Brittany McGee

This past weekend, my little community held a festival to celebrate the Catholic feast, The Sacred Heart of Jesus. Being Catholic (or at least identifying with it), I should probably know more about the holiday, but I’ll confess that I don’t.

No matter, the festival here lasted two days, which seems to be the norm around here. Fireworks were lit at various times, starting at 6AM on Saturday and periodically going off. I didn’t quite figure out if there was a pattern to this or not.

At the main celebration area on Saturday night, there was a large stage for bands to perform, various people selling food and drinks, and these contraptions made from sugar cane stalks (or so I was told). People danced to traditional music from the sierra regions. People hold hands in a circle and step to the music (or as they please) while the circle rotates counter-clockwise.  I think that might actually have been the first time I wasn’t self-conscious of my inability to dance.

Starting around 11PM, they would light sparklers on the sugar cane stalk contraptions. One such contraption they called “El Torro Loco,” which was meant to be a bull costume. A man put it on and ran up and down the street, getting as close to people as possible, while the sparklers shot off. This tradition caught me and the other volunteers off guard, but as we huddled against a wall to protect ourselves from the sparks, we became one with the community.

The celebration Saturday night lasted until 5AM the next morning. While I attempted to go to sleep around 12:30, I spent most of the night in my room listening to the band and fireworks (the celebration was probably a football field’s length away from my house).

I like to think this experience captures the essence of the week and a half I’ve been in Peru. A little jarring, somewhat chaotic, and full of unknowns – but not in a bad way. My time spent here has consisted of learning new traditions, eating new foods, and adapting to life with a Peruvian family.