A Very Loki Christmas

A bell tower over Loki Hostel during a particularly spectacular Cusquenian sunset

Loki. The Norse god of trickery and chaos.
As I ducked through the balloon infested doorway, chaos seemed about right to describe the current situation. Hundreds of impovrished children from villages around Cusco screamed in delight for the appearance of "Papa Noel"
       Here at Loki, most famous for its hard partying atmosphere, we were finally making good on our promise of a Christmas party. It was truly chaotic, as balloons and screaming kids went streaming past in a whirl of delighted noise. A table full of gifts awaited the kids, complete with paneton (a terrible South American fruitcake concoction) and hot chocolate. Soon, "Papa Noel" or Santa Clause (whom I had the sneaking suspicion might have been in some way related to my large Irish hostel manager, Alan) was scheduled to make an appearance to deliver gifts and sweets to the ecstatic children.
       Alan had shaved his head, one without the touch of scissors or blade for three years, for another charity earlier that week. This was our second event to give back to the community. It was great to see the kids with faces of pure joy as they received gifts and goodies. It felt good to be part of an organization that was doing such wonderful things for a community that has been historically jilted by foreigners and countrymen alike.
     Yeah, Loki is without a doubt the biggest and most crazy party hostel in South America. This was, however, my favorite party to attend so far though!

Bar managers Greg and Dasey wait in the corner to hand out gifts to the children according to age groups.

Papa Noel is rushed by excited children, each eager to hug the big man himself!

Papa Noel with a local Peruvian boy, excited to be so close to the real thing!

The doorway to the bar has been turned into a ballon infested wonder portal!!

A woman does her best to direct the chaos flowing around her.

So many kids! So many balloons! 

Frosty and his cheerleaders rouse the kids to new levels of excitement. Thanks guys! 

Boxes upon boxes of that horrible paneton!

Virgen of Guadalupe in Cuscu

Finally!

       

     I awoke to drums softly beating in time to my head. The sound slowly made its way through the centuries old walls to rest in my ears. A faint wail of trumpets broke the morning behind it. I groaned and rolled over as most people would be inclined to do after an 8 hour nightshift behind the bar at Loki hostel in Cusco. Boom, Boom. My eyes snapped open as I realized what could be the only reason for that kind of racket at this ungodly hour.

      I leaped from bed and ran to my room, throwing on a rain jacket and grabbing my camera with barely enough time to lace my boots before I dashed out into an otherwise miserable and rainy Cusco morning. There it was! I raced along down the hill, trying to keep both my footing and my dignity on the slippery cobblestones. POP POP POP POP. Oh no? Was I too late? I streaked by the candle shops, with their meter long wares for sale to a non-existant crowd. Yes! There they were, I had caught up at last!

      A saint's procession in South America is truly a sight to behold, and this was the famous procession for the Virgen of Guadalupe. She is a very popular Mexican religious icon, but given my past dating experience (over 5 years total with Mexican Americans) this was a regular staple of Christmas for me! I had made it just in time to follow the procession to the doors of the church, where an honor guard of soldiers in starched desert uniforms awaited her holiness. Outside was a large bamboo rack of fireworks (not your granddads M-80's neither!) which, although nearly killing me, was a "blast" to watch.

       From there I declined to join for the mass, and instead waited with a fresh, Mexican style tamale and some chicha. As I waited, I made the acquaintance of a beautiful girl (Candi) and her mother. They were both in beautiful traditional fiestas dresses, and I was voyeuristically snapping photos when I caught THEIR eyes haha. They introduced themselves to me, told me about the dance exhibition coming up, and bought me a lovely picture of the Virgen! It was so nice!

      After mass ended, mariachi groups and dancers filled the square as the soldiers filed off for the day. I stuck around for a beautiful and complicated dance of costumed men and beautifully adorned women. After that they passed around some beer bottles, and I was thankfully included since the sun was shining much more brightly and at that point a little hair-of-the-dog was much appreciated! Eventually the square emptied out, and I made my way back to Loki Hostel after saying my goodbyes to my new friends. Not a bad morning eh?

The procession makes its way into the church in time for the mass

Soldiers form up outside the Cathedral as they wait for mass to begin.

A local group parades their Virgen of Guadalupe statue down to some awaiting fireworks

The first of a series depicting the fireworks that nearly blew me up to the Virgen that day... thankfully I hauled out of there just in time!

And more....

Hmmm... Where did the square, and where Stone was originally standing, go?

The inside of the cathedral 

Performers making their way down the slick, winding streets.

A local shop sells candles to light your chosen religious event... some are over a meter and a half tall!

Candi, a native girl slated to dance later in the festivities noticed my camera activity and decided to ask for a picture with me... she was awesome and ended up giving me a signed picture of the Virgen as a gift!

