We continued our classroom discussions of indigenous vs. Western healing techniques today with Mario. Much time was spent on the topic of placebo effects. They were differentiated from the concept of "meaning effects," though the two are closely related. As an example, if you gave someone an inert red pill and told them that it would provide a boost of energy, the pill itself would be referred to as a placebo, but the patient might behave as if he/she were actually more energetic because of the meaning associated with perhaps the color of the pill and the suggestive power of the administering physician.

As I said in my previous blogs on this topic, most Quichua people would go to a Western style physician to treat something like a broken arm or a case of meningitis. For mental disorders, though, they might likely see a Quichua healer for reasons discussed in previous blogs. For something like chronic pain, a Quichua person might also choose to visit a traditional healer. The healer's collection of ministrations might only include things such as I have already mentioned; things like incantations, a mist of alcohol, or blowing smoke. However, if the patient is comfortable with the ambience, has confidence in the healer, and has faith in the entire process, then, through the meaning effect, or placebo effect if you prefer, pain-reducing endorphins may be released, leading to a beneficial outcome for the patient, just as if the healer had administered a dose of morphine.

Our afternoon was free and Jessica, Kathy, Ron, and I went on a hike to the Cascades de Peguché. This turned out to be a seriously cool afternoon. Getting there was a challenge at times, as Jessica exhibits in her stream crossing in the following photo.

The power of the cascades or falls was impressive. Here is a photo of Ron, Jessica, and me in front of them.

We discovered that the falls continued upstream beyond what you see in the above photo. We discovered a smaller, but deeper falls, along with a series of caves or tunnels. Here is a photo of Kathy peering out of one of the caves.

Rather than return the way we came, we kept exploring further and finally made our way to the Parque Condor, not far from El Lechero, the rubber tree that was shown a few blogs back. The Parque Condor is a bird sanctuary where birds of prey can be nursed back to health. We saw the national bird, the condor, with a wingspan of around six feet. The following photo is my best effort to capture the wingspan of the male. He would fly to one part of the enclosure and pose with his wings out while I raced over to get the shot. However, by the time I got there, he would have closed them usually. In the photo, the male is chasing a female.

The timing of our arrival at the park was perfect--4:30PM. Every day at that time (also at 11:30 am) several of the birds are allowed out of their cages and allowed to fly around the site and the nearby hillsides, under the watchful gaze of their trainers. Here is a picture of the Dutch proprietor with one of the raptors.