Brushes with the surreal

In Arequipa, as the garbage trucks move through the streets each night, they play instrumental music at high volume from a speaker mounted on the truck roof. It’s not exactly the type of music you would expect from a garbage truck, if you would expect music at all. We were serenaded late one night with classical music. The next night featured a jazzy Caribbean version of Under the Sea from the Little Mermaid, followed by El Condor Pasa (Simon & Garfunkel’s song that starts out “I’d rather be a hammer than a nail...” The melody that they sing to is El Condor Pasa, a traditional Quechuan song). The music is a good reminder to get your trash outside if you haven’t done it yet, I suppose.

During our tour of the gorgeous Santa Catalina Monastery in Arequipa, we learned that the nuns chopped off their often-very-long-hair upon taking their vows. Their hair was then used to adorn religious statues big and small. I think those statues are pretty creepy to begin with, but seeing them with various shades of brown and black hair, curly or wavy, braided or straight, gave it a whole new level of creepiness.

Even the public bathrooms in Arequipa were interesting, featuring art and old skylights.

Our time in Colca Canyon inadvertently coincided with the biggest local celebration of the year, that of their patron saint, the Virgen del Carmen. While my nerves were a little shot since firecrackers were omnipresent and Simon was pretty scared every time they went off, it was also really cool to stumble upon various scenes amidst this celebration. In Yanque, we saw a small group of people getting their statue ready to be paraded around the tiny square, after affixing flowers and offerings of food to her sides. Later we saw around 20 people singing and dancing as the Virgen was held aloft and carried through town. 

Carrying a giant handmade candle to the church in Yanque to put alongside the statue of the Virgen

Getting the statue ready inside the church

Parading the Virgen around the square

In Cabanaconde, the brass band started marching around the square at 6 a.m., this after only stopping the music several hours before! It was definitely wild to see all the festively dressed women, especially drinking beers.

As previously mentioned, Simon was scared during these celebrations because of the loud and constant fireworks. Luckily, while we were walking around a local museum, he found a friend, Miski, who was also a little scared. They took their own tour while staying very close to each other, which was sweet to witness.

As the sun set in the middle of nowhere in Colca Canyon, we left the hot springs where Simon and Sam had enjoyed the warm water while I shivered on the side in the 40 degree temperature. We walked the 30-40 minutes back to our hotel, quickly winded by the high altitude. I had thought we were making good time until we were passed by slowly moving cows, burros, dogs, and the cowboys bringing them in for the night.

That wasn’t the only place where we were left in the dust. While we walked up a long hill in Cochas Chico, outside of Huancayo, I struggled to maintain a conversation with Sam while holding Simon and walking at the same time. I was panting in between words, such was the altitude effect. Then an older woman, maybe 60 years old, wearing a large load on her back, ran by us, uphill, pausing briefly to say hi. I was so tired just thinking about her running uphill that I had to stop to rest.

Once Simon and I stopped by Wong to buy coffee and were surprised by a parade of three beautiful Chinese dragons, complete with a gong section, dancing through the deli area. Later they blocked the exit, so we continued watching. It was apparently a promotion for a Fiestas Patrias parade, sponsored by Wong, through Miraflores the next day.

We went and it was pretty interesting. Thousands of people lined the streets, enormous screens were set up to broadcast parts of the show, the crowd began to get belligerent, and several times I got crowd-phobia before we retreated off the main drag. 

Having a huge supermarket chain sponsor the biggest non-military Fiestas Patrias parade made for some interesting sightings. Such as: a dozen Chinese dragons kicked off the parade, honoring Wong’s Chinese roots, Miss Wong waved, beauty-pageant style, to the crowd. The prepared foods section sponsored a float of mostly naked women dancing on a giant Inca head, flanked by a pastel butterfly. But my favorite was a giant puffy sugar bowl, pulled by a horse drawn carriage. 

I have learned to expect the unexpected in Peru, but it still doesn’t take away my fascination or surprise.