(All photos for this entry are posted here)
The fireworks for Christmas eve started at around 6am today. The bastards. Little kids running around with fistfuls of gunpowder in paper; every mother’s dream. Every building around is tile, stone, mud brick, or cement. I don’t think it would transfer too well to San Diego.
The market was great. It was absolutely packed. Lot of people from the city and the country. Lots of kids running around with ice cream. Chicha (chewed up corn drink that’s alcoholic) and beef hearts (with a potato on a skewer) as far as the eye can see. No, I haven’t tried cuy (guinea pig), yet. I had my lunch already set on Blueberry Lounge.
Yesterday we wondered why people were bringing huge bundles of plants and grass to the city. Well, it seems nativity sets are a big deal here. Almost half of the vendors were selling something to do with nativities and bling bling baby jesus dolls (while better than bloody jesus, they still have a very creepy quality [and full genitalia]). It looked like a model train supply convention. Fake grass, trees, little people, and buildings. All to build your very own baby jesus in a stable with the surrounding countryside. Before you ask, yes, we bought a little nativity set (andean stylized and fits in a hand) with a little christmas tree (branch stuck in a piece of wood). And yes, our baby jesus is also anatomically correct.
We are going to finish up here tomorrow, visit some ruins, and take it easy. We fly to Lima on the 26th, and bus it down to the desert of Ica. From there we hope to catch a couple festivals, the Nasca lines, sandboarding, and find some fossilized whales.