Festivals and Lessons

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Hello all!
I have been living in a distict of Huancayo called El Tambo, doing various things and meeting various folks. I thought I´d give you an update on how life has been. I also hope that the Autumn is settling in beautifully and gently for you all in the Northern Hempishere, and have been thinking of how I miss this micologically-ripe season in the states.
Anyway, I have been living with Bregje, helping out as I can (there is not a ton of work to do, as it so happens), and have commenced Spanish lessons in the evenings. This is always nice, and lesnd me a feeling of productivity for my otherwise mellow days. My tutor is a professor of English named Juan, and teaching me is his fourth job. He is ridiculously busy, but also very passionate about languages. We make it fun, and have become friends. It is amazing how much better for my individual needs (and more inexpensive) private lessons are. Well, it has been highlighted that everything is fairly cheep in Huancayo, especially the delicious food, so it is not a bad place to be at present.
In addition, there are lots of interesting fiestas abouding in Junin. So far I have made a couple of really special day-trips. One was with Bregje, Heidi, and Lola, a 90-year-old woman who has been in the NGO´s programs. Lola is quite blind, quite deaf, and doesn´t have any family. She lives with the family of another lady from Muchas Manos, but doesn´t get out much, so we decided to help her make a trip she was talking about. In a village half an hour outside of Huancayo, there is a a spring of Holy water. The details evade me at present, but it is holy to some local virgin or another, and has curative powers. Of course I was excited to go. We took a taxi (shoving a fragile 90-year-old Lola into the erratic and cramped combis wasn´t our idea of helping out) to the pueblo early in the morning. We scaled a hill, lined with vendors selling everthing from hats to candles to carvings to a myriad of food options. Once we reached the church, Heidi and I hung out in line while Bregje and Lola relaxed in the shade. Everyone had giant plastic bottles to fill up, and most folks seemed in a good mood. As we got closer, Lola joined us. Inside this rocky enclosure and beneth a big shrine to the virgin, there was a spout with water gusshing out. Some attendants filled up bottles, and we splashed ourselves. Lola got what she wanted, a big smear of holy water over her eyes and a little tub filled up, and we left to make room for other folks. There was another shrine with an effigy of the virgin, in what seemed like a cave but was actually an antechamber to the church. I lit a candle, said some prayers, and we all took off to eat lunch.
On the way to and from the village there was plenty to see of the agriculture in the valley. Although there are no terraces, the geometry of the fields is strikinlgy lovely. Coming from a place where one doesn´t see much growing in the winter, it is wonderful to see fields and fields of potatoes and veggies in this season, which is the agricultural off season (it´s hard to say winter when it´s usally hot and sunny during the day, but this is changing). Also, plenty of hard working folks in the fields, not exempt from which were the children.
Another festival I enjoyed recently was in Sapallanga, which is kind of like a borough of Huancayo. This was another festival dedicated to a virgin. I am not sure what was remakable about this one, but she also lended her curative powers to folks who come and visit. What was amazing about Sapallanga was the dancing! Troups came from all over Peru, with insanely detailed embroidered capes, ornate metal crowns, golden doo-dads hanging off of them all over, and generally very fancy attire. I went in a combi to meet up with my friend Joel, who had been dancing in previous days with his family. I took in some of the dancing, which was by then more for fun and less of a competition (although people have aptly said that everything is a competition here), and then had lunch with Joel and some of his friends. Joel is unique because, in addition to being born near Huancayo and a Peruvian citizen, his mom took him to the states when he was little to escape Sendero Luminoso in the region. So, he acts and speaks like he´s from L.A., but he also has deep roots in the region. I know him because he is an English teacher, and if all of the Enlgish teachers here are connected somehow. Anyway, Joel was ¨tripping out off of how people in Sapallanga were tripping out on me¨, which is one way to say that there were no other white folks there. I told him that I don´t mind too much, and that I am getting used to it. I reflected that, coming from the racial majority in the U.S., it is quite beneficial for me to spend some time as the minority (not that I am not privelelged as a white person here, but there is still discrimination. I wouldn´t say I am treated maliciously, but often, and especially from men, comments about me are racially-oriented and offensive). The worst thing that has happened to me due to my race, other than too much male attention, was a grandmother who bopped me on the head with her cane as I was a couple of steps from the effigy of the virgin. She gave me the biggest, most unwelcoming scowl I have ever seen. But what am I going to do? I don´t feel entitled to be here, but I am here. I was only so near to her so I could pay respect to the virgin of the festival. So I sort of just gave her a pleasant look and kept walking. Joel was offended by her behavior, and tried to justify to me the bad things about Peru (people defecating in the streets, machismo, litter) as the reasons he thinks Peru will never ¨mature¨as a country. I tell him that there are positives and negatives everywhere, and that I really appreciate Peru for what it is. Anyway, Sapallanga....
