Celebration of Puno Culture

A couple weeks ago, Betzabe invited us to go see some dances and a parade in Lima that celebrated Puno culture and tradition. It didn't sound terribly exciting as I have been to a couple other such events in the past, but it had potential. Betzabe and her family go every year. Her dad Maximo is from Puno and his mom was named after the Virgin Candelaria, so it is a particularly special occasion for him. 

Unfortunately, things with church were a bit crazy this week and Melissa and I kept wavering on going or not. Melissa ended up having an interview and to submit job apps, etc. I kind of felt bad that I said I would go and then wanted to back out at the last second, so I stayed up until 3:30am and finished my dang sermon so I could go. 

Tikus Costume

And I'm glad I did! 

The hestitation and lack of interest were ridiculous. This was one of the best parades I have ever been to. 

We left the house around 10 am to catch a combi to Lima. I thought it was much farther away than it actually was, which was a pleasant surprise. Now I know! 

Zampona Player

First thing, we passed by all of the groups starting to come in and get prepared for the parade. People were lining up the costumes, adding feathers and other adornments to masks, and practicing their dance moves. We headed over to the cathedral where the mass to start this special day was. We wandered in to the service for a moment. It was the most full I have seen a cathedral, not that I frequent them, but they had a good showing. Outside, the zampona groups were organizing. It was incredible to listen to them. It was probably my favorite part of the day. 

After that, Betzabe took my around to all of the groups so I could get a picture with people in their awesome and sometimes bizarre costumes. So fun! Not really any time to learn what all the names of the dances or costumes were, but they were just beautiful. So many colors - bright oranges and blues and greens and reds. So many weird masks - monkey bears, devils, donkeys, pointy noses, blonde beards. Everyone was very nice about letting me take a picture with them and they all knew the right poses and props to incorporate. Good times. 

Mr. Donkey Mask Man

We headed back over to the cathedral to wait for the mass to end. I put my camera away to put on sunblock. Less than 5 minutes later I was looking for my camera and it was gone. :( So much for all those awesome pictures we took. 

Have no fear! I still had my phone. So we set out to start retaking as many pictures as we could. Only the donkey guy gave me a hard time for taking another picture, but when I told him my camera got stolen he felt a little sorry and obliged to take another pic. 

Around 12pm we headed over to watch the parade. It was great to be right in front and not have to stand on my tip toes and peer over people's heads to see. The only downside was that they really didn't mix the types of groups in the parade. We basically watched the same dance and heard the same song for 3 hours. However, it was still amazing. The costumes were great. The masks were great. Each group had a personality and they all seemed very happy even though they had probably been waiting a long time to get going. Also, it was pretty warm and everyone was sweating bullets. This, however, did not deter any of the guys from jumping higher and enjoying their dance routine. Talk about some big smiles and genuine enjoyment and pride. 

Unfortunately, we had to get going so that we could get to church on time, since I was preaching and all. I didn't get to see the Tikus dance. Betzabe said it was her favorite. It was some sort of battle-style dance. Their costumes were really cool. Feather plumes on some of their hats and lots of bright patchwork style clothes. Maybe we will get to see that and more when we make it down to Puno. :) 

Tikus - Line Leaders

Time to plan another trip! 

~nos vemos~