Fiestas Patrias

Cajon practice - learning from the master

         After running fast and hard for the last 7 months, a flu bug came to visit and gave me a 3 day “stay-cation”, right after my visit to Ica for a Regional Meeting. I presented a Progress Report on my work thus far in site. I’m actually a little disappointed with these meetings – they appear to be mostly an opportunity for the youngsters to get together and “party” (drink). Even with an 11am starting time, only 2 PCVs managed to be on-time and many never showed due to a “long night” before. Plans for the rest of the day included the grand opening of a new bar in town and another “pre-opening” party before that. Hard for me to watch these really caring and bright kids waste so much time on a counter-productive activity.

Camila in parade dress

A flurry of Princetonians – My friend John Cardenas ’89 at USAID gave me a lead on some funding that might be available to help preserve and protect the Cerro de Oro burial site. Bill Farrell ’77 is coming to town with the Wheelchair Foundation to donate some much needed wheelchairs around Peru. And the undergraduates from Princeton Engineers Without Borders are building a water system in northern Peru. Orange all over the place.

There were parties all over town each and every night this week – Fiestas Patrias – kinda like 4^th of July on steroids. Parades and (of course) bombs – all    week     long. I did get to speak with a professor from Lima about the Cerro de Oro burial ground. He confirmed it was late Huari (800-1100AD). I guess this site has been known for some time. But the looting is unprecedented.

Plenty of dancing on this parade float

Slowing things down even more is a strike by the national postal service Serpost – such as it is. With no home delivery and very little mail of any kind, the strike is largely unnoticed by the average Peruvian. Were it not for the steady stream of packages for us Gringos, I doubt they’d stay in business.

My favorite part of the celebrations was a Cajon concert and dance by the young kids that have been training with the Old Masters. This dedicated and highly enthusiastic group of 7^th & 8^th graders played as well as any pros in their bright costumes. The young ladies had some dance moves that were , frankly, provocative beyond their years. The instruments were pure organic – the cajon started out as a modified packing crate and a cow jaw and stick – just doesn’t get more organic than that. My friend and most excellent Socio Angel Garcia made it all happen. I’m really grateful to work with someone who cares so deeply about seeing our little town move forward. In fact, there was a recent newspaper article on corruption in Canete Province. Of the 16 Districts, San Luis was one of only 4 said to be free of serious corruption.

And yet another para-military parade of little kids and big flags. It is nice to hear all the children singing the National Hymn – loud. It reminds me of the French anthem – a rousing march, but with less bloody lyrics. They even know the words to the San Luis song. The parade was led by some of the local lads who have just graduated from the regional police academy. This is a big deal around here, as police and military are well respected jobs. There was also a big banner proclaiming San Luis’ success in the recent math and language exams : Math was about 25% passing grade and language at 40%. This seemed low to me, but, it was well above the National average.

As I wandered among the crowd, happily munching on anticucho (heart) kabob and chaclo (corn-on-the-cob), I realized how very comfortable I feel here. This is my kind of town. Like Elwood Dowd in “Harvey”, I always seem to have a marvelous time – wherever I am, whomever I’m with. I’m grateful for that.

Amir dressed up for parade