Un Techado

It seems like I'm on a Thursday kick with the blogs. Anyway, this blog isn't meant to be about my routine here in Peru - that was last blog (check it out!).

THIS blog is about a Techado. What is a Techado, you might ask. Literally, it means "roofed or, in our case, the even of putting a roof." This is the final step in the construction of a house when you think of it and so the addition and completion of a roof is in fact, a big deal. I had the luck to attend a Techado party my first weekend here.

As I think I mentioned, my host padre is a construction worker/foreman/expert. My first Saturday in country, my madre invited me to visit him where he was working. Excited to have as many experiences as possible, I of course agreed. Little did I know the to-do that this excursion would be.

The location of this even was about 2 hours away on a crowded and small combi (the public transportation system) and then a mototaxi ride up the mountain to where the house was under construction. We arrived just as they were finishing the final smoothing of the cement. I joined the ladies up the hill to watch the proceedings.

While we waited for the construction to finish, I joined a game of street volleyball. Who knew that this favorite sport of mine is so loved by Peruvians? I wouldn't even have included it in the options. They are small people. The net stretched across the street so that every time a car or mototaxi came by, we had to lift the net to let them through. And it turns out that being a 5'8" gringa in a Peruvian volleyball game has its advantages. Let's just say that I made more spikes that night than in my high school sporting career. But it didn't matter; my team still lost and I lost 50 centimos (don't worry, that translates to about 15 cents).

The game finished, we headed back to wash our hands and get ready for the festivities. The ladies had been cooking all afternoon, the men were finished with the roof and washing up and the band was tuning up. The band consisted of 4 saxophones, a violinist, a drummer and a harp-bass type thing that I can't identify. Maybe you can?

So. Here's what happened. My madre and padre were actually the padrinos (literally = godparents but when referring to a party, it's more like sponsors) so they brought a bottle of champagne and some flowers and tied them over the door of the house. My madre gave a speech while I stood next to her (quite an honor), she named the house and christened the house by breaking the bottle of champagne. She then threw candies and fruits into all of the people in attendance like a 4th of July parade. All the kids (and adults too) were saying "Vecina aqui, por favor" to try and get a little bit more candy love.

Then, the food was served. Chicken and potatoes and - as the padrinos - my padres were served first. This means I was also served first and it was delicious. After dinner, the band struck up and there was dancing! The style of music is Huayno (wai-no) or Santiago and the manner of dancing is a lot of feet shuffling in a circle. It is a dance that comes from the Sierra of the Andes and a lot of people told me that is was a dance for keeping warm. It worked. And I was not allowed to sit down.

One of my favorite things of the night was that I was dancing and a woman was trying to get a man to dance and she exclaimed to him: "Of course you can dance. Look! Even the gringa is dancing! Come on!"

Also this night was my first experience with the Peruvian drinking custom. There is one bottle, one cup and one circle. A person pours himself a little bit in the cup and passes the bottle to the next person. This person waits, holding the bottle, while the first person finishes the glass but for a little bit, tosses that bit onto the ground to "clean" it and passes the cup. And around the circle it goes. Not the most sanitary of drinking customs but definitely one of the more social ones.

The dancing went on for a while and the drinking continued and the music played. They had terrific timing for their breaks for just as we tired, the band would cut out and play softer music. Then, the drummer would count off and it would pick up again. Around 10pm, we decided to make our trek back to Yanacoto. I fell asleep in the colectivo once or twice and collapsed into bed that night, exhausted and contented with my first Peruvian culture party experience.

Blessings.