Feria Patronal- San Juan de la Virgen

So this past weekend was the “Feria Patronal” or our town’s anniversary. Like I mentioned last week, we celebrated for a total of ten days which included way too much mass, the miss San Juan pageant, cock fights, volleyball and boxing tournaments, and of course, the bailes (concerts). The fun for me really kicked off on Sunday when my uncles hosted another cock fight. This one was insane. Other than the fact that a man tried to bribe me for my passport and I got to sell beer and cigarettes with my cousins, the tournament went on for a good six hours and I really got to see some roosters go at it big time. And bleed big time too. A particular cock that I was rooting for all day (because he was semi bald) took a claw to the jugular and I watched as the life slowly dripped out of him while his owner hung him upside down to bring home later for dinner (cue Elton John’s Circle of Life theme song from Lion King). At least he went down valiantly.

After the fight, I was passing the bottle around with my uncles and their friends when they started asking me what I missed most about the states. Minus the 456 things that are located at the top of my list, I replied, “the cheese.” When pried more on the subject, I eluded as to how blessed we are with a plethora of cheese types in the states ranging from ones “with holes, yellow and orange colored, some that crumble, and even some from France.” I may have not mentioned to you all that there is one type of cheese here in Peru- white kind. This “white kind” can sit out in the markets all day because their sodium content level is higher than a twinkie (I’m assuming twinkies have a ridiculously high sodium content level because they have a shelf life of 1000 years). I really miss my brie sandwiches and cheddar with crackers while drinking wine. So, in response to self-assure himself that Peru is equal to, or in fact, superior to all other countries, my uncle’s friend said “Asi, Peru tiene bastante tipos de quesos tambien” (well, Peru has a ton of cheese too). He then relayed to me that there was “cow cheese, goat cheese, and I’m pretty sure he said sheep cheese.”

“Of course!”, he added at the end, “Peru has many types of cheeses too that are just as good as the states’.”

Knowing full well there was no way I could win in this conversation, I drew back my argument and changed the subject on how many cocks they thought died that day.

The bailes themselves were really fun although I think Peruvians must have a rare natural stimulant in their blood from the Incans or something, because how one can dance for six hours straight, three days in a row is beyond me. I managed to go to all three, hang out slash dance with every male that lives in a five mile vicinity, and drink some beer while at it. Miami folk- picture going to Brickstreet at 8 and staying until close with no respite from the dance floor. My town had three different bands come in to perform. On Sunday, “Dilbert Aguilar and his Gurpo Tribu” came in perform and I actually got to go up on stage and get a pic with Dilbert Aguilar himself which was funny considering he measures in at under 5 feet and is a Peruvian celebrity. Wikipedia him, I swear he exists.

So yes, in a nutshell the town anniversary was fun although I think I will need a year to recuperate form all of it. My stomach took a beating from all the salchipollo (fried chicken with French fries) and beer I consumed but that also may have been the PARASITE that I have been harboring in my stomach for over a month now. I finally called my doctor about my stomach- sitch and she gave me anti- Giardia medicine, which, while it may have felt like it was creating me a new digestive tract in the process, has helped ease my L.S.M. a lot. Thank God.

In other news, life in San Juan has been going on as normal. The electricity has been on the fritz a lot which caused the water to stop running because the water needs an motor to get pumped from the river, filtered, and run to our houses. So, as a result, we (the people here and myself) have to go down to the river to carry it back in buckets. This is the water we use to cook, clean, wash dishes, and yes, drink. However, when I see it come out of the faucet, the mud has been filtered out. I then have to boil the water before I can drink it to kill whatever living organisms are being harbored inside. But I’ve realized I’m kind of alone in that matter- my family, cousins and neighbors here usually just drink it straight from the tap, or in other words, straight from the river. So when we brought back buckets and jugs of muddy, turbid water from the river, I watched my cousins drink it “as is.” Apparently a little mud never hurt anyone. So for the time being I’ve just been sticking to store- bought bottled water. Better be safe then have a stomach full of mud. All I could think about when I watched people drink the water that day was, “I’ve peed in that.”

Along with occasionally peeing in the river, I’ve told you that we go swimming and playing in it. People use it to wash clothes, wash themselves, and farmers cross it with their horses and mules to get from one side of the fields to the other. However, I found out something disturbing about the river last week. I went down to fill up buckets with my little cousin Yosari and one of her friends was down there bathing with his dad. He then casually mentioned how we just missed two alligators swim around and disappear into the marshes. ALLIGTATORS. IN THE RIVER WHERE I SWIM. Imagine my surprise at finding out that little tidbit of information. Apparently this is common knowledge, people just forgot to fill me in. No more late afternoon swims to cool off- a shower will have to suffice.

So yes, life has continued as close to normal as it can. Blanco (my dog) cut his paw on a machete pretty deeply so I could see his muscle. To prevent infection and more importantly, bugs from getting inside, my brother Pol poured gasoline on the wound to make it smell bad (and hurt like hell I’m sure). I had never heard of this quick remedy to sterilize wounds but hey, whatever works I guess. Also, Polly the devil bird has become more aggressive towards me and now waits for me at the top of the stairs when I’m coming back from a shower, wearing only a towel. I usually try to jump over him and run into my room before he manages to bite me and break my skin, but so far, I’m at about a 50:50 success rate. So that’s the deal with my pets.

I hope you all are surviving the cold, if you feel like you can’t handle it, I have a yoga mat and sleeping bag that makes for a pretty comfortable bed. I also heard about the earthquake in Haiti and I’m very proud to say that the people here have been genuinely concerned as to what’s going on. I’d even go so far to say that it’s become a topic of conversation here.

So that’s that, I’ve got nothing else, so have a great week everybody. Chau.