramatic karaoke rendering of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, and I don’t believe they had ever seen anything quite like it. It was a huge hit. Everyone got up for the group dance and competition of the Brazilian  forro, and whie the older students were awarded first, second, and third place, our Lauren and Kendry won in the  the ‘Most Improved’ category. Tricia closed out the show with Bob Marley’s ‘Three Little Birds’ played on a turtle ocarina, and everyone agreed that it was the best campfire celebration ever.

After the big celebration we gathered with our friends and hosts at Caiman House for a private farewell that lasted much of the night. In the short time we have been here, we have made wonderful connections and terrific friends and learned so very much. In the morning we packed everything up and weighed the luggage to make sure we could make our 500 pound limit (hit it right on the mark), and loaded  two pickup trucks for the drive to the Karanambu airstrip. Many, many hugs and tears later we drove out of the village, past all the kids at both schools standing outside to wish us well. Nobody wanted to leave.

But we did, and after a hour or so waiting at the red dirt airstrip with our Caiman House friends, the 12 seater TransGuyana came and collected us and flew out over the savannah and into the Pakaraima Mountains to Kaieteur Falls. For many students it was their first trip on a small plane, and it was, shall we say, somewhat uncomfortable. But the trip was worth it, because Kaieteur is one of the planet’s great wonders – it’s the longest single drop waterfall in the world, and is breathtakingly, overwhelmingly beautiful. Then it was back on the plane for the flight to Georgetown, and with a little help from our new best friend Dramamine we arrived at Ogle Airport rested and sane and settled back into the Grand Coastal Hotel. On Friday we visited the Walter Roth Anthropology Museum for their Amerindian collection, the Castellani House National Art Gallery for a terrific retrospective show of visionary Guyanese artist Philip Moore, hit the center of town to shop for crafts and hammocks, and finished up with a tour of the rum plant at Demerara Distilleries. On the way back to the hotel we had a two stage dinner of roast beef burgers at Big Daddy’s and then a sitdown meal at a lovely Chinese restaurant. Then it was back to the hotel to pack and prepare for our flight back to Miami.

We'll be working on a final post reflecting on this extraordinary trip - stay tuned. We'll also be building out the website with lots of pictures, links, and new information.

 Auntie Madeline making cassava

 Leon Playing his ocarina

 The landscape mural by Tricia and Kendry;s class

 Lauren and Combrencent working with tibisiri

 Nursery school kids outside Caiman House when we left

 Our airplane out

 Kaieteur Falls

 The group at Kaieteur