Happy New Year 2012

 I spent New Years Eve in Chipillico again this year, more because Edgar had to work, but I really liked their New Years traditions and I had missed a lot last year being stuck at a quincinera with my host sister last year.  So Edgar and I decided to hang out in the plaza of Chipillico this year and bring in the New Year.  We hung out with one of my health promoters kids.  It ended up being really fun.  Unfortunately the tradition of burning the dolls (scarecrows) to get rid of the old and make room for the new was scarce this year.  I was really disappointed.  However, they do celebrate with lots of yellow. There was yellow hats, balloons and everything everywhere.

Also, since we were in the plaza, when midnight struck everyone  celebrated and then came out of their houses to wish their neighbors a happy new year.  I thought it was sweet, many of the mother’s in my project came out to give me hugs for the new year.  I also set off my first fire cracker in my life.  Even though I have played with fireworks for many years, I have never touched a true fire cracker.  I didn’t believe it was a big deal  because kids all over Chipillico were setting these things off, but when it was given to me I was warned to throw it as soon as it was lit.  I did exactly that, however, it didn’t leave me hand without leaving a sharp sting and loosing the hearing in my ears for a few seconds.  I decided one fire cracker was enough!!!

After a pretty quite New Years, I went to visit Edgar the next day.  When we were talking a bar owner who lives on my street came up to the police station saying that a well known problem of Chipillico named Jamber was at her bar and was mad when she couldn’t come up with change and stole one of the speakers from her stereo, then his wife punched the woman and they ran off together. Therefore, Edgar said he had to go address this problem. 

I have previously had problems with this specific person, when I first came to Chipillico he approached me in the plaza one day, asked me to be is girlfriend (really more specifically sleep with him), because all Americans are the same and that was what we do.  I was really upset after this interaction because I felt cornered upset as how I was viewed and frustrated with my Spanish that I couldn’t say anymore to him.  I had him write his name in my notebook and I took it home to my family and they told me to stay away from him that he was a little crazy.  After this I didn’t have much to do with him, other then people coming to me and asking if I could  help his daughter because it was believed he was molesting her, and the mother was badly abusing the girl.  It was something unfortunately I could not get involved in.  Then, my very last interaction with him was on New Years Eve, when Edgar and I went to the plaza, I was a few steps ahead of Edgar and when Jamber saw he me he proceeded to get himself all worked up to bother me.  However, fortunately when Edgar stepped into view he shut his mouth!

So anyway, back to New Years Day, Edgar went off to address the problem and I decided to go to my families pharmacy and hang out.  Probably 20 minutes after I left Edgar a car came racing up yelling and asking for help, so we all ran out there to see what the problem was and there was a guy in the back of the car covered in blood and only faintly conscious.  He had been stabbed multiple times.  My host sister put an IV in his arm and the car raced off to Las Lomas to the nearest place they could get medical attention.  Turns out the guy was Jamber’s brother-in-law and had tried to go talk to Jamber after the situation that had taken place in the bar and Jamber was ready and stabbed him repeatedly. 

So this lead to an overnight hunt of Jamber, which in the end he was found hiding in a shed behind his house.  Then, because of the rain he was detained at the police station in Chipillico for a few days before someone from the city could come and take him away.  Edgar said after spending a few days with him he is convinced he is crazy.  He apparently was able to describe the stabbing in detail and explain with each stab that he was going after the heart.  He remembered everything very vividly.  Edgar said he also acted like fool over the few days they had him locked up and Edgar and his partner got very little sleep during the nights.  Then in the end, Edgar had to escort him to Piura which made him even more mad.  But fortunately for everyone he is going to be locked up for many years in probably some of the nastiness and more dangerous prisons in the world.  The man he stabbed turned out to be in the hospital for awhile, he was a diabetic which made the situation worse and Jamber had perforated an intestine.  He is home now, but constantly fighting fever.  It sounds like he has awhile to recuperate. 

