Chicha and Coca

Yesterday afternoon I got drunk on chicha - fermeted corn juice - for the first time, and chewed my biggest mouthful of coca leaves yet... I learned the proper way to drink chicha at a long leisurely lunch under a garden arbor listening to radical labor leaders and world famous activist Oscar Olivera shoot the shit. For those of you interested, chicha comes by the bucketful. You take a gourd scoopful, spill a little on the ground to honor Pachamama, then toast someone across the table, who will drink after you. You chug the stuff, re-scoop, and pass the gourd to your new friend. This goes on for hours (6 hours in my case) and you have to drink when invited by someone (in my case, all the time, being the token gringo at the table). A chicha drunk is really mellow but really boisterous at the same time... and I think chewing so much coca had something to do with the fact that I had no hangover this morning. Ah, the wonders of sacred plants and fermentation!