More stories from a Peruvian Queen...

Since I last wrote, two chickens and a family of guinea pigs have been killed in my honor. I was once again dressed up in the local dress, but this time I was paraded around a recreation park on a very busy Saturday. And today I posed with a llama so a Peruvian tourist from Lima could snap a photo of me as her souvenir. I keep thinking about what it would have been like to do library research for this thesis instead; it’s an amusing scenario to imagine guinea pigs and llamas running around U of O’s Knight Library.

Everyday for a little over a week, I rode for an hour one way on the Santiago Leon bus to Viques, home of Maria Magdalena Huzco Toribio, my weaving teacher. The Santiago Leon is preferable to the combis (mini vans) for several reasons. Most importantly, they are more spacious, which means that if you have to stand, you do not have to bend at the waist while the small of your back grazes the roof of the van and all of the passengers gawk at your “giant-like” height. (On a side note- people just nod at me when I tell them that I’m somewhat short in my country. They think I’m confusing my adjectives again- like how I always mix up “clean” and “dirty.” I’m bringing some Scandinavians with me on my next visit.) The Santiago Leon does have a couple downsides, however. From what I have experienced, the shocks on all of its buses are non-existent. I have caught some serious air while knitting in the back seat. There is also an overwhelming odor of gasoline in at least two of its buses. Luckily, we did not come across any open flames.

I like Viques. It’s calm and only has one main road with intermittent traffic, meaning that there’s only one corner where cars go by and honk their horns, incessantly. Most of the homes are made with adobe bricks and blend into the countryside. And all of the locals tell Maria how nice, intelligent and pretty I am. At least that’s what she tells me. I like Maria the most.

I learned to weave a faja, or a belt used mostly in fiestas by both men and women. The fajas are woven on backstrap looms, made with bright colors and contain figures that represent different aspects of life – a house, a flower, a llama, etc. Mine includes a guinea pig as well. Maria loved talking to me about differences between her life and mine, the most central of which seemed to be the fact that they eat their guinea pigs while we give ours silly names and plastic tubes to run through. In celebration of finishing my faja, Maria invited me to a special lunch. It was a Saturday, so her two boys, Arturo and Jhordan, and her husband, Aurelio, were there as well. I braided off the ends of my faja in the morning, and then we all sat down to lunch- Cuye Colorado, which is a dish with rice, potatoes, a piece of lettuce, half of a hard boiled egg, an olive, guinea pig and savory red sauce. Yes, guinea pig tastes like chicken. I have to agree with the locals here though – I think it is tastier.

After lunch, the family all cleaned themselves up and put on nice clothes. The sun is particularly strong here and Maria was always worried that I was too hot by not wearing a hat. She often loaned me hers (though I tried to beat her offer by wearing a bandana most days). The hats do provide some nice shade, they’re just about two sizes too small for my head. On Saturday, she had Aurelio run and get her nicest hat for me- a white hat with sparkly silver trim and bow. I tried to protest, but I failed and we headed out for the recreational park just down the hill from their house. The park, Mayopampa, is along the Mantaro River. It has a swimming pool with two fantastic slides, volleyball courts, soccer fields, two greenhouses, a small field of potatoes and corn, a llama, an alpaca, and three paddle boats, one of which is shaped like a huge swan. The place was packed, mostly with “city folk” from Huancayo. We were there for about 10 minutes when we came across the llama. Maria was quite excited to get a photo of me with my completed faja next to a llama. But the faja was not enough. She wanted me to wear the justanes, the embroidered skirt that she had brought along in her bag. I already had the hat on. She put the skirt on me and tied the faja very tight, high on my waist (it’s very attractive for single girls, according to Maria). I didn’t protest, as I thought the picture would be humorous. I was right. There are several pictures, all taken yards away from me in an effort to get the obviously disturbed llama in the same photo with me. Soon, the alpaca showed up and we repeated the same odd camera-chasing with me dressed up and running around trying to get both the llama and the alpaca in the same shot, with Aurelio, Maria and the boys shouting directions at me. You can see below how successful that turned out to be.

Once we finished the photo shoot I decided I should give the skirt back to Maria. I started to take it off, but she protested. No, I should enjoy the outfit longer as we walk around the park. There’s no telling how much enjoyment that outfit brought to how many different people that day. Maria and Aurelio were very proud, and paraded me around, introducing me to everyone they knew and asking me every five minutes how I was enjoying the skirt. Every other person at the park that day enjoyed the sight of a gringa giant dressed in a bright poofy skirt with a belt cutting off the circulation around her waist and too-small hat perched on her head. I enjoyed the absurdity of it all. The highlight might just have been the boat ride. We of course had to wait until the swan paddle boat was available. Jhordan sat in the front with Aurelio, who paddled the entire time, while Arturo and Maria sat on either side of me in the back. There was a group of 20-somethings from Huancayo waiting, who I’m going to guess listen to bad 80s hair bands rather than the Huanca and Santiago music popular with everyone in the villages (the type of music you wear this skirt to dance to). I provided quite a bit of amusement for them during their wait. We passed them once out on the pond, and I heard one of them comment on how I looked perched in the back of the swan boat in all of my regalia. He called me the Queen. Just after that, I looked up and saw several families picnicking on the bank overlooking us. They laughed and waved down and me. I gave them my best Miss America wave and smiled. Maria and Arturo were beaming.

