Lima --> Ayacucho --> Cusco
It's been a memorable ten days as I packed up my life in Lima and prepared for a new beginning in Cusco, with Ayacucho Semana Santa in between. I'm mostly just going to post what I wrote about Semana Santa for the LAFL Blog. I want to add, however that thanks to great people, both Los Gorriones kids and Señoritas, great friends living and volunteering in Ayacucho, and my travel buddies, this was an amazing vacation and a breath of fresh air. So it was with renewed energy and spirit that I took the long journey to Cusco. It really is a spectacular destination and I feel lucky to have this opportunity to know Cusco differently then in my previous visit. But I'll write more on that later. For now, here's some of what made this past week great...
Waving bright red bandanas and wearing red t-shirts on Saturday morning, an eager crowd awaited the arrival of the Pascua Toro, or Easter Bull in Ayacucho, announcing the beginning of the final day of Semana Santa that would end with an extraordinary procession outside the Cathedral at 5:30am Sunday morning. Though the celebration had lasted all week, standing amidst the people, they showed no signs of weariness. In fact, many were already celebrating the grand finale with morning ice creams, popcorn, and cerveza’s. Without introduction, the people ahead of us suddenly scattered to allow a beaming cowboy break through towing a wild bull behind him. In gleeful screams, we tried desperately to catch glimpses and take photos of this famous bull pull. Within seconds they’d flown by us and we were left to wait for more.
In total, I saw three Easter Bulls run wildly past, though there may have been more. Delighted with the stunning performances I’d witnessed on Friday, I couldn’t wait to see what else Saturday had in store for the thousands of people who traveled to Ayacucho to celebrate the Christian Holy Week. All day Friday, local artists had labored on the streets of the Plaza de Armas, creating stunning murals out of colored sand. Their hard work was short lived as the evening’s touching procession, in stunning candlelit darkness, marched the Señor del Santo Sepulcro around the plaza leaving behind dusty remnants of the beautiful art sacrificed in the name of religious fervor.
I’ve spent a good deal of time in Ayacucho, and I can honestly say that it is one of my favorite destinations. It is a mixture of tranquility and activity and Semana Santa was no exception. On Saturday afternoon, to sneak away from the crowded city center, my friends and I took a short combi ride to the Wari ruins, just 30km from Ayacucho. Exploring these beautiful ruins and the quiet paths linking them riddled with cacti and fresh tuna fruit, you’d never know of the fiesta taking place just a short distance away. Not wanting to miss the evening celebrations, I was back in Ayacucho in the late afternoon, and after a reviving dinner was joining in with the music and dancing that would last all night. Like huge statues made of construx, scattered around the square were reed towers that erupted in exciting fireworks displays throughout the night. Big brass bands played around the Plaza so that when one band grew tired of playing cumbia and samba we moved on to another corner of the square where a new band was blasting horns, guitar and drum beats into the night.
The excitement and fervor kept the crowd moving and though I’d taken a short nap, when my friends awoke me to rejoin the festivities, there was an even bigger crowd then when I’d left just an hour ago awaiting the famous procession which wouldn’t start until 5:30 in the morning. Tired faces waited patiently near the Cathedral, people slept on the sidewalks and small children played on the street beside their parents. The final fireworks tower erupted in announcement of what we’d all been waiting for. Tired eyes fixed on the Cathedral as the famous brilliantly lit pyramid seemed to float out of the doors of the Cathedral supported by the hands of 200 people and began to circle the Plaza in what is known as the Resurrection Mass. It was truly a remarkable finale to this exciting celebration that will ring forever in my mind as an extraordinary Peruvian cultural experience.
Waving bright red bandanas and wearing red t-shirts on Saturday morning, an eager crowd awaited the arrival of the Pascua Toro, or Easter Bull in Ayacucho, announcing the beginning of the final day of Semana Santa that would end with an extraordinary procession outside the Cathedral at 5:30am Sunday morning. Though the celebration had lasted all week, standing amidst the people, they showed no signs of weariness. In fact, many were already celebrating the grand finale with morning ice creams, popcorn, and cerveza’s. Without introduction, the people ahead of us suddenly scattered to allow a beaming cowboy break through towing a wild bull behind him. In gleeful screams, we tried desperately to catch glimpses and take photos of this famous bull pull. Within seconds they’d flown by us and we were left to wait for more.
In total, I saw three Easter Bulls run wildly past, though there may have been more. Delighted with the stunning performances I’d witnessed on Friday, I couldn’t wait to see what else Saturday had in store for the thousands of people who traveled to Ayacucho to celebrate the Christian Holy Week. All day Friday, local artists had labored on the streets of the Plaza de Armas, creating stunning murals out of colored sand. Their hard work was short lived as the evening’s touching procession, in stunning candlelit darkness, marched the Señor del Santo Sepulcro around the plaza leaving behind dusty remnants of the beautiful art sacrificed in the name of religious fervor.
I’ve spent a good deal of time in Ayacucho, and I can honestly say that it is one of my favorite destinations. It is a mixture of tranquility and activity and Semana Santa was no exception. On Saturday afternoon, to sneak away from the crowded city center, my friends and I took a short combi ride to the Wari ruins, just 30km from Ayacucho. Exploring these beautiful ruins and the quiet paths linking them riddled with cacti and fresh tuna fruit, you’d never know of the fiesta taking place just a short distance away. Not wanting to miss the evening celebrations, I was back in Ayacucho in the late afternoon, and after a reviving dinner was joining in with the music and dancing that would last all night. Like huge statues made of construx, scattered around the square were reed towers that erupted in exciting fireworks displays throughout the night. Big brass bands played around the Plaza so that when one band grew tired of playing cumbia and samba we moved on to another corner of the square where a new band was blasting horns, guitar and drum beats into the night.
The excitement and fervor kept the crowd moving and though I’d taken a short nap, when my friends awoke me to rejoin the festivities, there was an even bigger crowd then when I’d left just an hour ago awaiting the famous procession which wouldn’t start until 5:30 in the morning. Tired faces waited patiently near the Cathedral, people slept on the sidewalks and small children played on the street beside their parents. The final fireworks tower erupted in announcement of what we’d all been waiting for. Tired eyes fixed on the Cathedral as the famous brilliantly lit pyramid seemed to float out of the doors of the Cathedral supported by the hands of 200 people and began to circle the Plaza in what is known as the Resurrection Mass. It was truly a remarkable finale to this exciting celebration that will ring forever in my mind as an extraordinary Peruvian cultural experience.
posted by emily at 12:56 AM
1 Comments:
Em, thanks for the beautiful account of the Ayacucho festivities. It must've been special coming back and sharing such fervor with old friends and the gorriones.
Congrats on the Cusco job! Have a blast, and enjoy some water-free ruins visits! Love and miss ya, Kevin
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