Celebrating Cusco

This week (and probably next week) we are "celebrating Cusco." I have absolutely no idea why we are celebrating Cusco. But, we are.

There are few key ingredients to celebrating Cusco that I am finally catching on about. First, it is of the utmost importance to set things afire. One must constantly fire off fire crackers (in turn setting of multiple car alarms and sirens). Once in an hour is certainly not enough, this celebration must take place every five minutes or so (until one runs out of fire crackers). The guy who was demonstrating this technique would set off twenty crackers and nonchalantly walk away with a smirk on his face. It seemed as if he believed that no one would ever believe it was him, despite the matches...

Every night the children of Cusco come out into the streets for a celebration dance, complete with drums, lights and a crowd to cheer. These dances can last hours and while the coordination is sometimes a bit off, everyone conducts themselves in a completely celebratory manner. Why are they dancing? I have not the foggiest idea.

Today (in honor of Cusco) there was a soccer game. Now I never figured out exactly which Cusco team was playing or whom exactly we were opposing, but thankfully we won. This caused the entire stadium to celebrate (with drums again) and there was dancing in the street (which is entirely different from the children´s night dancing).

A few days ago I was of the fortunate diners who received a "cultural experience" during my attempts at eating a relaxing lunch. The four person musical troupe that invaded my peaceful restaurant decided we needed exposure to the "Magical Mysteries of Peru-the acoustic version." For the next hour I was serenaded by a western guitar and a bit of moaning. I did not ever feel magical nor mysterious- but I did manage to get a headache.

Every evening I have a small celebration of my own in the MEGA grocery store. Why MEGA? Well MEGA has something marvelous. Only the shoppers of MEGA can proudly pull lime green shopping baskets that have wheels. Ok, I know, it does not sound that exciting. But trust me, it is worth the trip (and the roll).

This coming Friday is a holiday (of Cusco-of course) and I am planning to make my voyage to Machu Picchu instead of sticking around for more fireworks. I have no doubt the celebration will still be "rocking" when I return.