Day 15: APAK filming! (also everyone has food poisoning)

Just kidding, it’s only 3 people!*

The morning started off great, but then everything went boom (haha. Get it?) (for those of you not in the ~biz~ the boom is the long pole a microphone is hung from during shooting). Anyways, we got up at the perfectly reasonable and pleasant hour of 6:30 am and had breakfast. Missing from the group was Kerry who was the first victim to fall.

While wolfing down my delicious breakfast of exactly 1 egg and 1 slice of apple, tom told  me he “wasn’t feeling well.” Another one bites the dust.

We hopped on the new bus (bye bye Marcelo!) and somehow spent 40 minutes getting to APAK, which is roughly a 10 minute walk. Eventually we made it though, loaded the bus, and we were on our way!

Except, one minor hiccup, Eudora also fell ill and had to be dropped off, leaving our group down to just to me and olivia M (and Jean, Toqui, Ankalli, and Tatiana of course!)

We arrived in Cotacatchi and met our wonderful subjects for the day. The women who run Sumak Muyu are incredibly talented. From our first moment there I wanted to be done filming, for the simple reason that I was desperate to purchase some jewelry.

We began our shooting at their headquarters and crashed the drone almost immediately. Honestly the drone was cool but it sounded like a giant swarm of bees about to attack… After the opening shots, the children of the jewelry makers were our wonderful actors for the spot. Shooting move surprisingly quickly considering it was just 2 students working, and ill admit holding the boom (see the pun at the beginning of this post) hurt a lot of muscles I didn’t even know I had.

A little before lunch Eudora rose from the dead and took a taxi to find us! Admittedly, it took us 45 minutes to locate her, but she was able to join us for a wonderful community lunch. For me, this was the most striking part of the day – lunch was a fully communal event: eating with our hands, sharing everything, sitting in the grass in a circle touching knees. It’s the kind of shared experience that turns strangers to friends instantly, despite not speaking a single word of the same language.

communal lunch

We continued on shooting, creating an artificial storefront, and a bit after lunch another miracle was performed and Tom too came to join us! While he was only there for the last few shots, he did a great job with both the boom and camera. Eudora was also a major player; her steady hands dragged the camera on a sheet – a poor (and innovative) man’s dolly!

Tom, back from the dead

For our final shot we returned to Sumak Muyo and APAK generously let us direct, film, and sound record it. No pressure! We meticulously got our shot set up and JUST as we hit the record button, the camera died (cue groan). Luckily, while the battery was charging we were able to hike down to a stream that flows directly from within the mountain. The water there is used for cleansing rituals and is incredible clear.

After hiking back up (complaining the whole time like the good spirited students we are) we were able to get our final shot – and get it approved! I think the delay, and the beautiful hike, made it that much sweeter.

And then my favorite part of the day: shopping! Did I buy 5 necklaces, a pair of earrings, and a hammock? You’ll just have to wonder on that.

Fast forward 4 hours: We arrived back at the hotel, took a hot (!!!) shower, and went to Inti Raymi, the festival of the sun, with our new APAK friends. I can’t capture the feeling, and I won’t embarrass myself by trying, so you’ll just have to come to Otavalo and experience it yourself, but I will throw some buzzwords at you: dancing, circle, music, guitar, mandolin, corn, canelazo. Take that for what you will!

Here’s hoping this is the end of the stretch of food poisoning – at least we can be sure the canelazo killed any bacteria in the vicinity!!

*edit: at the time of this writing it was only 3 people. Now it’s 6.