Dear Journal,
This was our
first day on this island. After making sure we’re in the Eastern Brazil (on the
map), we roamed deeper into the forest and found some living being.
At first glance, they had
dark skin. The adults wore big leaves which covered parts of their body. The
younger kids were just naked. They looked just like the primitives in the
books. We hid behind the thick trees quietly, watching them. Some of them might
have noticed something over here at where we’re at but didn’t seem to worry.
The people were calmly sitting outside their tents ----- at least that’s what
they looked like ----- and hanging out. Most of them were seniors, women and
children. I only saw a few men who were short and weak. Don’t they have men here? I wondered. Well, if that’s so, it isn’t good.
We made
gestures with each other and a few of us went closer silently. I was breathing
hard and wished they wouldn’t hurt us. We walked toward them and some of the
kids saw us. They poked their mothers several times and pointed at us. I felt
like we were a group of invaders. The mothers stood up immediately and stood in
front of their kids. A small man blew the horn that he grabbed that hung on a
tree. It wasn’t very loud but I was on my nerves. One of us suddenly yelled at
them to calm down but they didn’t seem to understand. They ran around. Suddenly,
a group of big people appeared behind the trees. They were on their feet running
and all of them were strong and tall. There were several teenagers
who were not as strong or tall. However, they were holding
body pieces of a creature. I assumed that they went hunting
and the younger ones were helping the adults out while learning. In a few seconds, they
surrounded us and pointed their weapons at us. A man came up to us and yelled
something at us that I didn’t understand. I
immediately knew he was the leader. He is strong and big. He wore an animal
skin on his neck like a scarf. None of us talked but just looked at him. I didn’t
know what to do, so I dropped my backpack and the rest of my people followed.
Then the hunter group backed off and the leader started to talk. I didn’t understand
so I stood up stupidly and pointed at myself then the others. “Canadian,” I
said. The leader stared at us and pointed at himself and his people,
“Bah-Lye-Geon,” he said. I believe they were the Balygeon then. I smiled a little and reached out to grab our bags.
Then he suddenly yelled and pointed his spear at me. His people suddenly
followed and pointed us with their weapons too. The women hid behind the men
and the children hid behind the women. They peeked to look at us silently above
the men’s shoulders. We put our hands up naturally and walked backwards as they
came closer and closer. I realized they might be trying to get rid of us from
their campus. They stopped walking when we’re ten metres far from them.
We had no
choice but turned and ran back to our ship. Gladly they didn’t follow because
we have no chance of winning them in running. We finally arrived at our ship as
the night fell. The team decided to try again tomorrow.
Dear Journal,
This was our
second day. I was really tired but excited.
We grabbed our camera and headed to their campus. Their leader
was sitting with a woman. They were chatting in their own language. They saw us
and he took up and walked toward us. We put our hands up and put our bags down
slowly. Then I smiled at him. I wanted to show that we’re nice people. He just
stood and watched. Suddenly he smiled too and laughed out loud. He yelled
something in his own language to his people and laughed again. I don't think he
thinks we’re dangerous. He backed off and walked back to the woman there and
started chatting casually again. We looked around and decided to check out the
stuff they got. They lived in several big tents. The tents were made of woods
standing diagonally on left and right and forming a tip on the top. They are long
and narrow. However, they were no higher than 1.5 meters. There were four to
five big beds inside which were made of dry branches and big leaves. They lay
the bigger branches closer to the ground and smaller branches closer to their
bodies. Then they had left some big rainforest leaves on the branches to cover
up the branches. I assume several families share a tent and one family shares a
bed.
There were decorations carved
on the trees around their campus. They all had different patterns and shapes. Some
of them, I supposed, are trees, and some others were themselves hunting
animals. They also drew things on rocks with paint, which I think, were made
from powder of specials rocks. I was impressive by their special drawn patterns
and carved shapes.
We
did not cause any trouble for them that morning, so I believe them accept us as
‘friends’.
In
the afternoon, we had lunch by ourselves while the tribe made soup with insects
and leaves. It actually smelled pretty good. While they were eating, two of the
kids came up to my friend and took a piece of canned meat from him. We laughed
quietly as the kids showed no appreciation. They ate happily and their moms smiled
at us.
