Party...Peruvian Style

My first weekend in Peru I got to check out a community party. I went with my host sister, Ana, and sister-in-law, Maria. In my pueblo, Chacrasana, there was the fiesta (party) for El Sagrado Corazon de Jesus (The Sacred Heart of Jesus). A religious holiday with religious festivities, but Peruvians also see that as another reason to have a party. So after attending mass some of the locals carried a shrine down to the area that had been prepared for the celebration. A dance troupe added to the festivities.

But the dancers weren't the only entertainment. There was a large stage constructed for a band too.

Yup, the band and....Wait! Is that a scantily clad go-go dancer I see in front of the picture of Jesus??? Why, yes! There was a dancer who participated in the musical performance as well! Apparently, Peruvians, who definitely can take their religion seriously, can also be blind to some very American sensitivities, lol.

Oh, but the party was only getting started. It alternated between music and fireworks. But not fireworks like we'd expect on the 4^th of July. They had constructed a large tower (they called it a castillo) which was loaded with fireworks complete with spinning wheels (which periodically went flying off the tower) and fireworks exploding directly above our heads. Needless to say, I was impressed. When I told my sister, Ana, that it was so impressive because I'd never be able to see fireworks from that angle and that close in the US due to rules there, she chuckled and responded, “No hay reglas aquí.” (There aren't rules here).

Think the story ends here? Heck no! We're just getting to the good part: the toro loco!!! (translation: crazy bull, although I don't think the word crazy does it justice.) A toro loco is basically a guy in a weird looking “bull” costume.

Apparently this guy is a Holstein. What are all those things on top of the costume? Well they need something to attach the fireworks to!!! Duh! So in action the toro loco looked something more like this...

When I was at the national museum in Lima, I saw a toro loco on display, so I asked the guide about it. She said that it was a tradition brought by the Spaniards. They originally put fireworks on actual bulls and had them fight, but this was logistically dificult in Peru because they had to import the bulls. And thus was born the toro loco. Admittedly these human fireworks dressed like cows were pretty entertaining. When they started spraying firework directly into the crowd it got a little more exciting if not just a little scary. The festivities alternated between music, castillos, and toros locos, culminating with two toros locos simultaneously for a grand finale (I have a sneaking suspicion that the 4^th of July just won't be as exciting anymore). All-in-all, I have to admit Peruvians know how to celebrate.

A few days ago I noticed a hole in my sweat shirt. It took me a second to figure how the heck I got a small burn hole in my shirt. Apparently, the word “fire” in fireworks is no joke. So please, boys and girls, don't play with toros locos at home, but if you do, at least make sure you're wearing clothes that you wouldn't mind turning into a bonfire!

Pachamanca

On Fathers' Day I got to have a special Peruvian meal: Pachamanca. It's a traditional meal from the sierra (mountains) and is named after the Inca god of the earth, Pachacamac. The food (first wrapped) is put on top of hot coals and then covered in dirt and allowed to cook for an hour or so. My host family has a small fire pit/grill in their back yard so we used that to make the Pachamanca. We had chicken, pork, choclo (a variety of corn with large kernels), potatoes, sweet potatoes, habas (they look like large lima beans), and humitas (sweet tamales). We also had crema de rocoto (a homemade hot sauce) on the side.

Below we're getting the fire going and the pit ready for the food.

Below my host brother, Fran, is covering the buried food in a tarp. My host dad is in the fore ground. And I'm helping by staying behind my camera.

Below, one of my other host brothers, Joey, has joined the fun starting to dig the food out. I'm still helping out behind the camera.

And the feast we dug out....

And finally the fire pit after we'd taken everything but a few habas out. (It's also kind of what the table looked like once I was done eating).

It was one heck of a feast. I learned a Peruvian saying at that meal. “Yo soy Juan Orozco. Cuando como, no conozco.” It roughly translates to, “I'm Juan Orozco (that name is in there because it makes the saying rhyme in Spanish), when I'm eating I forget that I know anyone.” Anyone who knows me probably won't be surprised that my host family used that one on me ;-)

FAQs

For my first blog post I wanted to give a general introduction to my first month in Peru. So I put together a list of questions that friends from the US have been asking me and some questions that they should have been asking me as well ;-)

What's it like? (a question people asked)

Hmm, well its pretty similar to the US. There's ground and sky and people. They do have different words for just about everything here, though. Some people speak American.