So the good news is that Jamber is gone from Chipillico, and more fortunately, I pray that the real threat to his daughter is permanently out of her life, because that was a very sad situation in which I felt helpless because as a volunteer that falls way out of my jurisdiction.

And in the end, it was an interesting way to bring in the New Year.  It’s always something in Chipillico!

America

So the much anticipated trip home!  I had been counting down for months for the trip home.  Me and my friends that were  going  would constantly talk about what we were going to do and eat.  The days before we all had to go to Lima for our mid-service conference and doctor’s visits.  It was hard to concentrate because all I kept thinking about was in just a few short days I would be in the United States. 

My Dad and I had talked a lot about culture shock and what I may experience coming home.  The very first thing I noticed was when I got to Miami, and due to the very large Latino population, most everyone in the airport was speaking in Spanish of with a thick Spanish accent.  This is one of the things I have struggled with since I came to Peru.  When someone talks to me in English with a Spanish accent I immediately want to respond in Spanish.  So although I was finally back in the united States I kept talking in Spanish.  The 8 hour lay over in Miami was painful!  It felt like I was so close to being home, but just had stupid time in the way.

When I finally took off to go to D.C. all the emotions came rushing too me.   Although I had seen my parents only 6 months before, the excitement of seeing them never gets old and I just couldn’t stop thinking about it.  When I got to Washington I was really lucky that the customs process did not take to long and I raced to baggage check where my parents were waiting for me.  With a combination of exhaustion and excitement I started crying.  There is no better feeling in the world!  Next we went outside, which I was not prepared for in my Capri pants in t-shirt.  It was around 1am and it was COLD!  A cold I hadn’t experienced in over a year it was not pleasant.

Now since I have been gone there have been a lot of changes, my parents sold their house and my Dad was not renting an apartment in the city during the week and my Mom living in Delmar.  So it was really weird to not go “home”, and instead we went to my Dad’s studio apartment were we all slept in the same room.  But it has a pretty cool view of the capital!  The next day my Mom and I took off to Delmar in her new convertible.  For her the weather was “nice” so we drove with the top down.  For me it was COLD, and I was happy her car had seat warmers which I usually frequently throughout my trip.  Along the drive home we were able to do 2 of my favorite things, we stopped at star bucks, which was exciting because I was home in time for all their holiday flavors, and then she let me drive.  I have been dreaming about driving.  I have wanted to do that since the day I left, I can truly say it’s one of my most favorite things to do! 

When we got to my house it was so nice to be there, even though it is new place for my parents to be living, it was all mine the years before I left for the peace corps and I had really missed it. My parents had taken over my  room and just had transplanted my bedroom and an upstairs room.  It was so nice to see my bed!!  After laying in that for a few minutes I took off to the storage room where boxes and boxes of my clothes were and I tore through them!  It was like Christmas but with my old clothes.  When I packed to go to Peru originally I packed as you would think a peace corps volunteer should pack, with boring practical clothes, and for all types of weather since I did not know where I was going to be living.  However this time I was going through the boxes to determine which of my cute clothes I was going to be taking back, many of which I hadn’t worn in years but since I had lost weight I was able to wear them again.  I was literally able to bring a whole new wardrobe back to Peru. 

The rest of the day my Mom and I were on a mission getting my dress fixed and other necessary items for the next few days where I would go back to Washington with my brother and be the maid of honor in my friend’s wedding.  So the first few days of my trip were a whirlwind.  However, it was really fun being able to be apart of my friends big  day, someone thing I had known about and talked about since before I left.  It was also a really good time to catch up with my brother.  Alex is always good for a good time and the wedding was fun and there were a few other friends from high school there and it was really nice to catch up.

After the days of the wedding I headed back to Delmar to spend the holidays with my family.  It was so nice to sleep in my bed and take hot showers anytime I wanted to!  I washed so much clothes.  I am used to wearing my clothes more then once in Peru and then taking a trip down to the creek to wash them.  So it was so nice to just be able to take everything off and put it in the washing e . 

