Maiz y Coca-Cola [Hardcover]

Diane Terezakis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 10, 2001

Maiz y Coca-Cola chronicles the adventures of the author in the Amazon jungle and Andes Mountains as she searches for various medicine men to apprentice with, the experiences she encounters along the way, and the inner journey that eventually leads her back home.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Whether sharing knowledge attained through a sacred plant ritual, the romance she finds with a leader of the Huaorani, or the tarantulas that frighten her while she bathes, Diane Terezakis authentically shares her experiences as if unashamedly talking to a best friend.

Diane's quest for the elusive, yet eclectic state of enlightenment is an inner and outer journey, where she seeks to acquire shamanic wisdom as well as to learn about herself, and although she has a game plan in mind, Diane follows the path that the Universe governs.

Part One: Civilization, chronicles the introductory voyage that takes the author through the Ecuadorian Amazon and Andes, meeting shamans she wants to return and study with, the indigenous and the gringos she befriends along the way, the scrapes she gets into, and the reflections on significant episodes in her life. In Part Two: Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru, the author's mentor, a shaman in the Ecuadorian Andes, Dr. Valentin Hampejs, helps point the way toward other medicine men for her to supplement her studies with after her disappointing stay with the Secoya shaman, Don Cesario. Enlightening rituals with Dr. Hampejs, a romantic relationship with the Huaorani, Moi, and fun times with her quasi-cousins help balance her disappointment. Chauvinism, greed, and alcohol have marred many of the medicine men that the author finds. Journeying through the Andes while El Nino's ravishing of roads has made travel dangerous, Terezakis precariously makes her way into the Peruvian Andes, plagued by recurring dreams with important messages that eventually lead her back home.

Elixir qualities aside, inhabitants of the Amazon jungle and the Andes Mountains (symbolized by Maiz) are becoming perpetually Westernized (symbolized by Coca-Cola emblems throughout South America), and the terrain is sadly changing. Oil companies decimate the Amazon daily, and cultures in both vicinities are losing their hold. As if catching fleeting moments on film, Diane attempts, through her memoir, to immortalize the beauty of the jungle and the mountains while capturing comic moments, vulnerable, endearing episodes, thought-provoking tragedies, and painful disillusionment. Diane's passages weave into an unforgettable scrapbook of her travels in South America. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Author

I'd been on a roll for the last ten years, travelling and doing fun things like scuba diving and smoking cigars in Cuba, parachuting outside of Moscow with the Russian Special Forces, and rock climbing in the mountains of Siurana, Spain. When I went down to the Andes for the first time, to share Christmas with my brother's Ecuadorian wife and her family, the itch to journey got hold of me within the first few days, and so, off I went into the Amazon jungle. Like Dorothy on her trip to Oz, the people I met along the way, the exotic places and formidable creatures I saw, the experiences that pointed the way to other destinations, and the memories of home shaped my journey through Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

Like a decent travel essay should, I invite you to get swept along on the ride with me as you cozily sit with your feet on the coffee table, deliciously entertained, and free from itsy-bitsy biting critters, rabid jungle dogs, and nefarious medicine men. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 356 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris Corporation; 1 edition (March 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738852619
• ISBN-13: 978-0738852614
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,229,211 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not to be missed...just ask Howard Stern!, November 18, 2000

By 

Michael Robertson (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maiz y Coca-Cola: Adventures, Scrapes, and Shamanism in the Amazon and Andes (Paperback)

After I heard Howard Stern talk about this book, I ordered it and received it promptly. What a great read! This gal really knows how to write, how to make people laugh and to think about where they are going with their lives, and if they are really living their dreams. She's easy to identify with, yet she's done some incredible stuff. I'm looking forward to her next book.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book written involving Ecuador!!!, April 10, 2002

By 

Angela Hamilton (Portland, OR - United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Maiz y Coca-Cola: Adventures, Scrapes, and Shamanism in the Amazon and Andes (Paperback)

From the first pages, this book had me back in Ecuador feeling the dampness on my skin and breathing the thick air. Diane has an amazing way of personalizing her adventures by revealing even the most embarrassing and intimate parts of her experience. I relived my own adventures as she walked down the street at the plaza in Baños and even when she had that lack of bowel control. Diane shows how small the country is when she "easily" (which is a relative term when referring to Ecuador) finds Moi just because she'd become intrigued with him from reading Joe Kane's "Savages". It may all seem unreal to those who have never been to Ecuador, but she captures the typical experience while not making her descriptions repetetive, generalized nor "guidebook-ish". The element that I loved most is that it is a great description of the Ecua experience while also being a very well-expressed spiritual journey!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good fun for the arm-chair adventurer, with an N-17 rating, June 5, 2000

By 

Michelle (Cleveland, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Maiz y Coca-Cola: Adventures, Scrapes, and Shamanism in the Amazon and Andes (Paperback)

I enjoyed reading about Ms. Terezakis' adventures, especially because her anecdotes made me feel as though I were there with her enjoying the best parts along with her, instead of home, safe and secure, away from the threats of mosquitos, tarantulas, and intense jungle humidity!