This past Sunday, I returned to Viques to celebrate Jhordan’s 10th birthday party. Luckily, parties for 10 year olds do not involve cases of beer. It did however, involve a two-hour sermon by a family member. It was an overall awkward day, which really makes for a good day (or at least a good laugh). I arrived at 12.30, the hour Maria told me, to be greeted by a coughing Jhordan and their neighbor, Marina. Maria and the family were at the cemetery, but Marina said they should return soon. Jhordan had the flu and looked pretty miserable. I sat and talked with Marina and Jhordan for about an hour before her mother arrived. Marina was fixing soup, turkey, rice and potatoes in large pots over open flames. I learned later that the family had hired her to cook for them for the day. When Marina’s mom sat down, she put together a plate of food which I assumed was for the older woman. Then she handed it to me. I protested, saying that I would wait for Maria and the family. Marina insisted and I thought she said that Maria wanted us to eat now. I think I need to work on my protest skills. After Marina’s mom and Jhordan had plates, I decided to join them and eat as well. An hour later, Maria arrived with the family. She told me there would be about 15 people at the party, and I had brought a cake for everyone from a bakery in Huancayo. More than 30 adults plus children came streaming in through the door. Every one of them shook my hand and kissed me on the cheek. Suddenly my big cake looked really small. But the cake would come later. First I had to feel incredibly uncomfortable as everyone sat down to eat lunch and I explained why I was not eating. The thing is, the portions here are large even for children. They’re ridiculous when you’re the guest. Plus, the food is quite filling. After a mound of rice, a gargantuan potato, a large serving of meat and soup filled with pasta, corn and more meat, I really could not force a second lunch down. So I explained to, I think, all thirty+ people on an individual basis why I was not eating with them. I did share a glass of Inka cola though, which I will argue is quite a sacrifice. (I believe I have written earlier that this national soft drink tastes like melted cotton candy and looks like urine). After lunch, the kids got to all go outside and play while the adults formed a circle. We had been watching a video of a dance exhibition from March in which Maria and Aurelio had participated. Maria said there would be dancing at the party. We had just shared a bottle of wine (one bottle of wine for 30 people is much preferable to the drinking at the last birthday party). I assumed we were getting ready to dance and I have to admit, I was getting kind of excited to bust out the Santiago footwork I learned at Celso’s birthday. Instead, Aurelio’s cousin stood up and started talking. Since I thought he would say something about dancing, I was a little confused when he started talking about setting good examples for the children. He then went on to talk about the sanctity of marriage, making time for Sunday mass, and making decisions that praise God. He spoke about more things, and very specifically on everything, but I started day dreaming. His sermon lasted almost two hours. At one point, he was talking about staying awake during mass while his cousin was nodding off just two people down from where he was standing. After awhile, people started interrupting and gave their own comments. Soon, the talk became more personal as they spoke about their family. This was the first time everyone had been able to get together for years. They were all from Aurelio’s side of the family, and all were from Viques, but many have moved away to Lima and this was the first time they had been able to come back for a visit. At the end of the sermon, we all stood and linked arms as we listened to a religious song. Everyone started praying their own individual prayers out loud and soon, the entire group was crying. Sobbing, really. It was a very special moment for their family, a moment I probably should not have been at. Most people hugged me afterwards as they made their way around to other family members, but I have no doubt I was not the only one feeling awkward in those moments. Then Maria announced that I had brought a cake. The whole room applauded for me and I just sat there, nervous about how it would feed so many people. I’m setting this up as though it will be a disaster…but no, the cake turned out to be fine. Everyone got a sliver, except for the birthday boy who was served a nice big wedge, complete with one of the frosting dogs that decorated the cake. Shortly after, I said my goodbyes. I think I missed out on the dancing, but perhaps this is a good thing.

So far, this has been another busy but great week. I’ve spent every morning in Hualhuas, visiting the different shops owned by Gaby’s family members. I spend the afternoons editing photographs, working on transcriptions and preparing questions for the next day. It’s difficult to keep up with everything, and I’m sure I’ll have a lot of work just organizing all of my information when I return, but at least I’m getting a start. I will share stories from Hualhuas in my next blog entry… this one is long enough.

Thanks for reading! Here are more photos:

Working on my faja one day in Maria's courtyard.

I just finished the house figure in my faja.

The guinea pig "stables."

Sadly, this is out of focus...but guinea pig on the plate.

The pool with some pretty killer slides, no?

I love this photo. Maybe you had to be there, but seriously, this was quite the ordeal to get the boys standing near Maria and I...and the llama in the pic as well.

My souvenir from Peru- a picture of me with (the bums of) both a llama and an alpaca.

Getting ready to take off in the swan boat.


Maria, Jhordan, Arturo and Aurelio by the Mantaro River.


Marina, Maria's neighbor, preparing the soup for Jhordan's birthday.

The lunch that I wouldn't eat with everyone. That's the Inka Cola in the center of the table. Aurelio is on the right and Arturo is squatting in front (he ran to join the photo).

The abuelas, or grandmas, in the family.

And a preview from Hualhuas... this is a photo of the family I interviewed today. Those tapestries in back are done in a style called Kelim, and are unique to this family here in Hualhuas. Both were woven by Victor, the father. Graciela (second from left), the mom, is Gaby's sister. Maria and Sesy are the two daughters. They also have two younger sons who were at school.