I woke up at 8 feeling hammered. I rolled out of bed for breakfast. I think I scared the other guests, I looked so bad. Went back to bed until noon. Finally got up and got a banana smoothie. Sat in San Blas square where an indian woman selling textiles sat down next to me and started chatting. She is from Chinchero and knew all about the fair. She pulled out a mini-loom she was carrying and showed me how she uses it. I bought a small pouch used to gather coca leaves for my collection.
Around 1:30 I returned to the scene of the crime. The square is even more packed and I am lucky to find a place to sit for lunch. Just after I sat down a group of men wearing masks and dressed like cowboys comes dancing in carrying bottles of beer. As they dance they start shaking up the beer, spraying it everywhere. Luckily I am under a large umbrella. Another group of women and girls, in old fashioned dresses with petticoats and wearing pretty girl masks,comes in next. Then the procession leaves. There are 3 statues of San Cristobal on large alters. Each statue is elaborately dressed in beautifully embroidered robes. San Cristobal is the patron saint of the Andean indians so today`s procession is a really big deal. Each alter takes 20+ men to carry and they leave to the music of a marching brass band. My plate of food arrives and it is enough for 2 people. The people across the table from me have also ordered a massive amount of food. A woman standing near me is holding the head of a guinea pig, picking small bits of meat from it.
I eat and eat, yet barely make a dent. Finally I throw in the towel and my beer arrives. By the time I finish my beer I am in the shade and its kind of cold out of the sun. So I walked down the hill aways into the sun to warm up. Then I went back to the hotel to get my coat.
Returning to the church I am just in time for the return of the procession. They have been carrying the alters for over 3 hours and the hill back to the church is long and steep.The men carrying the alters look beat. It is obviously an act of religious devotion. One by one they set them down, then carry them back into the church until next year. I run into Juan Pablo. He offers to buy me a beer. I said later. He said no, now. So we split a couple of beers while he tells me about the church and the procession. The church sits on the site of an Incan temple and behind it is an Incan wall at least 20 ft high. Suddenly he moves me back and a huge string of fireworks explodes close by. It is deafening and I turn my back and cover my ears. He suggests we go for a walk around the crowd. The plaza is not that big but by the time I make it most of the way around he has disappeared. Almost immediately I run into some more of their friends I met last nite. They are with about a dozen friends all around mid 20`s. We make our introductions and pick up where we left off last nite. They have a particular way of social drinking here. Everyone shares the same 4 oz beer glass. One person pours himself a drink and passes the bottle to the person next to him. Then that person pours himself a drink and passes the bottle. This continues until the bottle is empty and the next one is opened. I bought the third one. Soon we are joined by more people. At one point I looked down and there must be a dozen 1 liter bottles on the ground waiting to be drunk. Everyone is really nice and friendly, and this time there are several cute girls. A band starts playing and they are pretty good latin music. They try to show me their style of dancing but I am hopelessly white. I went to piss and everyone is lined up on the side of the road pissing into the gutter. It is running like a river. Finally around 1 the band finishes and the crowd thins out. But wait! There`s more! Off to one side a disco band is set up in one of the stalls. After party! Some of my friends are still hanging in there and we are joined by some more people who have been busy with the procession all day and are fresher. Another 1/2 hour and I am toast. I stumble back to the hotel and crash hard.
No comments:
Post a Comment