In the states it might be normal to have your national holiday for one day then be done with it, but that is not how it works down here. Every Sunday since I have been here, there has been a massive parade for honestly no reason. I even have asked many of the locals what all the ruckus was about, and they seriously have no clue. Basically the city just flips out every weekend and no one questions it. Finally, this past week, we were given a solid reason for why the roads were closed, why half the city population had taken up the skill of a brass instrument, and why random men were dancing in unison in the square. This was the week of corpus cristi. Corpus Cristi is a catholic holiday that translated from Latin means “Body of Christ”, and celebrates the Eucharist. So for the first day, there is a procession of saints on these giant silver and gold bases that probably weigh 1000 or more pounds. Each of these saints were carried by a team of 20-30 struggling young lads that honestly look like they are dying. Not only are they just carrying these massive weights but they are forced to do this strange back and forth dance while they are fighting for their lives under this massive weight. I personally found it hilarious. For this holiday only there is a certain dish that is sold on the streets called “chiriuchu” that is Quechuan for “cold food”. It consists of cuy (guinea pig), chicken wings, sausage, potato bread, seaweed salad and fish eggs. All the locals have been raving about this dish for weeks so I was pretty pumped but mostly frightened to try it. So as I was on my way to my placement, I walked through a plaza that was lined with venders selling this dish with all the dead guinea pigs on display and I wept for them. Later that day I met up with some friends to try this mystery meat plate. In my professional opinion, I thought it was absolutely horrible. But I’m just your average white person. After that gastronomical experience, we went to the main square to see what foolishness was going on there. To say I was disturbed would be an understatement. There were two lines of men with dead sheep hanging off of their clothes whipping the person who ran through the middle. This is up for artistic interpretation for what this has to do with celebrating the body of Christ. After that entertaining cultural experience, I went home and watched 3 episodes of House of Cards to get some America glory back in me. God Bless.
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