Finally, it was time to make soap! We explained the ratios and safety measures and the girls and their moms carefully added the mix of lye, water, and oil into a pot. Natalie, one of the girls, put on gloves and began to stir. Soon, the solution began to turn gray, ferociously bubbling as it engulfed Natalie in a choking smoke. She passed the ladle off to Edi, a woman, and then me, and we tried to keep stirring, but the smoke bellowed from every angle and eventually we surrendered, moving away and watching as it continued to bubble, smoke and produce a burning gas. I remembered that previous volunteers who had made soap with community members mentioned the process would smoke and produce some heat, but to this extreme? This was bad. I wondered why volunteers continued to rave about this charla when the chemical effects were so strong and began to think something had gone wrong. We reviewed the order of ingredients multiple times and concluded that we had indeed added everything correctly. I was confused, worried, and then slightly amused as the women began saying that Meriyi was teaching them her brujería. Sadly, my brujería skills are not that advanced and eventually we concluded that the lye had reacted with the pot and this had caused the solution to not only form a sticky, gray substance, but also intensify the bubbles, gas, and smoke.
Laughing because that is the best solution to all campo failures, we explained to community members what had happened and that we were going to try again, this time in a plastic bucket. The girls and women looked at us skeptically as they once again measured, poured and begin to stir the lye with water, and then the oil. I breathed a sigh of relief as the reaction was minimal in comparison to the first attempt. Half of the girls and women took turns stirring in increments while the other half of the group went to mash lemongrass to add in as I mournfully went to bury the gray liquid and prepare my ruined pot and ladle for retirement. The groups switched roles halfway through and, once the allotted time had passed, poured the liquid into plastic bottle molds, and we explained the waiting process of one month. Before leaving the women came to look at the molds, and suspiciously stared as if any second they might burst into a bubbly liquid and immerse them in a toxic smoke. They looked at me, and then the soap again, and said, “Meriyi, your brujería soap is going to burn all of my hair out!” I tried to remind them of how calm the second attempt was, but they could not get that first image out of their mind, and frankly, I could not blame them!
It has almost been a month now and the women occasionally come by, checking on the soap, asking if it will ever be okay to use, and wondering about what other brujería Meriyi is cooking up in the little pot that remains...
VOCABULARY
Brujería: witchcraft
Campo: Panamanian countryside