Virgen del Carmen
We took a road trip, renting a suv in Cusco, to Paucartambo for a baptism and the festival of the Virgen del Carmen. We left Cusco...and with Andrew driving, we made it in record time. The road was lined with kids with hands out asking for candy. The road was dry dirt, and so the cars kicked up a lot of dust. All the kids were white in covered dust. One kid ran behind our car breathing a pound of dust, so we had to stop and give him a piece of bread. He couldnt speak, his mouth was full of dirt. We set up our tents in Sunchubamba at our friend Martin's house. He has an alfalfa field which is perfect, and is close to the river. He had also added an outhouse, which was definitely preferable to peeing in the open. But the tarp door will not stay shut in lots of wind, so you either bare your backside, or hold the tarp down while you pee in the whole.
We left for Paucartambo. In the middle of the festivities for the day, they were going to have baptisms. I was going to be the godmother for Martin's youngest son, Daniel. There was a lot of traffic, and the streets normally dont have room for 2 cars. Accidentally, Andrew backed up into a guy (who had gone up and rolled back down, just enough for us to hit him). He put up a big stink, so we gave him like 40 soles to go away. We had to walk through the crowd to get to the church, and the dancers were going at full blast. Each group of dancers has a significance, and they are all dancing for the Virgin. So we got to see some enter the church to give worship to the statue that was up in the church. The baptism went well, and Daniel didnt cry at all. We watched a little more dancing, and then went back to their house (a 20 min drive). Andrew stopped for anticuchos on the way out (cow heart and a potato on a stick). I declined, knowing a big meal was coming. We arrived, and they served us a giant plate with sheep, potatos, and a few veggies. They all put us to shame, cleaning their plates and bones, while I did well to make a dent. Afterwards, each main member of the family dumped confetti on our heads and thanked us. I am still finding confetti in my clothes.
The next morning, we went with the whole family to the festival. We ate lots of candy apples, candy apples, and anticuchos. They also serve a whipped desert made of eggs, which is delicious. We had multiple. The groups of dancers have their own themes, masks, and outfits. For example, there are the breadmakers, who wear aprons and carry bread, baskets, flour, and ovens while they dance. There is a dance to represent the slaves from the past, and they wear black masks and hold black fists and are chained from a finger to their feet. Another fun group represented leprosy, which masks that had lost skin, and they carried big yellow bags that they hit people with. There is a group that are the mischievious ones, who were always playing tricks. They would blow horns in your face, or hold you up with a tiny gun. One guy did get in my face and hold a condom up, saying we would get together later. I was hit on...alot. There were some other white people, but not many. They brought the virgen out of the church and processed around the town with this giant float. We saw a drunk person piss on himself after he gave Andrew a "I will kill you" look. We had a great time, except that Daniel threw up on the way home.
The next morning, we got up at 3 and went to Tres Cruces, where you can see the sun phenomenom. The poor boys were not used to longer drives, and so most of them threw up. Andrew teased me, saying it was my driving...which is possible. We were also driving on a swiss cheese road, full of potholes, so I use that as my main excuse. We arrived, and it was very cold, and slightly cloudy. So we saw the sun rise, but didnt get to see it be red, because the clouds blocked it. So we decided to come back the next morning since we had the means to do it. So we went back to Martin's house, and took a different way back. So we got to cross a few log bridges and go through a giant puddle. We took the truck into town later, after washing our hair in the dirty river using a bucket and trying not to freeze our butts off to do it. It was the last day of the festival, and we arrived to do see some of the dancing groups in the cemetery initiating new recruits by pouring beer on their butts and whipping them on the ass. There was also some dancing in the cemetery, with people standing on graves with no cares in the world. It kinda creeped me out to stand on top of a grave, so I tried not to. Later, after eating whipped egg treats and anticuchos, we watched another procession of the Virgen. After the virgen made it safely back to the church, the antics started. In the main plaza, some of the groups danced again and ran around playing tricks. One group carried swinging pots in which they would burn peppers and the smoke would make you cough and your eyes burn. Another group threw oranges from slings and sprayed people with chicha and beer. The disease group threw yellow liquid on top of the people. At the end, there was alot of running around as the good guys killed the bad guys and put sticks in their masks.
