So here in Peru, there are no bunnies running around, nor coma-inducing amounts of sweets. Instead, there’s the CUCH. Let me explain...
There is a mountain city called Ayacucho. Through the centuries it has become the center of easter celebration, which they call here Semana Santa, or “Holy Week”. Year after year this town is completely flooded by Peruvian and foreigners alike to celebrate one of the most important Christian holidays. So a group of about 25 of us volunteers decided to check it out. Every single day was an eye-popping experience, and sometimes even literally.
It’s about a 9-10 hour over-night travel time from Nasca, which in Peruvian travel time is nothing. So I get there at the crack of dawn to witness the sun rising over the incredible mountain scenery which is Peruvian highlands. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before- rolling hills of green, pastures of alpaca and llamas spattered through the hills, people working in their little agricultural fields. so after dropping our stuff off in a hostel, we head out to see the sights of the city… the city of 33 churches… and their not kidding! Every corner is a huge cathedral from the 1500s (from when the Spaniards invaded). The tradition is to travel to all of them and make a wish.
We made it to 7 and by the end my wish was to see something different than churches… so we headed off on a hike. Wandering through crowded streets, witnessing the very distinct cultural outfits of the highland Peruvians.
We spent most the day exploring the sights, sounds, and tastes of Ayacucho then enjoying the Peruvian night life a bit. ;)
Friday morning we get up and all jump onto a tour bus. We get taken on these winding roads through the beautiful highlands up to see Quinual (where the last Spaniard-Peruvian battle was fought), a waterfall hidden within the woods, and some old ruins of an ancient tribe, and even went horseback riding.
We picked and ate the fruit of cactus called “tuna” (not the fish!), which is deeeelicious, just watch out for the spikes.. oww. When we got back from that wonderful adventure, there was a competition in the streets around the main plaza. Hundreds of people were creating these HUGE murals on the streets; but it wasn’t paint they were using. It was all flower petals and materials directly from plants. (us environmentalist volunteers also thought it was quite appropriate happening to have landed on Earth Day as well!)
Saturday was a bunch of bull. No really! We started it off with running of the bulls in the morning. An extreme and unusual experience that we all agreed would never EVER occur in the States for liability reasons. But we loved every minute of it. There were processions at first of horses and typical dancers n whatnot, then after a while the first bull came! It was attached to a 30 foot rope held on by a guy riding a horse. Sounds like a good idea to control where the bull goes, right? Considering all of us are in the streets and there are no barriers. However, it just ended up clothes-lining people as they stormed through the streets. A funny sight, if you weren’t the one being clothes-lined of course.
It took a long time for the next bulls to come so the crowd was getting restless, so naturally the all began creating human towers! All us PCVs just were watching in amazement for a while, until we decided we wanted to do it too! Having the advantage of being sober and strategizing (which none of the other groups were), we managed to make a 4 level tower of us. It was quite amazing. Through all this time the other 3 bulls ran through, the firemen came and sprayed the hot, sweaty crowd with the water hose, and people were being thrown up in the air like bouncyballs. I’d say it was unforgettable.
This was a tower made by some enthused Peruvians next to where we were standing.
Before we knew it we found ourselves sitting in a stadium ring watching a bull-fight. It was one matador that couldn’t kill the bulls for the life of him, so it was a bloody depressing scene. It was definitely an experience at the least.
After recovering from the action of the day, the fiesta began for the resurrection time. Saturday night coming into Sunday morning, there were fireworks going off the entire night. Music and dancing in the main plaza until the sun came up. At around 4am began the show. We're talking huuuge 70 foot towers made from tiny bamboo rods that are absolutely dripping in fireworks dressing. The sparks are spurting everywhere and every few minutes a firework ring would lauch into the air, shooting it's firey ball into the unknown. Safe, no. Cool, YES. %%%94 Then at sunrise, they brought out the huge ceremonial piece made of wood, candles, and lights... so big that about 400 people had to hold it. This was all to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Personally, I think Jesus would have had a great time!