The food!  I cannot tell you how much food I ate during this trip!  It was so exciting to have everything I wished for right there!  Even better was having a refrigerator to go to and get what I wanted.  None of my breakfasts at home consisted of rice and eggs or maybe chicken and rice, or potatoes and rice.  Instead my Mom made me pancakes, and toaster strudels and scrambled eggs and bacon, I was in heaven!  Then at night my Dad always had cheesecake for me!  It was really hard to say no to any of it.  I think the best part was being able to make a sandwich for lunch.  This is not a concept well practiced in Peru, almost non-existent in Chipillico.

The absolute best part was absolutely being with my family.  I know it might sound a little cheesy.  But my time in Peru has strengthened an already pretty strong relationship with my parents.  But there is nothing like just being there with them.  My Mom and I went for walks, because fortunately the weather was a little more mild then normal for December.  And my Dad and I went on our early morning drive to star bucks for coffee and then out to “walk the lot”. These are the very little things that I have missed so much.

I was able to get together with some friends too.  I guess the hardest part of that was that I felt kind of disconnected.  Sometimes it can be hard to go do something that was once so normal and fun after not being  a part of it in a really long time.  These people were always such a part of my life, they knew everything, I knew everything, we did everything together.  And in the time that I have been in Peru we do our best to exchange emails occasionally but there are really so many part of both of our lives that gets left out.  So I had a really strange feeling being with them. 

Then Christmas came, which was a day I would see my WHOLE family.  I had actually been really nervous about this for a long time.  When I thought about being in a room with everyone it made my stomach have butterflies.  I don’t really know why.  However, when the time came it wasn’t as hard as I thought, and the day when really fast and there wasn’t enough time to talk to everyone but it was great to see everyone.  Something I probably wouldn’t have been able to do any other time of year if I had come home.

The shortly after Christmas the trip came to an end.  I had imagined that this would come with really mixed feelings.  But I believe the whole time I was home I had this feeling like I belonged somewhere else.  Not that I didn’t enjoy my vacation, but I felt a very strong pull to get back to Chipillico.  I think the problem is that I feel a very strong responsibility to the people of Chipillico.  Although there were so many things I enjoyed and missed about being home, I felt like I had to get back to work.  Also, I can say that my last year has contributed to this feeling.  Peace corps states that our job is 24/7.  I absolutely feel that way, I am 100% of the time ON in Peru.  I don’t have hours, people stop by my home whenever they need something or whenever I am walking around the community.  All hours of the day I am working on something or planning something out.  So even though I was so far away from Chipillico for 2 weeks and able to enjoy some relaxation, I still felt a strong pull that I needed to get back, especially since the next large milestone of my service is the end, and its approaching quickly!  So after a few tears and goodbyes  and 2 ridiculously large heavy bags full of clothes and chocolate for my host family I hopped on a plane and am now back in Peru for another 10 months!

Chocolatada!

First I apologize for the very long delay in this blog post, with a trip to the United States and being in the middle of project planning it has been a very busy time. 

I guess to give an update I have to comment and thank everyone again for contributing to the VERY HUGE hot chocolate, fruit cake and gift giving party I was able to have in the school in early December.  With the contributions, I was able to buy 270 Barbie’s and toy guns for children in preschool through the third grade.  And then I was able to buy supplies for 750 hot chocolates and personal fruit cakes.  Both of which are a Christmas tradition in Peru.  First, I must be honest, I really didn’t know what I was getting myself into when I decided to do this.  I originally thought I would be able to do a little something for a few classrooms, but since everyone was so generous, I was able to do something for the entire school, which is the preschool, elementary, and high school.  When it was announced to my community that there would be an event of this size there was much excitement.  I had to buy all of the toys and fruit cakes in Piura, which is a 3 hour bus ride to my site.  I don’t think I was really prepared for what it would require to get all of these items back to my site.  I had 7 very large boxes full of toys, fruit cakes and stuff to make the hot chocolate and I was pretty much alone on getting it back to my site.  Thanks to my boyfriend, he was able to store most of it in the police station so I didn’t have to worry about any little hands or animals getting into anything. 

