The Big 3-0

---

So after we got back from the amazon, it was my 30th birthday! It was truly a multi-day celebration. Preetham took me to dinner at the Inca Grille in the Plaza de Armas which was yummy. My host family had a big lunch prepared for me on the day of my birthday which involved many courses and a delicious cake at the end.
Luckily for me, my birthday also happened to fall on the same day as a festival for the Virgen del Carmen (a celebration for the Virgin Mary). The biggest celebration is in the town of Paucartambo, so our host brother arranged for a van to take a bunch of us there (3 hrs away) to see the festivities and the fireworks.
I have to admit, I was a little tired (getting old?) and not that excited about the 3 hr journey to the town, especially since our trip to the Amazon involved so much time riding in a bus. When we got there however, I was extremely happy that we had made the trip. The town plaza was filled with people in costumes and there was festive music and dancing. We found a good spot to stand and then the fireworks began. This was the craziest fireworks display I have ever witnessed. They were literally setting off these huge displays within 3 feet of the crowds. It was somewhat dangerous but really cool to see and luckily none of us were hit with flying debris or hot ashes. After the fireworks displays, we watched many traditional dances and then entered the church at 3 am to see the Virgen del Carmen. It was pretty cold at this point, so we decided to head home and made it back to cusco by 6:30 am! Finally, we celebrated with our medical spanish group by going out for pizza and to the infamous dance club Mama Africa in cusco. Not a bad way to spend a birthday!!

---

Photos

Birthday cake with our host family
The only candle they could find was the letter N

Thanks Littman!
Our host brother Littman who arranged our trip to Paucartambo

Comments

[Tammy]

3-0
Happy you finally joined the rest of us in the big 3-0+ category Prems. :-) Cool pics of the fireworks!