Trick or treat...that is the question

Halloween,



Not one of my favorite holidays, but it was definately an interesting one.

So there is a bit of a difference in Culture here for the Day of Halloween. More celebrated in Cusco and in Peru is November 1 and 2, Dia de Los Muertos. I did not get a chance to see for myself the celebrations in the cemetaries, but I did go to a lecture on the cemetaries and saw a video of what the locals do. There are bands, and visitors to the deceased relatives. The family members clean the burial site and leave offerings that were things that the person liked. My host mother told me that she goes every saturday to visit her husband. Visiting the person allows you to keep them in the spot. If the grave is unattended, a notice is recieved saying that the remains will be removed in the next month if it is not taken care of and paid for. Basically these spots are rented.

It was interesting to see the different perspective on death. It is more hopeful and less morbid. Families are remembered and I would think that it makes the death of a loved one more bearable being able to visit and almost looking at it as the person is still here.

So along with halloween comes tick or treat, or in spanish dulces o trucos. The trick was on me when I got sick from food. I guess if you treat yourself, the trick is inevitable. It wasn´t an option for me, by taking the sweets, I suffered. But, aside from my woes, I was really surprised at Halloween in Peru. I decided to see what all the mayhem was and went into the plaza. I couldn´t believe how agressive the kids were. What was worse is that the parents were more cutthroat than the kids. I was down in thew middle of it all, admiring the little princesses turn into little monsters, but still looking so cute in their dresses. Some of the little girls had amazing costumes and dresses, I was in awe. So in the midst of all this mayhem, I did not buy candy but had so many kids come up to me asking for some. Three boys approached me looking for candy, when I didnt have candy, they asked for money, I wasn´t going to give them money, so after they gave me the suggestion of McDonalds, I told them to wait for me in the plaza and I would come back with something for them. They probably thought I would skip out on them, but I dropped it off and could see how happy they were. For me, there was no trick, just kindness.

On friday, we decided to go celebrate Halloween. There was a party at the school and we went, sans costume. But some others were very much into the holiday they had some crazy costumes. One guy had a spiderman outfit, that just did not fit. He couldn´t even zipper it in the back, the legs and arms were really short, and he had a mask that he could barely see out of. With alcohol as an added factor, he was the most uncoordinated spiderman I had ever seen. He tripped down the stairs and down calle Suecia, and all we could do was laugh. We had a great time at the first bar, and had a few people doing a line dance that we all followed. We turned, salsa-ed, merengue-d, mambo-ed, and shook to the music. IT was so much fun. After a few more bars, I turned in for the night after I couldn´t breathe anymore from the smoke that oppressively filled the dancefloor. But all in all, I went home happy.

Some highlights of the week were visiting the market , which I love because you can tell so much about a culture through the food. We had this superjuice that had pretty much every fruit imaginable,, milk, and even beer. That was an awesome experience, and I had a really nice conversation with the vendor. She was nice eloderly woman, who would not give up work. It was a great experience.

And aside from that I changed my classes to individual, because my goals were definately not what everyone elses were, and I did and city tour. More to come on that topic later...until then, stay safe, and enjoy the holiday.