It´s pouring with rain here so going into town has
been deferred until later and I decided to visit this
nearby internet cafe for a while whilst waiting for it
to clear uup.
As always when writing that first message yesterday I
missed out a few details. On the first day after I got
back to the hotel, I was just getting into bed when
the guy from Reception knocked on my door to say that
a friend wanted to see me.I quickly threw on some
clothes and found it was Jose who wanted to make sure
all was well and to confirm he would come and collect
me in the morning at 9.30. We then went out for a
while to see if we could find other Huj Mayas and
eventually found about a dozen of them, the rest
having scattered in all directions by this time. We
stayed awhile chatting and it was so lovely the
welcome I got from those guys, even the ones not met
previously but who knew I was coming from England. I
was warmly welcomed to Puno by every single one. Just
prior to finding them Jose bought me a bag of coca
leaves as sustenance for the following day and I
chewed a mouthful of those leaves there and then to
try and relieve some of the altitude effects, and they
really do help but the taste is bloody awful!!!
When Javi, Neomy, Alfredo and I went out for breakfast
next morning, Javi requested a mug of boiling water
for me and I dunked in a handful of leaves. Taken with
sugar as a drink it tastes wonderful, and after a
while I could feel the benefits as my headache
disappeared and my mind felt really clear after the
spaced out feelings up until then. After drinking the
tea I chewed the leaves and felt even better still. I
can see why coca leaves are such an integral part of
andean everyday life, living in these heights - Puno
being over 4000 meters above sea level.
During all my time here the festivities in Puno
haven´t let up even for a moment. At any moment of the
day or night one can hear the bands playing all over
town, people in costume wherever you look, the town
full to bursting with visitors, the bustle of vendors
selling everything you can think of, food stalls on
carts with things frying, taxis trying to get through
these narrow streets cluttered with carts, stalls etc,
blaring their horns impatiently, stray dogs winding
through the crowds, people out as families really
enjoying themselves. This is the delightful confusion
that is Peruvian life in general and impossible to
portray to those who haven't experienced South America
- it really is a different world entirely here - even
the wildest imagination could not express the
difference - and it is like a siren call for me,
calling me back again and again.
The day after dancing in the parade I was surprised
and delighted when people stopped me in the street to
say that they had seen me on television in the parade
and said bravo and wanted to know where I was from and
what I thought of their fiesta, Peru, Puno etc. A few
others came over and said they had seen me in the
parade as they were there watching it all go by, and
even Javi's friend from Arequipa said he had seen me
go by and had taken a photo. Probably Javi told him
his friend from England was coming to take part.
Hopefully I will get a copy of that photo later on as
we will be in contact by email after my return home to
exchange a few CDs.
I'm now installed in Rita and Agustin's house, one of
the Huj Mayas and one of the band's dancers, who made
me so welcome in their home when I was here in 2003. I
came to their house yesterday and will be with them
until Sunday morning when I get the fast 8 am direct
bus to Cusco. I decided against going to Lima this
saturday after all because despite all my efforts I
could not find out the venue of the Savia Andina
concert. Not only that when Juan told me yesterday
afternoon that the Huj Mayas are taking part in
another special event this Saturday, which will bring
the fiesta to an end, I did not want to miss this
final opportunity to see all the band together playing
at once. This after booking my bus ticket for
Saturday, so when the weather clears up later I will
be back to the agency in hopes of changing it to
Sunday. As it is only a reservation as yet with
nothing paid so far, there shouldn't be a problem.
Juan has gone to Cusco ahead of me as his band had the
chance to play in a big folkloric venue, but not
without leaving me in Agustin and Rita's kind hands. I
am really lucky to have such a good friend here as
Juan who always leaves me with someone genuine to look
after me whenever he cannot accompany me places
himself. It was Agustin and Rita's heartfelt
invitation when Javi and I came the afternoon before
last that made me come here though. This lovely couple
are planning their wedding and were thinking of
getting wed in September but have changed it to
February 2006 as they want me here as their matron of
honour, so it looks like I will be coming back next
year with two reasons - dancing with the band again -
and Rita and Agustin's wedding. Here couples often
live together for a few years before tying the knot.
Rita comes from another part of Peru, a couple of
hours from here, where the weather is warmer and drier
and there is a beach too. They decided over breakfast
this morning that the wedding ceremony would probably
take place there.
As you can see Juan and I did not go to Amantani after
all due to the heavy rains and the added dangers being
out on the lake especially out beyond Uros and
Taquile. Juan offered to take me to Uros instead and
since then Agustin's Mum offered to take me to Taquile
tomorrow but I said I had already been to both places
last August, just leaving Amantani and Sillustani left
to visit. Of course oneday I also want to visit the
islands of the sun and moon (Isla del sol and Isla de
la Luna), but these are best visited from the Bolivian
side of Lake Titicaca. On Friday I am going to visit
Javi's Mum again which rules out any island visiting.
I didn't mind not going too much because even last
August when the weather was hot on the outward boat
trip, coming back was a bit of a nightmare later on
due to the extreme fall in temperatures when the sun
goes down. It would be even colder now. When the sun
is shining in the day time it is lovely here but due
to the altitude the temperatures drop dramatically at
night and you have to dress up as if in the depths of
winter.
I had a lovely evening last night with Rita, Agustin,
his Mum, his Mum´s sister. We took a taxi to a
different part of town and paid for use of a bench and
parked ourselves on the roadside, behind one row of
people, and were just in time for the start of yet
another parade which was amazing, being so close up
and watching in detail after my own participation. The
costumes of the dancers were amazing, troops of 50 or
more dressed the same, both men and women, all dancing
in formation with never a falter (something I fell
down on frequently on monday). Behind each set of
dancers were a brass band of at least 50 musicians,
all in rows of trumpets, trombones, sax and flutes,
with the french horn players coming up the rear, all
dressed in matching suits. Each set of dancers
portrayed a different dance of which there are many in
this part of Peru, including some great dances from
Bolivia - the saya, morenada, diablada, tinku etc. The
costumes are amazing with head dresses two or three
feet tall. We had snacks throughout the evening,
Peruvian popcorn, barbequed kebabs with roast potatoes
etc - the choice is amazing as street sellers wend
through the dancers and just everything possible is
available, including guys with 10 foot poles covered
in bags of candy floss in shades of white pink and
pale green, hot food such as tamales and saltenas, ice
creams, biscuits, others going by with a huge cake on
a plate and selling it by the slice - plus all the
inevitable carts with things cooking in every
available space. The kids are armed with cans of spray
foam and take great delight in squirting it at some of
those dancing by, as well as foam fights among
themselves and woe betide anyone who gets in the way!
I was a target of this myself at times last Monday. We
stayed until about 9.30 and then went to find a place
to have dinner which was also very enjoyable. From
there we walked to another place where the Huj Mayas
have their own Virgen Mary taking pride of place in a
lovely oblong room filled with antique carved
furniture and oil paintings over 100 years sold. We
lit candles to the Virgin Mary and the caretaker of
that room produced a tray of glasses of some
strawberry vodka drink and we chatted for an hour or
so, before finally getting a taxi home and by this
time I was more than ready for bed.
