Day 2: Parasites, Crafts and Disemboweled Rodents

Today was a fanstastic day filled with tourism, exploration, learning and bewilderment. After breakfast, we promptly hopped in a cab, headed to the bus station, and began our journey to the town of Otavalo. I had heard many positive things about this town prior to coming to Ecuador; it is pretty famous among tourists for its open-air markets -- and for very good reason. The town is largely dominated by two sizeable street markets, one consisting primarily of foods, while the other (more renowned) boasts hand-made local Ecuadorian crafts. We stopped by the food market first. It had pretty much everything you might expect (fruits, veggies, grains, spices, various types of corn, etc.), as well as many thing that you probably would not -- such as whole boar heads, plates of lard (both cooked and uncooked), and tables full of other various and sundry body parts and entrails. As I walked through the crowded aisles, I couldn´t help but see the booths not in terms of the meats they were selling, but instead as an arid breeding ground for the variety of parasites to which they were certainly the host. Ah look, that woman is selling taenia solium -- anyone up for some cysticercosis? Oh, and look over here! A plate full of Taenia saginatum! A round of beef tapeworms for everyone! Despite the diversity of meat products, there wasn´t any fish to be seen, so my personal favorite, Diphyllobothrium latum, was conspicuously absent from the mix. In retrospect, I can´t help but think the only way a person could possibly get me to eat meat from that market would be if they served it up with an Albendazole glaze. But in all seriousness, though the meat section was a bit questionable, there were many fine looking products. The veggies and fruit stands were particularly appealing. Some of them had grapes the size of...well, I can´t really think of anything to compare them to, so we´ll just say they were the size of several normal-sized grapes. Nevertheless, they were large and looked quite appealing.

Next we hit up the crafts market, which was an even cooler experience, if slightly less hygienically remarkable. I won´t go into too much detail, but there were tons of incredible hand-made products. I bought a couple of great gifts, and managed to get them at some pretty ridiculously low prices following a bout of fierce (and impressive, if I do say so myself) haggling.

Finally, we spent the remainder of the afternoon checking out Jambi Huasi, a local clinic which combines traditional, indigenous practices with more occidental, western medicine. This was a really great learning experience. It was very interesting to see how they incorporated both (very distinct) styles into a single clinic. In addition to a medical doctor and nurse, they are also staffed by a partera (traditional midwife), and various other indigenous shamans and practitioners. During the course of our tour, they demonstrated two traditional techniques for us. I volunteered for the first one, which was performed by the partera. She essentially took two eggs and rubbed them all over my body in order to remove the negative energy. A rather tame demonstration overall, but interesting nonetheless. The next demonstration, however, was where things really got wild. Chris, one of my peers, volunteered for the following technique, which is typically used as more of a diagnostic tool than a treatment. It is called "limpia de cuy*", and is certainly not for the faint of heart, or for the avid PETA supporter (faint of heart, avert thine eyes). In fact, it was just about the most gruesome thing I have ever witnessed. The basic idea is this: the healer takes a guinea pig and rubs it all over the patient´s body. The negative molecules associated with their illness are thus transferred into the guinea pig, and the pathology can be determined thusly. We were told beforehand that the guinea pig always dies following the test: it is a necessary part of the procedure. I was prepared for this, but was still astonished at the manner in which the death took place. The healer started by holding the guinea pig by both ends and rubbing it gently over his body. However, as he progressed, he switched his grip, grasping it firmly at the midline, and started shaking it violently whilst continuing to rub it over Chris from head to toe. In case I´m not portraying this clearly enough, let me put it this way: he essentially shook the guinea pig to death. It started making squealing noises, and you could hear its head slapping back and forth. At one point it even urinated on Chris´ back. The idea is that the faster the guinea pig dies, the more negative energy the person has. Once it finally expires, the healer takes the animal, holds it over a bucket, and skins and eviscerates it on the spot. As he does this, he looks for various abnormalities -- since the molecules are transferred from the ill person to the animal, he is able to discern the pathology of the illness based on the location of the abnormalities. From this, a diagnosis is made, and the proper treatment can be administered. Apparently Chris has lower back pain, a recent mild bronchitis, and parasites.

So, in summary, I watched a guinea pig shaken to death while rubbed over someone´s body, skinned, gutted and discarded. What did you do today?

Now, I will be the first to admit that I viewed this entire procedure from an entirely different cultural perspective than those native to this area. I also realize that this is a traditional, indigenous technique that has been around for a very long time. And, even though there is likely no empirical evidence for the efficacy of this technique, let´s just assume for the moment that it does serve some diagnostic purpose. Great. With all of this considered, I still struggle immensely with the ethics of this procedure. It just seems so cruel. Again, I say this coming from an entirely different place culturally, and I can respect that. But still.

All things considered, today was an great day. Whether I agree with the technique or not, everything I saw today represented an incredible learning experience. I look forward to seeing more examples of how traditional and modern medicine are intertwined in this culture.

*Cuy is the word for guinea pig. If they don´t already have one, I am going to go ahead and put forth the motion to make Cuy the national animal of Ecuador. Not only are they utilized in the strange manner described in hopefully-not-too-gory detail above, they are also a traditional delicacy (yes, I mean food). Though I´m told they are rather fatty. Hm. Personally, I think I´ll stick with chicken and beef for my meals, and with xrays and bloodwork for my diagnostics. And while the egg cleansing wasn´t so bad, I think I prefer  medications myself. But, to each his own.