Hi again,
It's Saturday afternoon and I am packed and all ready
to go, albeit not too enthusiastic about the long haul
flight home. We leave for the airport in about an hour
which allows time to write the final few paragraphs
about this latest adventure.
We had the most incredible time at the pena last
night. The venue, La Candelaria, was huge with a
corner stage, quite large dance floor and the enormous
high ceiling'd room filled with tables and benches,
enabling the whole clientele of around 350 people to
be seated in comfort. Our table of 8 included 5
Peruvians celebrating the birthday of a young lad.
Starting with a pisco sour which was included with the
price of the entrance we continued to share a few jars
of Cusquena beer and a couple of plates of those
delicious snacks, one of them chicharon de pollo which
is deliciously crunchy fried chicken pieces. The show
began at 11 pm, beginning with saya dancers including
one diablada (a man dressed as a woman) and a sikuri
band. The diablada dancer was especially funny as he
kept trying to kiss various men in the audience and
drag them up onto the dance floor, sometimes with
ferocious resistance on the part of the men in
question! Soon loads of people were on the floor,
holding hands and dancing faster and faster to that
traditional auctoctonal music until the song came to
an end and everyone sat down again. A few words from
the compere and then the first dancers in costume
appeared, the women arriving first with their whirling
skirts and then joined by the males who were equally
flamboyantly dressed. Then the resident band appeared
and apart from the ingression of the sikuri band from
time to time, were the main backing sound for the
whole evening's festivities. Interspersed between
dancers were opportunities for people to take to the
floor and dance salsa, merengue, cumbia etc and each
time the floor filled en masse, the people dancing
with gusto.
Another part of the evening's proceedings was the
introduction of all foreigners present to the
Peruvians, first of all the people concerned standing
up and introducing themselves. Once the people on our
table realised someone from England was among them
they really enthusiastically welcomed me and made us a
part of their evening thereafter. At one point all the
foreigners were standing out front holding the flag of
their country and there were people from USA, France,
Spain, Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Panama,
Domincan Republic, Mexico and Colombia. This was okay
and not too arduous but later on the compere involved
us all that bit further by calling the name of the
country and the people had to get up and go out front
and the band played a song from that country and the
person had to dance something typical from that
country. As you can imagine I was dreading this part,
wondering what on earth I could do as a representative
dance of England, and as the compere worked his way
through various countries, the people on our table and
ones around us were calling out 'Inglaterra' with me
trying desperately to hide my flag under the table and
seriously contemplating diving down after it!!! Much
to my relief when the time came, the compare called
England, Switzerland, Luxembourg and France together
and told us to rock and roll. None of us could do this
properly but did the best we could to the song by the
Beatles called 'She left me standing there'! The best
part was the sheer affection and enthusiasm all the
Peruvians showed to all the foreigners, calling out
Bravo and clapping wildly. This was so readily
apparent that it made one feel really welcomed.
Peru is very rich in its culture and the dance
displays that followed throughout the evening were
truly marvellous, representing the three parts of the
country - mountains, coast and rain forest. The final
part was taken over by Black Peruvian dances, and
these were amazing. At the end the final dance was the
champions of the Marinera which is representative of
Northern Peru. This couple were so amazing that they
were encored again and again. I've never seen such
incredible elegance in any dancing and such
unbelievable skill and dexterity.
By the time we got home it was 4 in the morning and we
were all exhausted. Needless to say we got up too late
this morning to make another visit to the beach
worthwhile and after a leisurely breakfast went out
one last time for me to get the final items I wanted
to take home, last minute gifts etc. After a huge
lunch we had a siesta as well for a couple of hours
and having packed everything ready for the journey I
just had time for this last internet visit before we
head out for the airport.
A couple of things I forgot to mention in yesterday's
email was that whilst in the huge central market we
passed an area where pets were for sale, lots of the
most adorable little puppies, but what fascinated me
the most was the baby iguanas for sale. These were
bright green and about six inches long and so
incredibly tame. Lizards in Europe disappear in a
flash as soon as you move but these welcomed being
held in the palm of your hand, and looked so
unbelievably cute looking up at you. I would have
given anything to have been able to take one home with
me, but of course it is impossible what with all the
restrictions on carrying livestock aboard aircraft.
Perched on top of the iguana cages were small green
parrots who were not restrained in any way and could
fly away if they wanted to but chose not to, and one
could handle and stroke their heads and they did not
mind at all. To see these birds and creatures so
relaxed around human beings is marvellous to see.
The other thing I forgot to mention was that among all
the activity on Agua Dulce beach, the crowds of people
swimming in the sea etc, were lots of rowing boats
bobbing up and down on the gentle rolling surf waves,
which at intervals set off heavily laden with people
for a boat ride. All this with huge flying pelicans
with their wings outspread skimming across the waves
in between all the swimmers and boats. I sure hope the
photos I took capture the sheer vitality of it all.
Well that's it then folks. Just the journey home ahead
of me, which probably won't vary much from previous
trips homeward. The only other thing I purchased today
was lottery tickets - one for the big 6.7 million sole
prize tomorrow, the other for today's daily lottery.
You can imagine what I would do if fortunate enough to
win it - I'd be on the next plane and looking for a
house to buy in Cusco!!!!
Bye from Peruvian soil until the next trip.
Best wishes from Angela
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