A local mariachi singer chats it up with the platoon before he started his concert.

A nun walks up the cathedral steps towards the pending festivities.

Soldiers waiting to be dismissed outside of the Cathedral.

A young boy in garish costume breaks the ranks of soldiers to find his mommy.

The beaded skirts of the costumed angels, preparing for their dance later.

The picture of the Vigen makes its way from the dimly lit cathedral towards the waiting crowd.

A young boy with his staff for the dance.

A mask of what I assumed were angels.

A woman, the mother of Candi, throws colored papers on the heads of waiting dancers.

Mariachis in white play a song or two to the waiting image of the Virgen.

A strong sun, notably absent in the morning's proceedings, shines brilliantly off the trumpet of a mariachi musician in white. 

An older woman in a traditional tophat stands behind a family portrait of the Virgen of Guadalupe that she presumably lugged from home.

A little boy amongst the mariachis

Two little girls in fancy dress share ice cream cones and subversive looks under the distracted watch of their parents.... Mischief appears to be at hand!

A boy in a gorilla/demon costume takes a break from its sweltering confines to lick a cool ice cream before he performs.

A brown demon gorilla streams past the men in angel costume

A black demon gorilla 

The men in angel costumes whirl noise makers.

The women dance along to the beat of drums and the blair of well polished horns from the corner of the square.

A young boy plays his part. 

The dance ran in a linear procession, beautiful women danced and the "demons" were kept in the procession by the angel dancers in blue and white wearing big masks.

Skirts whirling about the dancers cast  beautiful shadows.

A Journey Through Non-Touristy Cusco

           Cusco, why am I talking about that again? Fair point, I covered a fair bit of the city of Cusco on my first post about it. I covered most of the tourist friendly zones, chock full of people offering massages and alpaca woolens. Well, if you step a few blocks outside of where your typical tourist map goes decidedly blank, you encounter a different side of Cusco.

           There is a noticeable lack of massage vendors, and little old ladies wearing traditional Andean garb still exist, but they are selling crops not pictures of their kids. Go further. The streets begin to run with red mud sliding down from the hillsides that form the bowl that is Cusco. Many doors remain closed unless knocked on. People look at you strangely if you aren't a local, assuming you're either lost or an idiot to be here. 

                Yes this sounds a tad grim, but there are nice things to this side of Cusco! The food is cheaper, the goods are certainly cheaper, and the mountains of fresh fruit are suddenly so inexpensive you feel guilt ridden if you don't snag a few grenadillas and a banana or two as you stroll. Or, you can leave the historical center all together, and head to the area around one of the local universities! Here you will find vendor stands with the latest computers, and dozens of cyber cafes all along the street. And after growing to love the street vendors in central Lima, they litter the sidewalks hawking camote (sweet potato) chips, and puffed Maca balls dipped in chocolate.  GOOD LORD I HAVE ARRIVED!
         Its easy to get swept along in the touristy zones, with explanations of the Pachamama and figures of pumas, snakes and condors popping out in every stonework. If you take a stroll a street or two off that well curated area, you are reminded that this is a city of living people. It has a strong culture that is apparent in the everyday markets, the muddy streets, and the amazing street food. Enjoy the tourist areas, thats what they're there for! However, be  one of the people who also takes the time to lift their eyes up and look around at the real city of Cusco for a bit. It also has its gems!

An alpaca fetus used for pre-Incan rituals and witchcraft. 

Beautiful flowers fill the market with colors.

A bin of Peruvian masks used for local festivities for sale in the market/

A fruit market on the streets behind the Mercado San Pedro, teeming with vendors even on a rainy day.

A giant bag of coca leaves in the middle of a street in one of the market districts... they also happen to fill the stores that line this street. Its not a drug here. People, especially the rural ones, chew it all day to provide them with energy to work the earth in the cold highlands. It also would take about a truckload of coca leaves to make one gram of cocaine, and has been cultivated and used here since pre-Incan times.

The street art here is scarce, but good when you find it.

Levels of crumbling mud buildings make up much of the old, but non tourist section of Lima.

Roasted cuy are posed as if fighting over the fruits and veggies on the platter with them. Cuy, by the way, are guinnie pigs, and a delicacy here in the mountains.

A bucket of frogs sitting in the San Pedro market, some living, some skinned.

The street fruit market on a busy, sunny day.

We came. We saw. We ate EVERYTHING AT THE TABLE. Tracie at one point leaned over to remind me that the cutlery was not edible... oh well, I guess the banana pancakes with caramel sauce will have to do!

More beautiful street art in the bohemian San Blas neighborhood.

Two workers break under a large mural.