Wasipichay

Last weekend we underwent the traditional housewarming ceremony in Ecuador. Wasipichay is the Quichua word for the ceremony. We had to find three herbs: chilca, ruda, and marco. We found them all at the market in Santa Clara (a neighborhood in Quito). First, we bound the three herbs into miniature brooms and swept the bad spirits out of the house.

Next we took put hot coals in a dish and burned Palo Santo (a nice smelling root) and incense on top of it. We then carried the dish around the house thinking very positive thoughts.

For added protection, we put a potted ruda plant right outside our front door. According to our TESOL trainer, Elias, this has kept his house from being burglarized in the past. Supposedly seeing the plant rids the potential burglar´s mind of his negative intentions.

When the ceremony was completed, Pilsenars were cracked open and our housewarming party began. Our guests were extremely generous in the amount of liquor they donated to the party and as a result we have quite a bar stocked for future occasions. We had friends representing Germany, Ecuador, Ireland, and the U.S. in attendance. There weren´t quite as many people there as we had anticipated (half the old LanguageCorps crowd didn´t come), but it wasn´t without excitement. It continued until about 4:30 the following morning and included someone cauterizing a wound with the very knife that initially inflicted the injury, some very creative haircuts, and a late night dance party (I don´t know where the energy came from, or do I, Hardeep?)