Christmas in a small Peruvian village

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Since we are far from home and won’t be with our friends and family for Christmas, Dana and I wanted to do something different. I googled ‘Christmas in Cuzco’ and found this opportunity to volunteer in a small rural village 3 hours from Cuzco. All we had to do was bring presents for the kids and ourselves. I signed us up.
On Christmas Eve we met with the company running the event and bought all the presents. Dana and I had 4 massive garbage bags full of dolls, trucks, balls, candy, etc. It was an experience in itself trying to buy these last minute presents with everyone else in the city doing the same thing. It took us an hour to fight our way 1 block through the crowds.

At midnight the entire city exploded, literally. We were in bed and jumped up and ran up to the roof. Everyone in the city had purchased fireworks all day long and at midnight everyone set them off. I have never seen anything like it. Our hostel was up on the hill and as we looked around, every house in the city was setting them off. It was incredible and lasted for an hour.

Early Christmas morning Dana and I exchanged our little gifts to each other. Dana got me earrings with the Incan symbol of mother earth (Patchi Mamma), and I got Dana a silver ring from Colombia with a surf wave carved out of it. Afterwards we hopped on the bus and with 10 other people headed to the village. We made a brief stop at a recently discovered Incan ruins. It was pretty typical but had a beautiful carving of the moon.

When we arrived at the village we were greeted by a little parade. The villagers were so excited for us to come and many people in the surrounding areas had come to meet us as well. Three men were dressed in traditional costume with a fox pelt on one man’s head and their faces painted white. They played the pan pipes. The villagers threw Dana and I up on donkeys and paraded us through the town. We went into their homes to see how they live and work. Afterwards we went into the school and served hot chocolate and cinnamon buns to the entire village and surrounding area (around 500 people). The kids were so cute and grateful as we gave them the treats.

After this was present time. One guy with us had a guitar and got the children into a circle to sing along with him. We went around and handed out the gifts. The dolls and soccer balls were the biggest hit. When I brought out the candy bag, the kids lost their patience and mobbed me. So funny! Then, as thanks, they served us a guinea pig for lunch, a Peruvian delicacy. As disgusting as it sounds.

Definitely a Christmas day to remember.

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