The day of the party I took everything in moto taxi’s to the school where a group of about 5 mother’s had agreed to help me make the hot chocolate, they came with GIANT pots to cook it in and we rounded up wood to make the fire.  Then, me along with my friend Brittany and another friend from town Nancy went classroom to classroom with the toys.  I was smart and had already gotten the numbers of boys and girls for each classroom and had a bag ready for each room.  I had anticipated the craziness.  The kids sat with anticipation since word had spread and many of them had an idea that I was coming.  They also all had their little cups ready for the hot chocolate later on since I had made an announcement to the town asking everyone to bring their cups as part of the tradition.

The children were thrilled with their dolls and guns.  The little girls wouldn’t take the Barbie’s out of the boxes trying to preserve the specialness.  However, the boys were quick to take the guns out of the wrappers and run around with them.  The rest of the day I caught little boys with guns tucked down their pants like cowboys.  The best part of the guns was that they came with darts to shoot at each other and they really enjoyed that.   

Later, class by class they lined up to receive their hot chocolate and fruit cakes.  The older kids were a bit reserved to receive their because usually this a tradition for younger kids and they didn’t want to look “stupid”, but after some coaxing they all ended up coming , especially when they saw their friends with the same stuff and didn’t look so “uncool”. 

I wish that I could put into words how amazing of an event this was.  I wish I could put into words how this gave so many children a Christmas that would have originally not had one.  Lastly, I wish I could put into words how thankful I am to everyone who made this possible.  Literally this has gone down in history as the biggest and most generous “chocolatada” that Chipillico has ever seen.   

The following day I went to do my laundry and there was a little kid sitting in the doorway of his dirt house on his dirt floor loading the darts into his gun and with a big smile he said told me good morning.  This is exactly what it was all about.  Thank you again!

Fidelity....Abstinence??!?!?!

Last night I had a very sad chat with my host Mom.  We were talking about how some people get excited about getting pregnant.  She told me that out of her 9 children there wasn't a single one she was ever excited about, she said each time she was just disappointed.  She had her first child when she was 15 with a man who she didn't love or even like, her mother had married her off in hopes that it would lessen the burden of her own children in the house.  The man badly abused her.  She said that at 15 she was just a kid and didn't know what to do and was so scared of the responsibility of a child, then even worse with her second and then worse with the third.  After the third, her first husband left her and she found herself living with her Mom again trying to support 3 children.  At this time she met my current host Dad and he was willing to marry her even though she already had 3 children, this is actually a foreign concept I have found.  Many men are very machisto and don't have any interest in a woman who have children already.  It's like they are dried up old ladies.  However, my host Dad liked her and they continued to have 6 more children together.  My host mom said even with her current husband having more children was never exciting it was more mouths to feed when they could barely feed the ones they had.  However, my host Dad believes that birth control is only for "sluts".  How nice ...right?

Funny thing though, is I feel that you find many more less female "sluts", then you find of male sluts while living in the campo.  For example, my host Dad has another kid about the same age of my youngest host sister he fathered with a woman in my town.  So does the husband of my host sister and many of the other men simply living on my street.  My site mate Brittany's host Dad is believed to have a whole other family that he splits his time with. 

I know cheating isn't that foreign of a concept, our own country has it's fair share of the same problems.  It just seems like it's incredibly more frequent here.  Some of the repercutions are dangerous as well.  For example, my boyfriend was working in a small town in the sierra when they got a call about a man that had been shot.  Turns out the story was that he was a single man who was sleeping with a married woman, and the married woman's husband and friends came to his house to kill him.  So when Edgar got there all that was left was the man outside of his house dead on the ground of gunshot wounds.  Moral of story...don't sleep with married people.  And it's not the first time that this sort of thing has happened, like in one of my previous blogs a girl was thought to be posioned because her father was sleeping around as well.

