Coffee with the Yacumama

On sunday Alberto wanted to "practice" the story he wanted to tell his Casa Verde children on Monday and he asked his new Peruvian friend, Manuel, for help, that is suggestions, corrections, opinion... Manuel works in a little shop selling T-shirts, smoking paraphernalia, souvenirs... He is originally from Cusco, had lived in Spain for some time and the more you get to know him the more "secrets" you will find out. He is an anthropologists and now studying to be a tourist guide. He knows a lot about Peru, history, traditions... and he can tell stories, very well!

So on sunday afternoon we all met at the "La Boveda" café, a lovely place on the Plaza de Armas, serving real coffee, recommended by Manuel. Alberto told his story about Giacomo, the little Italian boy who can´t tell a lie and turns transparent. Everybody can see his thoughts and when a mean dictator takes over the country and discovers Giacomo's dislike he throws him into prison. But Giacomo´s transluscent body shines out of the prison and eventually even the dictator shows some compassion and frees Giacomo. Of course this is just the essence of the story and Alberto can tell it much better. Manuel helped him with some Spanish or typical Peruvian expressions, making it easire for the children to relate to the story.

Somehow we got from this stories to stories and legends in general... and it turned out that Manuel is a gifted story teller!

I asked him if he knew the legend of the jung boy living in the jungle whose feet point backwards. He usually seduces and misleads travalers by his enchanting song and you can only free yourself by distracting him - be in with a fire or a little puzzle... I have heard this story with little variation in both Brazil and Ecuador... and yes, Manuel had heard about it, too. He then told us another legend of the jungle, the legend of the Yacumama. The Yacumama is a giant boa, the spirit of the "selva" (jungle), that weeps at night... Manuel claims that he had heard her weeping one time when he was accompanying his Dad to a gold claim deep in the jungle near Pucallpa...

Another story he first didn´t want to tell us because he prefered his Mum to tell us was the sad and touching story of his aunt Blanquita. When his mum was still a little girl and living in a village close to Cusco, one day, her sister Blanca didn´t return home for lunch. They searched for her but couln´t find her. She returned at night, crying. When her mother tried to wash her tears of she discovered that they were blood... Little Blanca than told them that she had met a beautiful lady, all dressed in white in the fields. The lady had counted her hair and asked her, why some of it was missing... Blanca thought that this lady was her really mother and at night went out to find her. When she returned later on and went to bed - she died. This, Manual said, is the true story of his aunt Blanquita, who met the Virgin Mary in the fields and died the same day... it gave us creeps!

Of course we wanted to hear more stories and Manuel told us about Padre Santo of Cusco, a priest who gave money, food and drinks to all who asked him, nobody knew where he got it from... he kept it all under his soutane! Another true story, Manuel swore, is the one of a man who got lost in the catacombs of the San Domingo church in Cusco and reappeared during mass carrying a huge lump of gold - then breaking down and dying right there from the ammonium evaporating from the gold...

Both Manuel and Alberto knew stories of haunted houses and bewitched places, carrying negative energies dating back to crimes and misfortunates of centuries ago...

We could have stayed in "La Boveda" for hours sharing legends, stories... but Alberto had to prepare for his big day at Casa Verde and Manuel was still suffering the aftermaths of the weekend. Alberto and I went for lunch and both agreed on how lucky we were to meet an interesting and open person like Manuel!