Puno, Peru

This city and festival is going to be an adventure.  I just arrived yesterday from Cuzco after an amazingly beautiful bus ride through the Andes.  I knew the city would be super busy because of the festival and immidiatly set out to find a room.  Once all that was sorted, I called a connection I had down here.  I was given Marco´s name from a friend who knew him through another friend.  We met near the plaza and he took me under his wing.  He doesn´t speak any English so once again it was my Spanish working.  We walked over to the Iglesia de la Candelaria where the huge procession was ending.  Apparently they take this huge statue of Mary around town in the procession and people through flowers on her.  It was beautiful.  Then Marco took me over to one of his ´bands´.  He walked around the circle saying hello to everyone then introducing me, it was super cool.  Then they started playing their sicuris and drumming and singing.  He explained that the sicuris talk to each other and everyone in the circle is responsible for part of the conversation.  After that he took me to a local restaurant where we had salto de lado.  This is another typical dish in Peru and I hadn´t tried it yet...delish!  I kept saying that if he had to go, I would be alright on my own but nooooo, he had plans for me.  Earlier in our conversations he asked if I wanted to dance with his group in the festival.  Of course I did!  I had no idea what that meant at the time but I always like to start with YES.  After dinner we walked over to his friends hostel.  There I was introduced to another group of people and we sat around drinking some beer and eating popcorn.  It was so cool to be chatting away with everyone in Spanish.  They are all so nice and generous.  After a few drinks the group headed up the hill to practice the dance.  Yo soy Altiplano ahora...that is to say that now I am part of the Altiplano crew!  I learned the dance all while we were drinking rum and coke.  The way they drink is super cool too.  Only one glass that gets passed around from person to person along with the bottle.  You are basically taking shots aka cortos and then passing it.  Once again, I was friends with everyone.  Then they started describing the different costumes etc and all decided that I would be the Joker aka Bufon.  It sounds like I get to act like a complete fool and ham it up....no hay problemo if you know what I´m sayin!!  We were practising our dancing in the Zamponista-Altiplano neighborhood, straight in the streets....then it started to rain.  We moved the party back to Hernan´s hostel and cleared the dining area to practice dancing more.  There was definetly more drinking than dancing at this point.  Along with the rum and coke, they were also passing around a warm drink called Cachicanca which is made with anis, sugar, a little salt, water and a secret or two.  We were all laughing and joking and chatting with each other.  I found out where the best ceviche in town is and also were the black market is (I needed to get a new charger for the cheap phone I have).  Once it started getting late Marco left with his family and Hernan asked me to stay and hang with them some more....so of course I did!!  By the time the booze was done, we were all completely toasted.  Hernan insisted that I sleep at his hostel for free instead of walking home in the rain.  I felt like I was imposing but he and his wife would not let me leave.  They are so cool and generous.  I woke this morning feeling a little hungover probably from mixing alcohol and drinking too much sugar.  I wasn´t the only one feeling this way though....everyone in the group was moving slow!

Today was cool.  I explored the area and went down to the port to find out about a colectivo (cheap boat) to Amantani.  Near the port a group of kids were juggling and hanging out so I went down there to juggle a bit and kick it.  They were super cool Argentian peeps here for the festival.  Post juggling, I went for the ceviche.  It was amazing.  Eriso del Mar on the corner of Cajamarca and Moquegua.  After lunch and a little walk through the black market, I headed to my new hostel for a siesta.  At the moment I am back at Hernan´s hostel using his computer and waiting for Marco to get here.  Hernan and I have decided that we are not drinking tonight as last night was enough to last.  We went up the street for some more practice then I called it a night and headed for some sleep.

The following day I moved my bag to Hernan´s place.  He allowed me to sleep on his couch for my entire stay!!  I was planning on heading to Amantani for the night but it sounds like there is too much going on to leave!  For that reason I decided on a short trip to Isles de Uros.  These are islands made from reeds and super cool.  The tour lasted a few hours and took us to a few of the islands where we were given presentations about the people and area.  That evening the bands arrived.  There are 75 groups involved and many of them fly in bands from Bolivia and other parts of South America for the competition.  We started at the house of the president of our group.  There was a short Catholic ceremony then the drinks started coming out and the group started practising.  I made so many new friends that night.  An older man that appeared to be the father of the new president spoke directly following the ceremony.  Although I didn´t understand everything he was saying, the emotion was clear.  I was kicking it with him after and we shared some funny stories.  After the party ended a few of us headed down to see the fireworks.  In the park there was a huge bamboo structure with fireworks attached to it.  The most crude and cool thing.  It went up with fireworks shooting from all sides and shooting fire into the crowd.  Then we headed to a local bar for some te piceado which is tea with anis.  Very good on a cold night.  On the way home we walked past a bar that had a classic rock cover band killing it.  We had to stop for a few songs and wound up staying out till around 2 then headed to Christian´s where he said I could crash on his couch.  We had to get up at 5 AM the following morning to attend a reception and practice.