So what is my philosphy on the fidelity issues of the campo people?  I have many different theories.  First is that many of these couples get married young because they got pregnant young, and many times when a couple is found to be pregnant they are instantly considered married.  The families of the young couples strongly encourage it.  Therefore, a one night fling turns into a lifetime together and in many situations neither spouse ever wanted that life together.  So with time, one or both of the spouses strays from the other because they aren't happy or there isn't any type of relations happening in the home anyway.

There is also another concept, I realized from some of my sessions in the school that the teenagers are virtually unaware of birth control or any type of contraceptive and absolutely clueless to what abstinence is.  Unfortunately due to the extremely timid nature of the girls I think a lot of times they get pressured into having sex with their boyfriend without having enough self esteem or assertiveness to stand up for themselves.  Without knowing they can protect themselves they end up pregnant and again stuck with their partner for a lifetime.  Also, since they live in the campo and most of the men work to provide for the family, when things go sour in the relationship the woman has virtually zero options to leave her husband.    So more often then not, the woman turns a blind eye to her husband's infidelity for lack of options.  It's really sad. 

Even more sad, is in a community like mine the spouses know the person they are being cheated on with, and so does everyone else in the community.  It is a sad life to live.  It is also very sad that most people have zero trust in others.  For example, when I met my boyfriend, I am constantly asked whether or not he has another family, possibly kids in the city.  In fact I am still asked this question up to this day after many months together.  It is very hard for the people in my community to trust others, and it is very frustrating at time to defend or try and convince them that there are good, honest, and fair people in this world.  But based on the number of cases in my community, I understand the mistrust. 

My hope is that as this country develops women, children, families are given more legal rights.  And that a spouse does not just have to turn their heads and bare an unhappy marriage.  And that the people will be more acceptable of the "single mom".

Sometimes I think I live in a movie....

This pictures has nothing to do with the Witch I just love her!

No its true, sometimes I think I live in a movie, except I dont know from what time period or what type of movie.  I just know that the stuff that keeps happening in this little town of mine cant be real.  For example, about a week ago the WITCH struck again!  Yes, an 18 year old girl in my town died of unknown causes and of course the only way the town could explain how this happened was that it had to do with witchery.  Of course right, the most obvious logical explanation in the entire world. 

Bascially this girl had been losing a dramatic amount of weight in the weeks leading up to her death.  She was also complaining of sharp pains in her abdomen.  The family "says" they took her to the doctor in another town and none of the tests showed anything.  Then, as she was dying she would throw up and there would be sediment in her vomit.  This immediatly alerted everyone into believeing the witch was behind all of this.
There are two theories: the first of which involves the girls best friend, another girl of the same age, apparently she was jealous for whatever reason and bought something from the witch to poison her friend.  My host sister even showed me a picture of this girl in a school photo....thus the people of chipillico are probably destroying this little girls life for absolutely no reason.  The other theory is that the father of the girl who passed away was sleeping around with married women and their husbands got mad and bought something from the witch to posion his daughter as pay back. 

Do you think and autopsy or investigation or police report...or ANYTHING was done when this little girl died?  NOPE!!!!!!  The town mourned, barried the girl and blamed the witch.  Stories started coming up about the witch having gone to the cementary and was digging up bodies a few weeks before the little girl fell ill. 

O yeah...and the witch is a living breather woman and mother in Chipillico.  I know her personally, and am in fact here at the internet cafe today looking up information on how she could stimulate her child with downs syndrome to walk.  No, I am not a huge fan of this woman, I think she is rude and filthy, but it is my job to support the people of chipillico and try and keep from judging anyone.  The thing is this woman has many children with physical and mental problems, I do believe she drinks or does some kind of odd drugs when she is pregnant.  But I dont believe she is selling potions made of dead people to kill other people in the town.  And I am incredibly dissappointed that no one in my town take a greater stance when a young girl dies unexpectedly without cause.

