Inti Raymi- The Sun Festival

by Taylor Borowetz

A leap into the unknown Ecuador

I sat with my host mother and sister on the old, soft sofas in the living room. It was nearly 11 o'clock at night, and the brisk air was filled with small talk and a nervous excitement. I didn't understand what was going to happen. I had been living with them in Ecuador for a month and a half, and my Spanish skills were limited. We had been celebrating Inti Raymi for the past four days; the annual festival to the sun. These days were some of the most important of the year. My host mother said that the men had gone dancing, and tonight was the "baños rituales" or "ritual baths." I didn't understand, but I was sitting there in the living room with my swimsuit under my clothes, just to be sure. Soon enough, we left. The night was black and the moon was full. We walked down one of the small dirt roads, following a strange but powerful noise. There was so much shouting and stomping you could feel it in the ground. We found nearly one hundred of the men in a large yard, moving in a giant, ebbing whirlpool. There was singing and yelling as they danced in the night. Occasionally someone would shout something and it would disband. The hollering group would parade, scuffing down the dirt road, and sing and dance in another yard. We followed them, staying carefully out of the way but riding the incredible energy. My host mother looked at me, and neither of us could contain our smiles. Eventually, the group paraded into the community hall. More people had now joined. Everyone was quieted as several elders made speeches in their native tongue, Quechua. Suddenly, cheering erupted, and everyone began to funnel out. We wandered to a path at the outskirts of the village, and in the pitch black started down one of the steepest and most treacherous cliffside paths I had ever experienced. After a half hour of near-slips, we were at the bottom of a ravine, and people were building a fire around the entrance to a cave. "Aquí." "Here." Everyone took their clothes off, and I was suddenly grateful for the swimsuit. As my host mother showed me inside the small cave, I was amazed. There was a freshwater spring and a small rock pool. She told me to bathe in the waters for good energy and healing. It was freezing. She was laughing. I wondered what events in my life had led me here, as a short, feisty Ecuadorian woman splashed frigid water on my head. It was there, looking out to the stars as we laughed from our souls that I realized, I didn't know. But I sure was glad they did