I also went to the church, prayed, lit a candle (which I still have, as the tradition is to take it home with you), and also experienced the profound blessing of the virgin. On either side of the altar, there was a line to have the manta of the virgin draped over you, which would then give you protection for an unspecified amount of time, but probably until the next year. I waited with friends, and when my turn came, the cloth went over my head, and then commenced some mysterious and amazing sensations. It seemed to take a long time, but I know I couldn´t have been there for more than 10 seconds. I then made a little donation and they gave me a beautiful rose.
Joel then invited us to his family´s after-party, where the extended family was getting together to do more dancing. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. Their family-home or home-base is in Huari, which is the traditional site of the Huari nation (there are some amazing ruins there). Basically, a band was set up, featuring a lot of saxophones like the bands that accompanied each troupe in the festival, and a kitchen where they were churning our huge pots of food. Oh yeah, there were also towers of Cusceña beer. When Joel and I got there, the first 30 minutes or so was spent introducing me to various tías, tíos, primas, primos, and abuelas. Kinship is an entirely different system here in Perú than in the states. Lots of family, lots of cheek-kissing. I politely explained to everyone that I was Joel´s friend, from the United states, and, ineviatebly what I was doing in Peru and how I liked it here. Not everyone beleived that we were just friends (of course, how could that be?), and I also had my first incident with someone not beleiving that I would get a scholarship to travel by myself. It was one one the great aunts. She was sitting by the fire in her gold-embellished green dancing outfit, and we were talking over toasted corn and pork. She simply could not beleive that I would have been sent into the world, at 21 (god forbid!), by myself (heavens!), and to a country like Peru. I told her I appreciated her concern, but that the customs in my country are very different. She asked if I was scared of anything, and I told her (quite honestly) that the main thing I am concerned about is offending people.
She was a sweet lady, insisting that I eat more and teaching me some Quechua with her ancient sister.
I got a short dancing lesson from one of Joel´s tías, after an abuela insisted I got dance with them. It was kind of like jogging in place with the occassional twirl. I tried not to be self-conscious, but everyone was starting at me and laughing. However, they were almost all completely drunk (with good reason! It had been several days of intense celebration, and this was the wrap up!), and I wasn´t, so I just smiled and shrugged it off. One of them even put a fancy metal crown on me. Chaos! Eventually Joel and I took a combi back to Huancayo, safety and soundly.
Let´s see, another recent highlight has been Bregje´s and my aquisition of a little white kitten, with gigantic (almost purple) alien eyes. In her typical fashion, Bregje named it a long and difficult-to-pronounce Dutch name: Slagroomsoesje, after a cream-filled sweet in Holland. She has been a tiny, cute, and fuzzy addition to life here, and I hope I won´t miss her too much when I go.
Another fun thing I did was help my friend David record English conversations. He is from Indiana, came to Peru as a volunteer but has stayed over a year as a Enlgish professor. The intention was to update his university´s stock of listening practice exercises, which were apparently boring and out of date. We are slowly working on a plethora of recordings, most of them completely ridiculous to David and I. We try out tons of different accents, supposedly for the benefit of students so that they may be familiar with different accents, but also for our own amusement.
Speaking of classes, I was also a guest recently in Bregje´s beginner class. I gave a little monologue about my life, from which the students were supposed to extract answers to questions written on the board. Afterward they asked me some pretty strange questions (do you have sexual fantasies? Are you going to the World Cup in 2014?), but in good nature.
Things have been very calm, delicious, and fun here in Huancayo, but I am starting to think about what I will do after I finish this week of lessons.
Chau!

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Comments

[gringo 1]

is the shawl a metaphore?
" I waited with friends, and when my turn came, the cloth went over my head, and then commenced some deeply mysterious and amazing sensations." Are you sure you were alone under that shawl? I noticed that this happened AFTER YOU DRANK THE WATER (coolaid). I might have to come down there to keep an eye on you! Enjoy yourself, but not tooo much! love ya

[weave the world]

Very Funny, Dad
Well, I can imagine that you would know more about the kool-aid than I would, sweet Father ;) You know, I can´t explain what happens when spiritual feelings come over me at all of these celebrations of the Sacred virgin. Although, as you know, I have never been baptized nor was brought up Christian, for much of my life I have been celebrating the divinity of the earth, and the feminine archetype. Perhaps it is this parallel more than participating in Catholic rituals which is affecting me. I don´t know, but I dig the community-aspect of religion down here. I hope y´all are well at home. Love you!

[Benther]

Didn't do that!
Your blog tells of wonderful things, festivals and virgins and family and friends. I would expect that you might chafe in this tightly-knit society, but you seem to bloom. How does the work of Many Hands fit in with your stay? I'm glad that you can enjoy the baby kitty, how about a photo of her with some of your peeps?