Are you able to use the internet? (a question people asked)

No, I uploaded this telepathically.

What's your family like? (a question people asked)

I'm staying with a host family right now that is super awesome. They are extremely helpful with my Spanish plus just really friendly in general. I have an older brother, a younger brother, and a younger sister. I interact with my mom and sister most because they are the ones who are around most regularly (the guys spend more time out of the house for work and school).

What's the food like? (a question people asked)

Rice and potatoes. Rice and potatoes. Rice and potatoes, etc.

It's not that boring. Right now I'm lucky because during training we're staying with families that are pretty well off so there are definitely some things to eat along with the rice and potatoes. But guaranteed I get two of these three every dinner: rice, potatoes, beans. So far I have really enjoyed the food, though. Breakfast is light (typically bread and maybe some type of hot cereal). Supper is light as well (leftovers from the afternoon). Afternoon meal is the big one. Meat is pretty typically chicken. I still haven't eaten guinea pig, although some of my fellow trainees have and said it was good. The beef here is pretty similar to the US. Oh, sorry, didn't mean to be confusing. Its not similar to the beef in the US. Similar to old tires in the US.

What's the weather like? (a question people asked)

Right now its winter (we're in the Southern Hemisphere). But its still super temperate. I'd say its about like early fall in Michigan. Very cloudy. Cool to warm days and colder nights. Depending on where I go for my two years of service this could change a lot though. Higher in the sierra (the mountains) it can get very cold, but the coast has lots of desert and is super hot.

Why is there always a lid on all the trashcans in the bathrooms? (a question people should have asked)

The pipes used for plumbing in Peru aren't big enough to handle toilet paper, so all toilet paper gets thrown in the trash (emphasis on the word all). Hence, lids for trashcans are very necessary.

Have you pooped your pants yet? (a question people should have asked)

What makes you think you can ask a personal question like that???

But the answer is “no”. This is actually a super popular question amongst us here, because apparently 70% of Peace Corps volunteers poop their pants sometime during service. I'm just hoping that when it happens I get a story to top my poopy-pants-story from Ghana.

When do you start your CIA training? (a question people asked)

I'm confused because they still haven't mentioned anything about this. Maybe they're just trying to break us mentally first with super boring trainings all day Monday-Friday. (Disclaimer: That was a joke! I know of no connection between the Peace Corps and any portion of the intelligence or military branches of the government!!!!)

Do you have running water and electric? (a question people asked)

Yes. And I will the entire time I'm in the Peace Corps. One of the requirements for host families in Peru is that they have both.

What do you do? (a question people asked)

Everything I did in the US - hockey = sleep and eat.

I do a lot of both of those. First of all, because they're my favorite pastimes. But also because my host mom loves to make food for me (hence all the eating) and because 8am-5pm days of training followed by speaking Spanish the rest of the day with my family is really draining so I crash and sleep super soundly every night.

Do you need anything? (a question people should have asked ;-)

Not really, but thanks for asking.

In all seriousness, what I would like is if people just emailed me now and then to say what they've been up to. Sorry if I'm slow or curt with responses to emails, but right now I'm only on the internet a couple times a week. But I really do appreciate news from home. I don't know anything that's going on with friends and family unless you tell me! Feel free to send me boring emails...if its too dull even for me I just won't read it, jk ;-)

Hopefully the blog will help answer questions people have so that via email we can spend more time just sharing some interesting stories or news from our respective halves of the world.

What do you learn in training? (a question people have asked)

What the ceiling of the classroom looks like. And how nice the outdoors looks through windows even if it is cloudy.

Oh, and I almost forgot. I also learned how bad my Spanish is.

Do you have a wife yet? (a question people should have asked)

That's old news. Tyler Jr starts primary school next year.

(Ok people, I'm going to be tired of warning you about sarcasm after this post so please learn my sense of humor so that you understand it without warnings in the future ;-)

Are you taking lots of pictures? (a question people asked)

I'm taking pictures, but I'm too lazy to upload them now. I will for future blog posts.