At
night, they had a party. We were invited to enjoy the party while sitting by
the leader and his woman. They had a variety of food. There was ‘insect salad’,
‘legs (of wild animals)’, ‘random veggie’ etc. Some of them are delicious, but
some are disgusting. The women danced for the men who sat and ate meat. The
women had graceful moves and danced softly. Some of the younger teenagers were
making music while hitting the thick stump. They even invited my female friends
to dance. They danced hip-hop and had fun. We, the men, were watching and
laughing. Then the women sang and some men sang as well. Sorry to say this, but
they were definitely out of tone. Well, we can’t judge them because they’re not
as smart as us, the modern human. However, their tone didn't seem to matter,
because the others looked like they enjoyed it. At the end, when the moon was
bright, we all danced by the fire. Some of the women took our hands and danced
with us. Some of the strong boys invited our ladies. My partner and I tried to chat.
However, it didn't work out so well. She had no idea what I was talking.
Neither did I understand her. ;) Anyway, that night passed fast. Some of us
fell asleep in the middle of the party and I soon fell asleep too.
Dear Journal,
This is the third day. I still remembered exactly what happened
yesterday. That was probably the best experience I ever had in my whole life. I
woke up this morning in a wooden house. After waking up fully, I realized I was
in a tent. It looked so much more beautiful from the inside than from the
outside. No one is in bed other than my crews.
I went outside and saw the ladies on my team were playing mud
and sand with the little kids while their moms watched peacefully. We waved at
the leader and I think he was inviting us to go hunting with them. I called the
girls but the leader immediately shook his head hard. I remembered no women were
allowed hunting so I explained it to them. So we had to leave the girls with
the moms and kids.
I took a spear which is similar to the one the leader’s got and
was ready to get some animals down. I followed quietly and so was my team.
Also, some of the people from the tribe came with us. The rest of the hunters
were going somewhere else I believe. We traveled to somewhere that was not
dense with foliage and saw an okapi. It was eating fungi which grew on a tree.
I looked at the leader who kneeled beside me and he made a gesture of silence. I
looked at the others. They were quiet and calm. Suddenly, a young man threw his
hatchet toward the okapi and missed! The okapi found itself in danger and ran. The
leader whispered something loud and a middle aged man shot the okapi four times
in its leg, stomach and head. The leader ran and we all followed. We saw the
okapi slowed down and fell, blood streaming down. I was sort of sad but the
team was excited. They ran to it and one of them made sure it’s dead. After the
okapi was cut into a few smaller pieces, the team carried the bloody body parts
on their shoulders. The leader walked to that young man who did not look
bothered and rewarded him a pat on the shoulder. I was impressed because it
seemed like he was proud that the young man tried. He later walked to the
middle aged man and talked happily.
After a few rounds of successful hunts, when we were about to
head back, we saw another tribe wearing the mostly same thing as this tribe I’m
with. They greeted and talked. They spoke the same language and were nice with
each other. This reminded me of the Mongolians. The Mongolians had different
tribes and each tribe lived separately. Then I wondered if they’re like the
Mongolians, do they have a king too?! That scared me a little but I let it go. The
tribe introduced us and they were so passionate that it made me feel shy.
We went back with food. Some women were so excited that they
took the meat immediately to clean the meat. Time passed fast and it was dark
already. We ate fondue in a huge pot with the meat and leaves. Everyone just
grabbed whatever they wanted from the pot by scooping using branches. They were
hungry, I could tell. I ate a lot too. I no longer cared about germs or
anything, because, honestly, it was delicious. We went back to our ship to rest
even though they invited us to sleep with them. We didn't want to disturb them
too much so we determined to go back to our own place. Tomorrow is the last day
we’ll be here. I was kind of sad when I think about it.
Dear Journal,
The tribe took us into a
deep cave that morning and I learned their religion. We sat in the cave
silently in front of a stone table as they did. They weren’t doing anything but
sitting there. I thought they might be praying but I wasn’t sure. Then a granny
came out from the deeper cave. She was wearing animal skin and jewelry made
from rocks and leaves. The tribe saw and kneeled down like she was a goddess. The
leader was talking politely to her with his head down. He introduced us and she
ignored. Then the leader hurried the men to sacrifice an okapi for her and she
stood beside us. She used her branch to touch our heads and mumbled. The tribe
bowed again to show appreciation for her blessing and left. I couldn’t believe
this tribe is worshipping an old woman who is simply just one of them as a
goddess. I see that this woman is smarter than them and used her intelligence
to get food (sacrifices). However, I didn’t want to destroy part of their
culture so I kept it to myself.
Back at their camp, we were ready to
leave. The women and kids only spent yesterday together with my female
teammates, but they’re already sobbing dramatically. Even the leader almost
cried. He took my hand and patted me on the shoulders. I see that even though
they’re tough people, they’re really emotional. They have nature of hunters but
are thoughtful and caring.
We headed to our ship and they were waving
goodbyes. I felt so loved and warm with the memories. We left with a lot of
photos and information. We will surely come back to visit them again someday
with bigger mission.
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