The next day, we went to Tres Cruces and saw three bright red suns, even though it was still a bit cloudy. Afterwards, we washed the car (again), and were invited to take part in another ceremony. Martin's father-in-law asked us to being godparents to his daughter, who had never had her hair cut. So we agreed, and were given giant portions of food and beer to drink. It was nice to have another connection to this family.
We left for Paucartambo. In the middle of the festivities for the day, they were going to have baptisms. I was going to be the godmother for Martin's youngest son, Daniel. There was a lot of traffic, and the streets normally dont have room for 2 cars. Accidentally, Andrew backed up into a guy (who had gone up and rolled back down, just enough for us to hit him). He put up a big stink, so we gave him like 40 soles to go away. We had to walk through the crowd to get to the church, and the dancers were going at full blast. Each group of dancers has a significance, and they are all dancing for the Virgin. So we got to see some enter the church to give worship to the statue that was up in the church. The baptism went well, and Daniel didnt cry at all. We watched a little more dancing, and then went back to their house (a 20 min drive). Andrew stopped for anticuchos on the way out (cow heart and a potato on a stick). I declined, knowing a big meal was coming. We arrived, and they served us a giant plate with sheep, potatos, and a few veggies. They all put us to shame, cleaning their plates and bones, while I did well to make a dent. Afterwards, each main member of the family dumped confetti on our heads and thanked us. I am still finding confetti in my clothes.
The next morning, we went with the whole family to the festival. We ate lots of candy apples, candy apples, and anticuchos. They also serve a whipped desert made of eggs, which is delicious. We had multiple. The groups of dancers have their own themes, masks, and outfits. For example, there are the breadmakers, who wear aprons and carry bread, baskets, flour, and ovens while they dance. There is a dance to represent the slaves from the past, and they wear black masks and hold black fists and are chained from a finger to their feet. Another fun group represented leprosy, which masks that had lost skin, and they carried big yellow bags that they hit people with. There is a group that are the mischievious ones, who were always playing tricks. They would blow horns in your face, or hold you up with a tiny gun. One guy did get in my face and hold a condom up, saying we would get together later. I was hit on...alot. There were some other white people, but not many. They brought the virgen out of the church and processed around the town with this giant float. We saw a drunk person piss on himself after he gave Andrew a "I will kill you" look. We had a great time, except that Daniel threw up on the way home.
The next morning, we got up at 3 and went to Tres Cruces, where you can see the sun phenomenom. The poor boys were not used to longer drives, and so most of them threw up. Andrew teased me, saying it was my driving...which is possible. We were also driving on a swiss cheese road, full of potholes, so I use that as my main excuse. We arrived, and it was very cold, and slightly cloudy. So we saw the sun rise, but didnt get to see it be red, because the clouds blocked it. So we decided to come back the next morning since we had the means to do it. So we went back to Martin's house, and took a different way back. So we got to cross a few log bridges and go through a giant puddle. We took the truck into town later, after washing our hair in the dirty river using a bucket and trying not to freeze our butts off to do it. It was the last day of the festival, and we arrived to do see some of the dancing groups in the cemetery initiating new recruits by pouring beer on their butts and whipping them on the ass. There was also some dancing in the cemetery, with people standing on graves with no cares in the world. It kinda creeped me out to stand on top of a grave, so I tried not to. Later, after eating whipped egg treats and anticuchos, we watched another procession of the Virgen. After the virgen made it safely back to the church, the antics started. In the main plaza, some of the groups danced again and ran around playing tricks. One group carried swinging pots in which they would burn peppers and the smoke would make you cough and your eyes burn. Another group threw oranges from slings and sprayed people with chicha and beer. The disease group threw yellow liquid on top of the people. At the end, there was alot of running around as the good guys killed the bad guys and put sticks in their masks.
The next day, we went to Tres Cruces and saw three bright red suns, even though it was still a bit cloudy. Afterwards, we washed the car (again), and were invited to take part in another ceremony. Martin's father-in-law asked us to being godparents to his daughter, who had never had her hair cut. So we agreed, and were given giant portions of food and beer to drink. It was nice to have another connection to this family.
posted by Becca at 5:59 PM
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