Feliz Ano Nuevo!

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope you all had half as much fun as I did. I had no idea what I was getting into when I decided to spend New Years Eve in Peru this year. But I gotta say it was a blast and I would recommend it for everyone!
Let me tell you a little about my experience. New Years Eve just happens to be the birthday of Chano (the now 20-year old who helped with our project) So Me, Pat, and Garry made plans to attend his birthday party at his house in Comas, Peru. Peruvians don't start parties until about 9:00 or 10:00 so we knew it was going to be a long night. But before going to the party we got hungry and went to a restaurant that happened to be serving Guinea Pig! This was a yet another great opportunity to try an authentic Peruvian dish. Guinea pigs are prevalent here since a lot of farmers raise them. They are quite a bit smaller than the home grown Iowan pigs though. More like a squirell than a pig. But the taste is nothing like pork. My pig was deep-fat-fried so the taste was very similar to chicken. I would recommend this to anyone who likes chicken and likes trying new things. It was very good!
By the time I finished my Guinea Pig it was time to get to Chanos party. The party was really fun besides the fact that I could only understand bits and pieces of the conversations. This gave us yet another chance to eat! haha It was really fun seeing a Peruvian birthday as they are a little different from American birthdays. I didn't see any birthday cakes or presents. I know that Chano received a gift from his parents but gifts here are more of a personal thing rather than a public thing. So instead of giving a gift in front of everyone, it is more custom to give the gift in private. But really, the party was quite similar to other parties I have been to in the states. Lots of food and lots of pop. The raging pop here in Peru is called "Inca Cola" which is a lot like Mt. Dew except made with much more sugar. I also believe it has more caffeine so after a couple cups of that everyone became very talkative even though it was almost midnight! We sang some songs together since someone brought their guitar. Then came another part of the party that differs from those in the U.S. On birthdays it is common for everyone to say something to the birthday boy (or girl) which can be either good or bad depending on who's birthday it is. It was really interesting because everyone in the room, one by one, said something to Chano. Some gave encouragement while others gave advice. When it was my turn, I told Chano how special it was for me to know him and to know how good of a person he was for helping so many children and for caring for everyone he knows. He is truly a man of God and I look up to him. He is definitely a great person and I am honored to call him my friend.
After the family time and birthday music, it was almost midnight so everyone made their ways to the front of the house. Little did I know I was in for the show of a lifetime!
One thing the Peruvians do for a New Years celebration is to take their old clothes, put them together in the form of a person (picture a scarecrow made of old clothes) and light it on fire in the middle of the street! This might seem crazy to a foreigner driving by in a moto-taxi, but this symbolizes the person's old life. It means they are destroying the person they used to be. It means the New Year brings new opportunities to become a new person and they want to make sure they get rid of the old person they used to be. I found this very interesting, and at the same time, very entertaining! Nothing beats a street fire in the middle of the night.
But burning clothes isn't the half of it! Fireworks are 100% legal here in Peru! And I'm not talking about bottle rockets and sparklers. I'm talking about fireworks that only firemen are allowed to set off. Fireworks that you would see at a 4th of July celebration. These are real fireworks and I am convinced every Peruvian who had fingers to light a match bought about 10 of these. From 11:50 to 12:10 it was nothing but lights, fireworks, bangs, and bombs for as far as an eye could see. I've never seen anything like it! You could look in any direction and see fireworks shooting into the air, hear people yelling at the top of their lungs, and smell the smoke from hundreds of fireworks being set off simultaneously!
I will probably never see a celebration like that again unless I decide to spend another New Years Eve in a country like Peru. . . . which might just happen :)

I have added a short video of the fireworks. Make sure to have your volume up for this. Listen closely to the background. That isn't sound distortion, that is the sound of hundreds of fireworks going off all at once!



I will leave you with this for now. Tomorrow, we are traveling to "Tingo Maria" which is a town in the heart of the jungle. We will be leaving around 7:30 to embark on the 12 hour bus ride. I hope they have comfy seats! I am interested in seeing the Mountains and seeing the jungle for the first time. I am also excited at the chance to partake in yet another Chocolatara. As I explained in previous posts, the children in this part of the jungle have never received Christmas gifts. And since the women who plans to give gifts to these children for the first time was moved by my story just as I was moved by hers, she wants to celebrate Christmas with the children while I am there. Such a great opportunity to celebrate with even more deserving children! I can't wait.