That was tough.  I woke up after only 2 hours of sleep feeling a bit off.  We had a cup of coffee then jumped in his old VW bug for the drive to the reception.  Unfortunatly his car wouldn´t start so he asked me to push so we could jump it.  I seriously pushed that thing half way to town and with the altitude and my hangover, I felt super sick.  We wound up ditching the car and hailing a cab.  We arrived at the reception hall and most of the band was already drinking.  It was surreal.  After another short ceremony the beer and wine came out.  Then they fed us an amazing breakfast and the party continued.  I was bouncing from group to group as I now knew most of the people there.  Lots of dancing, too much drinking and a lot of laughing!  After that party I went with Hernan to another party for his local neighborhood.  This time Hernan didn´t want to stay so I kicked it with his father who is a tough drinker and very cool dude.  Free food, free beer, a huge band and lots of dancing...again...That evening we headed down to the center to watch the bands battle each other and play in the streets.  Then we headed back to Ecco´s for some more classic rock.  The singer´s voice was crazy good and they killed every song they were playing!  A few games of pool, a few songs and I had to call it a night.  Sunday and Monday are the biggest days and I wanted to be prepared!

Sunday we were up early and everyone was running around frantically trying to get their outfits together.  I can´t begin to tell you the detail and effort that everyone puts into their costumes.  Hernan hooked me up with everything and in no time we were all dressed and ready.  We hailed a cab and jetted down to the stadium.  On Sunday the groups perform in the stadium then head out through the streets.  The following day it is all in the streets.  We arrived just as the group was going on so we literally ran in the back and onto the field.  It was surreal.  The stadium was pretty packed and we came out to a large applause.  After our short performance we exited and headed to a cul de sac near the stadium to hang.  Beer came out, then food, then more beer....then rain.  Everyone was huddled under trees for a bit still drinking and partying then the group decided that rain or not we were heading into the streets.  It was hilarious!  So much fun!!  The rain was dumping down and we were charging through!  My costume was drenched by the end.  You will have to see the pictures to understand my costume but I thought it was pretty funny and really enjoyed playing it up with a mask on.  Because the rain was so intense and I was having so much fun with people on the streets, I got seperated from the group.  That was pretty funny as I was soaking wet and wondering the streets in full costume solo.  I headed back to Hernan´s and changed then found out where they were and headed that way.  Another reception...you know what that means..more food, more beer....yikes!  After that a small group headed back to Hernan´s with a case of large bottles of beer.  We were dancing, drinking and laughing...such a good group of people and all so welcoming and understading of my poor Spanish.  I was told then that I have to attend the festival 3 years in a row or something bad will happen so it looks like I will be returning next year...if anyone is interested!  Then they bought another case of beer...yikes!  I was exhausted but didn´t want to be the only one to leave (I was the youngest too so that added a little bit to it...if these geezers could hang then so could I).  We finished another 9 beers between 7 of us and then called it a night.  I was pooped but knew that we only had one more day so I had to power through.

Marco woke me up on Monday with a shot of Pisco.  Oh boy.  I put my costume back on then grabbed a biscuit and hit the road with them.  We got down to the beginning of the street parade around 8 and met up with the group.  Marco bought a bottle of rum and we mixed some cocktails for the road.  Then we started down the street.  I can´t begin to tell you the fun we had.  Since I am the ´chica loca´ I get to do basically whatever I want.  I would dance with the group then plop down on some person´s lap and start stroking their hair.  Or I would grab someone from the crowd and drag them out for a quick dance then give them a huge kiss...with my mask on.  Everyone would cheer and laugh.  People would run out to you while you are parading and give you beer, water and shots.  This festival is amazing.  Anyone can run into the street and take photos with you if they want, anyone can give you free beer and it is a very common sight to see participants with an instrument in one hand and a beer in the other.  Once I found out that there is a winner (and we were second after the previous days performance), I decided to put everything into my performance.  I was drenched with sweat and running amok in the streets.  My favorite moments were when I would walk up to a huge group of people, grab one and dance then fake kiss then turn to the group, lift my mask up and say something to everyone in English.  That always got a great reaction.  We danced 20 blocks and were all totally beat.  My legs were cramping, my back ached and I now have a cut on my nose from the mask but we were all elated.  We showered, changed and headed down to watch the other groups.  The parade started at 8 and didn´t end till around 2AM.  I actually can´t say exactly as I couldn´t stay awake for the whole thing.  There are over 50,000 people that participate in the parade.  The largest groups have 2,000 people and a few bands.  The bands are rented for 1,000 US a day.  Some of the outfits cost 45US to rent.  The shit is crazy!  We sat for hours, drinking, cheering, dancing and watching the groups.  Some had amazing choreography, some had amazingly detailed outfits and all were amazing.  At one point it started to hail but that didn´t stop anyone.  Without wanting the night to end a few of us headed to Domino aka the megaclub for a few more dances and drinks. 

I had an amazing time here in Puno.  I can safely say that I look forward to drying out and not drinking for a a bit as this festival was super intense.  It was all I could do to keep up with these people!  I will definetly be coming back here and am already planning my trip.  2 weeks, 1 in Cuzco with Machu Picchu and 1 here for the festival....who´s coming with me!!