Earth Day and Cruces de Mayo

We’ve been having some festivities around here lately.  All my Earth Day ideas in Carhuamayo were rejected, so I went to a celebration that was already planned in Huayre, the next little town over.  I don’t fully see the value of pancarta parades, but Peruvian educators love them and they tend to be cute at least.  We had a nice day and even did some plantings.

Cruces de Mayo is more interesting.  It’s a 4 day party starting on May 1^st.  It has something to do with Jesus carrying the cross.  I asked about why it’s after Easter, but didn’t get any responses that made a lot of sense to me.  Anyway, like any good religious celebration, we were up at 5:30 in the morning for a traditional dance contest and substance use. 

I’ve complained about huayno before, but I enjoyed the dance contest even though all the entries were pretty same-y.  Here’s a typical huayno band.  I count 11 saxophones. 

Some of the dances were interesting.  My favorite troop was really energetic, but they came in last place, so shows what I know.  Many of the men wore sheep wool hats that made it look like there were lots of Animal from the Muppets dancing around. 

Do you see the white thing hanging from that guy´s hip?  It´s a bag made from a baby alpaca.  They cut the head off and take the insides out and viola!  The neck is the hole and you store all you necessary things for going around town inside the body cavity.  It´s ceremonial, so it´s not like everybody wanders around with baby alpaca bags.

One troop made symbolic offerings to Pachamama, the Incan Mother Earth.  It turns out she likes coca leaves, liquor, and cigarettes.  It was interesting to see in a supposedly Christian celebration.  I got some coca leaves, too.

Coca leaves are grown widely in Peru have been cultivated since the Inca Empire.  They’re still popular today with campesinos and knitting old ladies taking care of their sheep.  The leaves are chewed as a stimulant and were used for energy and hunger suppression while working in the fields.  It’s not a hit like espresso, but you’ll be chewing them and suddenly its 4 am and you’re not sleepy.  Folks also steep the leaves like a tea to use for sorroche, or altitude sickness.  The Peace Corps forbids it’s volunteers from using any form of coca, since it turns up as cocaine in drug tests, so I can’t tell you much more about it. 

There’s been a lot of controversy over coca in Peru.  It’s still legal to grow because it’s a keystone traditional crop.  But it can also be refined in to cocaine.  Very little refining goes on in Peru, but there is still a good deal of drug violence in certain areas.  The terrorism of the 80’s is mostly over, but the remaining members of MRTA and the Sendero Luminoso are now involved with drug traffickers.  It’s a tricky balance between tradition and its modern corruption.  And it’s a shame that it’s often the small farmers who suffer. 

Anyhoo, excuse the history lesson.  I offered my coca leaves to the gents around me.  The official contest was over around 8am and then it was time for everyone to dance in the plaza and get their swerve on.  I was yanked into a huayno circle and two cups of calientito were shoved into my hands.  You can’t say no to things you are offered, especially during holidays and especially by nice señoras.  Calientito is a delicious route to bad ideas and a hangover.  It’s essentially caña liquor (super strong) steeped with some tea, spices, and sugar.  It’ll get you.  I slowly sipped on and eventually finished one cup with the senoras making fun of my lack of drinking prowess and egging me on.  Thankfully, I was able to sneak away and my second cup was split between my sister Elena and my brother’s girlfriend, Jessie.  We walked home shortly after and my head was swimmy.  

Similar celebrations continued for the next 3 days.  I showed my face at a few parties.  They´re fun at first, but it gets old quickly.  The music and food are the same and everyone is completely hammered.  Folks get really amped up about it.  One lady had a huge animal slaughter at her house.  I was repeatedly invited and just manage to sneak out from under it.  Though I did show up later and saw everybody strung up.  

I like the holidays and festivities, but I have nowhere near the partying prowess of the average Peruvian.  Maybe I’ll be more used to pre-9am drinking by the end.