I was also asked to go take pictures at the girls funeral as a memory to the family.  But you MUST BE KIDDING to think I would ever take pictures of some young dead girl and print them for the family.  NEVER!!!  So I did not go to any of the events to avoid these problems.

So on a different note, yesterday 3 cars and a bus were robbed leaving the valley.  Apparently "bandits" put rocks in the road so the cars could not pass and would come running down from the hills with guns to rob everyone.  Its just insanity.  I dont think anyone was hurt.  But I know lots of money was stolen.  And of course since the police have practically and unworking motorcycle it took a half an hour for them to reach the scene of the crime.  It happened 3 times before anything could be reported.  Its just amazing to me that anyone would think to rob people leaving Chipillico.  Many of you have seen the pictures I post from my town, these people do not have money!   I feel terrible that these things happen to them.  Plus it makes me a little nervous to travel.  Again....when was the last time you heard of a bus getting held up by "bandits" who put up a rock barricade and run down from the hills....something out of a movie right??????

Edgar and I in Chulucanas.

Lastly....I am a little embarrassed to say.  But I was in the city the other day and ended up being very sick. Not sure what caused it.  I was with Edgar...so he asked me for a black shirt and to lay down, which I did.  He then proceeded to use the black shirt to clean my energy.  So he cleaned the space directly above me body front and back.  This was after he put his finger in my belly button (like most host sister does) to feel if I had any shame.  He said he couldnt feel my shame because I was laughing so hard.  He promised I would feel better after he had cleaned my energy.  I did, but I believe it was the many pills I bought before this little session that my doctors had recommened that did the trick!!!!

As much as I love this place I am worried its turning me crazy!!!

My Pilgrimage to Ayabaca

Ayabaca

So I made my pilgrimage to Ayabaca.  No, i didn't go on foot, I am not that brave.  But after seeing how high up Ayabaca is set in the foothills of the Andes and the endless mountains surrounding it, I have a newfound respect for those who make the long pilgrimage on foot with children, baring crosses, or carrying fallen members of their group.  It was an amazing experience!

Edgar and I let from Piura early Saturday morning.  I knew that I was not going to enjoy the trip when I asked Edgar why someone was filming us on the bus.  He said it was in case the bus goes over the mountain and they have to identify or look for our bodies.   That definitely left an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach as I was reminded how much I love trips into the mountains on buses that sometimes look like they are held together with duct tape.  But I try to remind myself that tons of people make the trip every single day and these people know what they are doing...I hope.

About an hour or so as we began ascending into the mountains (about 3 hours into our trip), we stopped at this little town of only about 3 or 4 houses where we could use the bathroom and buy snacks.  Edgar knowing my love for tortillas pointed out a lady selling tortillas and cheese.  One of my absolute favorite things about the country.  It is something only usually found in the sierra, exactly where we were. The only other time I have had them when we were not in the sierra was in Edgar's house because his family is from the sierra and his mom makes them from time to time.   So we got our tortillas and something to drink, and watched the driver and his partner throw buckets and buckets of water into engine of the bus (always a reassuring sign).

We continued higher and higher into the mountains.  With as much fear as I have of heights it was impossible to keep the curtains closed of my bus window, the views are absolutely amazing.  So I snapped lots of pictures even though I was scared to death!   

Late afternoon we reached Ayabaca.  It is a little city that appears in the middle of nowhere set on the side of this mountain with again, spectacular views.  Our first task was to find a hotel room.  Even though the actual party celebrating Senor Cautivo was a few days before the city was still full of people.  Many of those who had made the pilgrimage were no longer there, only a few lingered.  There was more people like us, who thought they would make the trip after all the craziness.  The hotels were well aware of people like us and were charging outrageous amounts for a room.  I thought we would save money on hotels on this trip but I was very wrong. 

