Somos 100% Peruanas

How I became initiated to Peruvian culture this weekend:

1) I ate the national dish - cuy (aka guinea pig) - for the first time.

Cuy dish

To tell you the truth, it wasn't bad (I had actually been mentally preparing myself for this for quite a few months). The meat was okay, but kind of chewy and rubbery. Peruvians eat the skin of the guinea pig, but I found it much too elasticy (it was impossible to chew through!). So I can proudly say I survived my first time of eating this national dish. Will I eat it again? Most probably, since I will be living here for 8 months. Every day? Most definitely not.
2) I have something that says PERU on it. My housemate Itxel and I were at the shopping centre on Saturday and we ended up meeting up with two other people who work for EMAPA Huacho, Juan and Javier. Juan absolutely wanted to buy us a welcome gift on behalf of EMAPA Huacho. There was no getting out of it, so a little while later Itxel and I emerged from a shop sporting lovely sweaters with the PERU logo on them. We didn't feel too great about accepting gifts paid for with company money, but we were not able to say no, either. Here is a picture of us together, 100% peruanas (as the locals said it).

100% peruanas

3) On Sunday, participated in a 'pasacalle', or street parade. For my entire first week in Huacho, everyone kept talking about what was going to happen on Sunday. Turns out there was a huge parade through the streets of the city, featuring 26 of the biggest companies that work in Huacho. We were picked up at 8am by Carlos, and did not really know what (or when) to expect things. After a long, slow morning, we finally started the parade at 11am (we were getting kind of tired of just standing in the streets, waiting to leave). The parade was a lot of fun though, with loud music playing, people dancing, cheering, balloons, etc. It was quite interesting: each company had their own beauty queens that they were showing off (in very short dresses), a float (company car/truck decorated), and a banner. Itxel and I were given the responsibility of holding the front of the banner.

EMAPA Huacho starting the pasacalle

There were about 40 people from the company there too, and we were all given company shirts. It was a great way to meet people in a non-work setting, to chat and to enjoy ourselves.

The entire EMAPA team - the cute little girl with the sign, the beauty queens, the banner, the truck, and then the employees.

It was also the launch of the first annual inter-company soccer tournament (so needless to say, it was a big deal). The tournament is a way of building company spirit and making it known to the community at large, but also a way for them to show off I think. There were speeches, live musicians and traditional dancers. What an afternoon! The sun was blaring down on us and after a few hours (and a mishap with fireworks) we decided to head home.

All in all, a very diverse and interesting weekend! Full of cultural events and new encounters. Can't wait to see what future weekends hold!
Sheila