¡Carnavales!

Somehow I had the crazy idea of actually going to the center of downtown Cusco on Sunday on the last, and biggest, day of Carnavales. When I arrived, everything was eerily calm, and I saw a crowd sitting on the cathedral steps preparing for... a parade, a festival, something...? I eyed the vendors selling plastic ponchos suspiciously especially considering that the cloud cover was steadily clearing. Fortunately after 4 months here I speak and understand Spanish passably well, and the man sitting next to me explained that yes, there was a parade, and yes, I was going to get wet. Ever prepared, I had my raincoat with me. Which at that point didn't help much with the 85F full-on 11,000ft altitude 10 point UV rating sun exposure. But in a way the gods were smiling on me and I was quickly surrounded and leaned upon by several standing 5 year-olds who blocked the sun fairly well. As did some old man with a parasol hovering over me.

During the seemingly endless stream of parade dancers, children sprayed water from backpack waterguns and foamy stuff like merengue all over the participants. When the parade ended, these weapons were quickly turned on the attendees, and as luck would have it, I standout particularly well in this country and therefore make an excellent target, even for 5 year-olds. It didn't end in the main center either, I walked back home and was blasted from passing taxis with at least 3 very heartily flung water balloons and a few squirts of spumo from the buses too. It was all in good fun, everyone laughed, I cooled off, and now the waterplay is finally over.

I also went to work that day, the dedicated volunteer that I am. Unbeknowst to me, there was a small Carnavales celebration for volunteers and employees (set up by volunteers and employees too). They set up an already cut, live medium-sized tree into the futbol field and dangling from it were all sorts of kitchen utensils and toys. At first I couldn't understand why some of the teenagers from the clinic balked at going near the tree. When I walked down, paper ribbon was wrapped around my body, someone grabbed my hand, and suddenly I was part of a dance circle complete with an falling-apart axe. My favorite are the dances with dangerous rusty weapons. In pairs we all took turns chopping at the tree, and when it fell, it was a free for all with all the presents attached. I really didn't need a kitchen strainer or plastic tupperware dish, so I only fought my way through for a whistle that I promptly gave to the crying 3 year-old who hadn't been allowed to participate further once the tree started cracking and leaning. Afterward was a feast of fried sausages and fried potatoes - never complete without mayonaise - how I have lost weight in this country I will never know, but I expect my body to grow by at least 2 sizes once my plane sets down in Seattle next week.