After we got settled we set out to see what was going on and find something to eat.  We walked over to the church, the center of the pilgrimage.  We waited in line and entered a room off to the side of the main entrance of the church.  It was filled with hundreds of purple robes adorned in gold designs and jewels.  Edgar told me they are the robes that they change the figure of Senor Cautivo just as robe of a priest is changed depending on different celebrations within the church.  He said he was there one time out of pure luck when they changed the robe.  There is a committee responsible for the figurine, so when it is time to change him the lock all the entrances of the church and bring him down into the room, he just happened to be left behind one time in the church to see it take place. 

We waited in line for stairs that entered into the church and went up and behind the figurine of Senor Cautivo that we displayed high on an altar.  The altar was covered in flower and candels and there were people in the church burning candels in observance.  When we reached the top, the case of Senor Cautivo is enclosed however one of his purple velvet cloaks hands outside the case.  The tradition is that many people carry cotton and rub the cotton along the window of the case and make wishes.  Another part of the tradition is to touch touch the cloak and make a wish.  I wasn't sure what to expect or what to do, so I watched others before me.  People were in tears many would linger for long periods of time rubbing their faces into the cloak as well.  There was a very solemn feeling in the air, almost as if I were at a funeral. 

The altar of Senor Cautivo

When I got to the cloak I touched it, made my wish, with a little hesitance.  I have always been taught that church is not a place for wishes or to ask for miracles, you pray, praying is NOT wishing, so I wished for nothing more then something I would pray for.  Edgar did the same behind me.  Then we made our way through the various people crying and hugging in the stairwell down into the church. 

The pews had been removed from the church to make room for the people who made the pilgrimage on foot to sleep.  There were not many anymore.  The really interesting and confusing thing was that the floor was absolutely covered in candle wax.  You could not see the floor at all.  Edgar said that people burn candles in observance of Senor Cautivo, some burn handles in holders, some on the floor and other let then candles burn completely out in their hands.  Afterwards, people from the town come and scrape up the way and sell it as a momentum of the celebration.  There were many people still burning candles on the floor. 

Candles burning on the floor of the church

We hung around in the church for awhile, took pictures, observed the different people and their traditions.  It was truly very interesting. Afterwards we walked the streets and checked out the vendors selling mountains of Senor Cautivo relics.  Later we found a lady selling tortillas and coffee and we ate our dinner. Edgar found a vendor who had cow heart on a stick....he was really excited.  It was difficult to be outside because it was incredibly cold, I am not used to that kind of cold.


The next morning we got up and went and checked out the city during the day light.  We found some great spots to take pictures.  We were so happy that we had visited the church the day before because now the line wrapped around the church a few times, where the night before we had only waiting minutes.  There were the normal vendors and people putting on shows.  There was a guy with a monkey and if you gave him a sole he would pull a little slip of paper out of drawer that held your future.  I did it, but I am pretty sure it wasn't my future, but the monkey was cute. 

We had decided that after how much the hotel cost and after we practically had seen all Ayabaca had to offer that only one night was sufficient so we bought our tickets to come back home.

Beautiful views

I just kept thinking about this pilgrimage, over the past week or so it has been one of the most amazing things I have seen.  But I couldn't completely wrap my mind around the very intense devotion these people have to this saint.  They also are devout Catholics and believe it is a very important pilgrimage to make as a catholic.  Which is interesting to me as well as a Catholic knowing that we do not have these particular ways of celebrating Catholicism in the United States.  One thing that has always fascinated and made my proud of my religion was the very old beliefs and traditions, however, this one was not one I had ever heard of.  The more intriguing part is that Senor Cautivo isn't even a saint that once lived or did anything spectacular.  But it dawned on me why this is so important, even though Senor Cautivo isn't a person, he is a figure and the story of how he came to be has to do with a miracle of God.  So these people make this pilgrimage not necessarily to see a figurine but because it puts them close to God.  That is the explanation for the extreme emotion, being close to Senor Cautivo is being close to a miracle they strongly believe in.  Although it was a little strange and uncomfortable to me in the moment, it was also something beautiful. 

