New Year’s Eve In Lima
New Year’s Eve in Lima is all about yellow. Yellow leis, hats, 2012 glasses, undies, t-shirts, are all available in shops and street stalls, all yellow, ready for New Year’s Eve. There is also a tradition of burning effigies of political figures, and fireworks feature as well. The traditions that interested me the most were the cleansing and blessing rituals available in special markets only operating over the New Year period.
We visited a market in central Lima, with stalls/shops selling souvenirs and, the reason we went, cleansing ceremonies for the New Year. A cleansing with a live quirquincho (armadillo)cost 20 new soles at the stall I visited. The same thing cost only 10 new soles at another stall,but apparently it is worth paying more for a more authentic experience.
I went behind the curtain at the stall and sat down on a chair in the small space. Some incenseor something similar was burning, not an unpleasant smell. The Senora, wearing traditional dress and the distinctive hat of people from the Puno region, asked me my name & got the quirquincho out from a bucket. She had advertised that she used a live one but this one appeared to be stuffed. As the ceremony proceeded, I hoped for the poor animal’s sake that it was. The Senora said a prayer to various saints and asked them to cleanse me, all the while hitting me with the poor quirquincho on my head, arms, back and stomach. I had to stand up for some parts. Then I had to spit on the quirquincho several times (I didn’t use actual spit, and I don’t know if I was supposed to, I just did the spitting action as demonstrated by the Senora). The process continued with me being hit with small branches of a plant, and then what I thought were petals but actually were paper confetti, yellow & white, were scattered over my head and body. Then the Senora produced a saumadora, a small object containing smouldering coal or something similar. She continued saying her prayer, and I had to place my hands over the fire in the smoke, while she rang a small bell over my hands. She placed droplets of special water on my hands, arms, head, etc. and then the cleansing was over.
After the cleansing, I was curious to know about the quirquincho – was it alive or not? The Senora assured me that it was, and took it out of its bucket to show me. She had to poke it to get it to move much at all, and I didn’t know if this was a normal level of activity for these animals or if the poor thing was sedated. I must say I felt a bit sorry for it, and was also wondering about my chances of having caught fleas or some other mite from having it in my hair and on my body. (note: two days later and I am not scratching yet!)
This cleansing is apparently more of a Bolivian tradition, but the Senora was from Puno, close to Bolivia. There were many similar stalls, especially for NYE period. We went to another market where dozens of people were lining up for cleansings or blessings of objects. Black cuy (guinea pigs) are used to diagnose health problems. I did notice that cuy was also on the menu on many stalls, so they are obviously versatile.Many people were buying fake money and miniature objects that they might desire in real life; cars, house, degrees,a baby etc., then putting the fake money with the miniature objects and havingthem blessed in the special smoke (for five soles.) This was very popular amongst those at the market. If the market had been in Australia I suspect that the bar selling Pisco Sour for two soles may have been more popular, but as it was, I was the only customer.
Although there were the usual celebrations in bars and clubs, we gave it a miss and saw in the New Year quietly at home. Probably just as well, I didn’t want to ruin my newly cleansed status.
New Year’s Day in Lima
New Year’s Day was the first day that I had been in Lima and actually seen blue sky – other days had been shrouded in a fog that looked to me like rain but never developed. We decided to go to the beach at Chorrillos, along, it seemed, with every resident of Lima. Before we went down to the beach, we walked up a hill behind it to visit a dedication to the Virgin, a statue of Christ and some other monuments recognising the defence of Peru against Chile. The most interesting part of this walk for me was the opportunity to see, up close, the houses built on the side of the hill. Most were in a state of disrepair and some had been partially destroyed by landslides from the hill above. It was a reminder that in Lima, as in many places (including Australia) there is a big difference between those with a lot and those without.
From the the top of the hill there was a great view across Lima. We walked back down the hill towards the beach. I had never seen a beach so packed. Looking down onto the beach from the cliffs above you could see umbrellas packed closely together and the people in the shallows of the water appeared to be almost a solid mass.
On the path down to the beach there were many food stalls, and drink and ice-cream stands. I also saw two places where you could weigh yourself. I did think that if you are too fat to be seen in your bathers, then once you are at the beach it’s a bit late to do anything about it, but I suppose there were enough customers or the businesses wouldn’t exist.
We walked along the beach, away from the water and behind the crowds. There were many small blue sheds dotted along the beach, selling food and drinks. We wanted a beer, which turned out to be a complicated process as it is banned on the beach, but is still for sale if you ask at the right place. The beach has a high police presence which is good, although we had to make sure they didn’t see our beer.
We walked along that beach to the next one, Barranco, with no sand, only rocks, but it was quite comfortable. This beach had some surf too. We had another beer and then ventured up to the street to make our way home. It was slow going, with so many people on the narrow path and stairway; it was like entering or leaving a sporting event at a stadium.
The bus home was no less crowded. I counted at least 20 people who were standing, and they were only the ones I could see. I was concerned for the safety of one man, who was hanging out of the door as we drove through traffic, unable to fit entirely inside. Eventually he squeezed in, thankfully unscathed.Despite a dubious regard for safety, buses are cheap and convenient and quite fast. And fun, if you’re not the one hanging out of the door.
