Saturday, August 20, 2011

Party Time

All I ever do is write about parties but guess what! We had another one!
And this lady is really excited about it. This is by far the best party photo I've ever taken. So, a quick explanation of the reason for this 5-day (yes, 5-day!) party: August 4th is the anniversary of the establishment of the district of Laraos. So. Town anniversary. Let's celebrate with 1 day of parade and pompy circumstance. I was officially invited by the mayor to participate in the first day's festivities by marching in the parade. As you, my loyal readers know, in Peruvian parades, when they march, they MARCH. Not wanting to be the only person marching to represent the Peace Corps in Laraos, I invited my neighboring sitemate, Alex (she also has a blog http://lexwritr.blogspot.com/2011/08/when-law-is-nothing-more-than-words.html, if you are interested in reading another perspective), to come and march with me. And of course, I got my now-blossoming Eco-Club of kids to march with us too. And, of course, I pulled out the official vest to be completely legitimate. So what began as an invitation for me to represent the Peace Corps, turned in to a showcase of one of the only kids clubs in the town.
The kids were so excited to be marching and waving and I was ecstatic to see their excitement about the event. What shocked me more was that halfway across the plaza, a group of adults began cheering us on like crazy. And that moment was the most affirming I have experienced yet in working in this country. To be able to show the town a little bit of what I had been doing (because some of them don't know) and then to have them respond with applause was wonderful.

I was also invited to dance as part of my community neighborhood in the traditional dance showcase. We danced the coronguina and because of a lack of male participants and my towering height, I was asked to dance dressed as a male. This is not because the men are a whole lot taller than the ladies, but because if a lady were to lend me a costume skirt, it would end up being a "mini-falda" rather than the conservative traditional knee-length. But I had a couple of pairs of pants that could work. And so here's the "integrated volunteer" next to the "professional volunteer" photo that Alex and I took at the party.
The rest of the days of the party went as follows: in the morning "las Pallas," or senoritas, would put on their party best and sing and dance until lunch time. Then, everyone would go eat in one home, emerge and then resume dancing and drinking until about 6:00 pm. Then later, around 9:30, the next family would parade in to present firewood to the their hosts for the next day. Way cool, but way cold. All in all, a fun but as ever, exhausting 5 days of party.

Which brings me to the theme of the day: celebrations. You may have noticed, we have a lot of them. Peru will take any occasion and use it as an excuse for a celebration of some kind. As you've seen, we celebrate the normal holidays, add in the saints days, anniversary of the town, anniversary of the district, anniversary of the school, anniversary of the high school and international anything.

And I am fully signed on to this idea. Because you see, if there is an international something day, it is worth celebrating. Luckily for me, there are a multitude of days celebrating the environment. There is Earth Day (April 22), Water Day (March 15), Earth Hour (March 22), Biodiversity Day (May 22), Environment Day (June 5), Fight Against Desertification and Drought Day (June 17), Arbor Day (September 1), Ozone layer preservation day (September 16), Habitat Day, Space Day, Forest Week, Danger of Mines Day, Animal Life Day, Scientific Service for Peace and Development Day and then...what I chose to celebrate this past week - Air Quality Day.

So Air Quality Day. I don't know anything about the origin of this day but I chose to use it to raise awareness of the importance of clean air and good habits to not pollute that air. In the mountains, we are pretty lucky to have that crisp clean air that so many people desire. But also in these days, that air tends to be filled with dust and now twice, smoke from burning mountain fires. So as I gave a small talk on these issues, we got the kids going on the main event: the kite contest. Because what better way is there to appreciate your air, then by playing with it? And what better way to play than by flying a kite? Cue the Mary Poppins music. And the turn out was great.

So as much as I may dislike the duration and the frequency of our parties and how it can often impede any progress I am making, the Peruvian propensity to want to celebrate can work in my favor. If there is a day for the environmental, I will claim it and proclaim it something worth celebrating and I can usually get the authorities on board. And when the authorities are on board, I am the one who is ready to celebrate.
Blessings.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Feliz Dia de Independicia!

Happy 28th of July! Don't worry, readers. I haven't completely lost my sense of patriotism. I am still quite aware that it should be "Happy 4th of July!" And since I'm writing now in August, it sounds even sillier. But here in Peru, the 28th is the day of Independence, Fiestas Patrias. And for those of you who snoozed through the month of history class where you talked about colonialism and imperialism, Peru celebrates its Independence from Spain.

But, after experiencing Peru's version of a celebration that we previous colonists can appreciate, I find that there aren't too many differences between Laraos being proud to be Peruvian and free from Spain and us being proud to be Americans and free from England. So here we go.

1. Who are we celebrating our Independence from? USA out from under England, Peru is out from under Spanish rule.
2. How long have we been free? Peru: since 1824. USA: since 1776.
3. How long do we celebrate? USA: 1-2 days. Peru: 5-10 days.
3. How do we celebrate? Peru: Food, parade, fireworks. USA: See "Peru"

And that is awesome, right? OK, so the food part is a little different. Peru chooses to have a contest showcasing the typical plates of each region of their country and we choose to have a cook-out in our backyards. The parade? Well our parade routes tend to be miles long and with at least 50 different groups marching. Here, the parade was approximately 100 yards with about 8 groups marching. When we parade, we walk and throw candy. A parade in Peru is a march. A near goose-stepping, downright military march. Maybe that's why they don't parade for miles. That and because any further and you'd be in the fields with the donkeys.

And the fireworks. In the USA, big works, sometimes set to music and blown up a substantial distance away from the spectators. In Peru, I'm sure you can guess. There are a few big ones but the majority are more like firecrackers and they are lit maybe 10 feet from the on-lookers. I think this adds to the excitement and only slightly unnerving.

Let me throw another interesting thought your way regarding independence and revolutions. There is another gringo in town at the moment. He is a college student from France who is doing a study on the quinual (endemic tree species to the Andes) forest. As we were talking about the 4th versus the 28th of July, he reminded us that for him it is the 14th of July, Bastille Day. 4th, 14th, 28th ... of July. All of them. So what is it about July that makes the repressed peoples get up and go revolt? Is it the hot weather that gets their blood boiling at their injustice? Or is the weather just more pleasant that people are outside and discussing how their lives could and should be? Or, are there just no holiday celebrations to get in the way of their revolution's progress? Either, way, I don't think that a leader need worry about a state-upsetting coup mid-December.

Blessings.