I believe very much in my religion, but it made me feel like we weren't apart of the same religion.  These people have an incredibly amount of faith that I am not even sure I can compare to.  I have such respect for their beliefs even though I think the way the practice it might be a little different but it is something so sacred to them that made me wish I had something to compare it too.  However in the end, when the priest began his mass, it was the same as it would be if I were sitting in church back home, at the end of the day we are the same.

Us waiting for our Tortillas

The windy roads

Those who spend the night on the floor of the church

 

Senor Cautivo

I may walk away from my two years only have given my community something small, but I will definitely walk away with a mountain of incredibly experiences my community has given me!

Last week was the pilgrimage to Ayabaca.  This was something I have heard about, but finally experienced.  Let me give a little background information.  Senor Cautivo is the patron saint of Piura.  Basically his story is like this, many many years ago the people of Piura wanted to have a figure to represent them.  So they locked three men into a room to carve the figure.  The request of the men was that no one was allowed to come in for 3 days.  So the people of the town slipped the food to them through a tiny door, but there came a point that the plates were not being returned, and when they would knock no one would answer. In the end, when the people of the town became worried enough, they opened the doors, and there was this beautiful figure of Senor Cautivo and the people who created it were not there.  The believe it was an act of God.  Therefore Senor Cautivo has become the figure of Piura, and since more then 90% of peruvians are catholic it is also a catholic figure as well. 

So every year, in October, people from all over travel to Ayabaca, many on foot, to make the pilgrimage to celebrate their patron saint.  There are many routes to take, but one of the primary routes takes the people through Chipillico.  So the people of Chipillico prepared for the pilgrimage by painting and cleaning up the church and filled the plaza with tents where everyone would cook for the travelers and provide a place for them to sleep in rest. My host Mom participated in this with her "business" and took pretty much everything from the house and set up her little tent to cook.  The food is relatively inexpensive, in terms of dollars, the largest plate of food you could by was no more then 3 soles which is equal to 1 dollar. 

Since my host Mom was cooking in the plaza I went for all the meals and helped clean tables and wash dishes and run to buy more food when needed.  I was also asked to you my americaness to help bring in travelers.  Most of the travelers came in large groups, and when they reached the city center they would pull out instruments and play their music, so they would come in dancing and singing.  Most of them wearing purple with information about where they are from.  Some of the groups also had representatives that would come in crawling not on hands and knees but more of an army crawl, they believe that they were the ones being sacrificed for their beloved Senor Cautivo.  Other groups came into town bearing large crosses made of wood (with wheels), this was to signify the struggle Jesus underwent.  It was incredible.  They would stay and rest, wash clothes, eat.  Some would stay a few hours and go back on walking.  Others would stay for the night. 

One night I was hanging out in the Plaza with  Edgar until about 11:00 watching everything. When we got up to leave we realized there were people sleeping for all parts of the plaza and the town.  It was like a giant sleepover with hundreds of people sleeping wherever they could find space.  We had to search for a little trail to get out!  However it was a surreal experience, I am used to Peruvians generally being rude to each other.  No one trusts anyone.  However, it was amazing to see all these people sleeping and the people of Chipillico with their tents for them to sleep under were kind of hanging out keeping watch in a way.  It was like everyone felt a part in th pilgrimage even the ones that couldn't go were doing their duty cooking and having a place for these people to rest.  I just really was a heart warming moment.  It made me love the people of Chipillico even more.

So this weekend Edgar and I are going up to Ayabaca to see where it all ends.  No, I won't be going on foot, but I will be going in a bus.  I am really excited so see what it is all about.