A Visit to a Guaraní Village

On Thursday, March 23rd, we flew out of the Buenos Aires downtown airport and headed north to Puerto Iguazú.  It had been cooler ( in the 70s Fahrenheit) in Buenos Aires than when we were there two weeks earlier.  In the jungle of the far northeastern corner of Argentina, it was usually around 90 degrees this time of year, but now it was unseasonably warm, reaching 95 (35 Celsius).

We stopped for lunch (I forget the name) at a pleasant place with good food (empanadas, ceviche, etc.).

We got onto a truck to drive out into Puerto Iguazú's exurbs, where there was a village of the indigenous Guaraní tribe.  Delfín, one of the village leaders, joined us to show how the people lived, farming corn and yucca, and trapping birds and animals.

We joined Delfín's mother at a shelter where she had prepared some nice snacks.

We learned two words in Guaraní: aujevete, meaning "hello," and haevete, meaning "thank you."  In either case you speak with your palms held up, facing the other person: ✋🤚

There are some very large trees that have particular spiritual significance to the Guaraní.  They (literally) hug them to obtain a share of their strength and serenity.  We did the same.

Delfín, along with a group of young people, performed two songs for us in Guaraní.

Then, we were blessed by the village's assistant shaman.  He blew smoke from a pipe on each of us individually, then touched the person's heart. 

Afterwards, we went through the village's craft stalls and picked up a few little things.  There, we met Delfín's wife and baby daughter.

After we checked into our hotel, the Amerian Portal de Iguazú (nice), we walked a short distance to a park that overlooked where the Iguazú River flowed into the Paraná.  In the park was a pyramidal pylon, in the colors of the Argentinean flag, blue and white.  Across the wide Paraná, we could see another park, with a similar pylon, showing the Paraguayan colors of red, white and blue.  Across the Iguazú, in the shadow of a big ferris wheel, was yet another park, with yet another pylon, in Brazilian green and yellow.  The river junction is where the boundaries of all three countries meet.

The group had dinner (okay) at the hotel restaurant.