JungleBirthdayDanceParty!

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Happy friggin' birthday...to me!

I'm a pretty lucky girl.

Two years ago I got to celebrate with new friends in Harlow, England.
Last year I got to party in our new place on Prescott.
This year I got the aforementioned...junglebirthdaydanceparty!

The whole day was awesome.

It began with a workshop with the kids out in the El Povenir community centre - a mask-making and design session.
After three hours of balloon-popping, gesso-exploding craziness and hilarity, we had some lunch and I assumed we would be on our way home...but...alas, no!

Yanki (?) (the group's president) asked me to get in the middle of the floor, and all the kids (20ish) made a circle around me, and sang happy birthday to me!
I received kisses and birthday wishes from all of them, and then Yanki told me they were going to were going to dance some capoeira for me - a Brazilian dance they learned in an earlier workshop.
And so several of the guys - namely, Joas and Alejandro and Yanki's brother who's name I forget right now - flipped and kicked and jumped through the steps they knew, and I sat there trying not to cry...(obviously).

And then the evening came...

Gilberto and two of my lovely co-workers, Cessie and Fonia, as well as Fonias HILARIOUS 8 year-old daughter, Jijany (?), came over to Stephy's around 9, and I was surprised with a a delicious caramel and pineapple cake, and a plush neon-green caterpillar...
(for anyone who read my previous blog - hilarious! I can't escape the Peruvian caterpillar!)
After one stop to a bar where I was bought more booze, including a bright red fermented root drink (which made our strong daiquiris taste like juice), we moved on to the dancing venue!
Many live bands have shows at outdoor venues that are also used for flea markets and other events - and one such area was our venue for the night.

First up was the cumbi band. Cumbi is a style of music from the jungle, but it has all the stylings of all other typical Peruvian dance-pop bands: matching patterned shirts, about 8 - 10 members on stage, and a few dancing girls in booty shorts to the side of the stage (which many men stand an gawk at for the whole night...)

Amazing!

And then there was the rock band.
And I think that's when the fermented root drink kicked in....
I think I laughed for their entire set, but, however, I do remember doing some amazing 80's dancing with Stephy to one of their more retro numbers...I have a shaky video as proof.

After four and a half hours of dancing and avoiding creepy men, and absolutely soaking in sweat (gross, but even the locals were dripping!), myself, Stephy and Gilberto entertained our moto-taxi driver the whole way home...

glorious.

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Lessons learned when partying in Iquitos:

- don't pay five soles for bathroom tissue (damn!)

- always drink fermented root drink before encountering cheesy rock bands


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Photos

los dos
double-doing a fermented root drink and a hellofa daiquiri.
just as dangerous as they are pretty.

where we did it.
Stephy and Gilberto, and our outdoor venue

sigh...
everyone singing happy birthday to me, after a hilarious couple of hours making masks.
sigh.