I will do my best to explain a unique Peruvian custom that I had the pleasure of participating in last weekend. It was pretty much one of the craziest things I´ve ever been a part of it. And I loved it.
All month has been the month of Carnival. The history about this holiday is a mystery to me and apparently a mystery to the Peruvians I assked. But I did google it and found this info written on a blog. It was the best explanation I could find. But what I saw of the holiday was that basically for the whole month of February and early March this celebration goes on and it involves hanging out on Sundays and throwing water balloons at each other, squirting people with water guns, throwing flour or paint on people, or worse. You might be wondering where this happens....well it depends on the region of Peru and it depends on each distinct neighborhood. But basically in Iquitos, no where is safe. As a gringa I was a huge target. So we didn´t go out much on Sundays, and if we did I had to hide in the mototaxi. And it doesn´t matter if you want to be a participant or not, you will be targeted. And if you have blonde hair, it will be worse for you. But I never took any of the atttempted attacks personal, plus husband usually blocked the water balloons for me. My hero!
So this whole celebration culminates on the last Sunday of Febrary or a Sunday in early March. Everyone gathers in their respective communities and gears up the water balloon and flour fight while dancing around a tall pole called an Húmisha which they ceremoniously cut down. As a community our little Air Force Villa decided to organize our own celebration and here´s how it turned out.
Here is our Húmisha.
Here is how the celebration started out, mildly...... a few water balloons here and there with a little flour and foam.
And then things got ridiculous. There was mud. Colored mud. And Red Achote seeds which act as a natural dye for clothing, and then there were buckets of water, and then more mud, more seeds, more balloons, more mud. You get the idea.
And no one was spared. Young or old, holding a small child, dressed in nice clothes, holding a camera (don´t worry my camera´s ok), you were attacked.
It was actually pretty fun. It was like having a killer food fight when you were young. Everyone was acting like kids and everyone looked ridiculous.
And we did our dance around the Húmisha and performed the ritual of cutting it down. Then like a piñata everyone ran and violently gathered all the tupperware items that had been attached to it. I really wanted a pitcher but Coco and I ended up with an ice tray.
It was a great day that required a long shower afterwards, and alot of laundry. I love Peruvian traditions.
