Party Crashing in Ayacucho

Ayacucho is the place to be during La Semana Santa. Luckily, we were able to stay with a relative because the place fills up about a month in advance. And bus tickets are around twice the normal price (we paid $70 each). So far, it's been a very interesting week...

A few hours before the bus was scheduled to leave, we went back to my aunt's place in Lima to finish packing and get our stuff. However, when we arrived, nobody was home and we didn't have a key. The doorman called my aunt, and she said we could get in through the terrazo, which is the back patio area. So Brian gamely starts to climb over the fence, but we didn't know that the tiles on either side were purely decorative, hence not fastened securely. The tiles fell, Brian fell, I fell, and all the neighbors poked their heads out the window to see what the racket was. It turns out my aunt had wanted us to wait for doorman to bring a ladder for us to climb over...oops! Brian's new knockoff sunglasses broke and he got scratched up a bit, but otherwise everything was ok. We are going to have to pay for the tiles, though.

We arrived in Ayacucho after a long and very winding bus ride and hopped into a colectivo for Huanta, about an hour away. There, we were warmly met by my cousin's aunt and treated to some great Peruvian hospitality.

During the week, there were many somber processions with elaborate statues of holy figures. This was very interesting and nice to see, but when Saturday arrived, I saw why everyone wants to be here for this week. In the morning, there was a running of the bulls (which Brian and I missed), and then everyone gets rip-roaring drunk for the whole day until the Easter mass at 4 A.M. It looked like a version of Spring Break, except that here people keep their shirts on. Well, the ladies at least. The locals jokingly call this La Semana Tranca - everyone is so drunk that it's like they're on tranquilizers.

We were walking around, having already had a few beers, when we wanted to find a place to drink some more and sit down in the shade. We saw a likely hole in the wall and walked in. Just when it dawned on us that this was a private party, two men in cowboy hats slapped us on the back and offered us a beer. We ended up spending a few hours there, drinking copious amounts of beer and meeting everyone at the party. Peruvians are great people.

Back in Huanta, there was another party at my aunt's house, some sort of police get-together. This is the first time I've been around that many drunk policemen! At around 9 they all stumbled home and we cleaned up. When we went to check on the grill an hour later, we found a straggler sleeping soundly in the grass. Overall, I'd say that this week has been a success, and I'm a little sad to be leaving.