Lisa-Ann Robinson, Freelance Writer
At the table for Christmas Eve dinner: (from left) Connor, Merieka, Sammy, Lisa-Ann, Phillipa and Pippa
EVERYONE SHOULD experience a Christmas abroad at least once in his or her lifetime. The novelty of foreign traditions and festivities deepens your understanding of the significance of the season and makes you appreciate the quirks of your own familial and cultural practices. After travelling around Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia for the last three months, I decided to spend the holidays in Cusco, a small colonial city, high in the mountains of southern Peru.
Cusco is the tourist mecca of South America because it's the base for excursions to the most famous attraction on the continent, the ancient Inca ruins of Macchu Picchu. I chose to settle in Cusco less for the ruins and more for the fact that I'd heard that there was an abundance of volunteer opportunities there.
When I arrived in early December, I was pleasantly surprised by Cusco's quaint layout. The city is so small, you can get almost anywhere by foot. At the very centre, is the Plaza de Armas, a square flanked by two elegant, colonial churches. The whole city wears tones of red from the roofs of the buildings to the stones that make up the cobbled streets. Here, you get the feeling you're still in the 18th century.
GAINFULLY OCCUPIED
I had planned to be gainfully occupied in Cusco until the first week of January, and was delighted when I quickly secured not one but two positions. The first as a front desk receptionist at a hostel where I bartered four nights work a week in exchange for my accommodation. The second was a volunteer position at Inti Runakunaq Wasin, a programme, founded and funded by Danish doctor Jens Sorensen, that provides homework assistance, recreational activities and counselling for at-risk children between the ages of 5 and 15. I enjoyed the daily interaction with the children it was the other foreign volunteers at the programme who were to become my surrogate family for the holidays.
This small group of six volunteers turned out to be an amusing bunch. There was Vicky from England, the pretty blond who snorts when she laughs and has the most comedic British TV accent, Phillipa is a free-spirited Australian nurse who has devoted herself to a wanderlust existence since the death of her husband two years ago, Pippa from Scotland is the frazzled college graduate who is confused about what she must do with her life, quiet gentlemanly Sammy another Brit, Connor, an Irishman, who'll do anything to save a dime, and ditsy Mereika the Dutch, who's always talking about her boyfriend or asking about yours. This array of eccentric personalities was to become a huge part of my Peruvian Christmas.
Christmas in Peru starts on December 23, when local companies treat children to free cups of hot chocolate and Paneton, sweet bread sprinkled with dried fruits. All around the city there are long lines of expectant children extending from business doors. In the same vein, the Inter Runakunaq Wasin Programme held a party for their children. As volunteers, our contribution came in the form of baking cookies for the children to decorate and buying small gifts for a giant grab bag. The day was filled with the sound of screaming little ones high on a sugar-overdose and excited by the knowledge of presents to come. For some children, these treats were the only ones the season would bring.
CHRISTMAS EVE EXCITEMENT
In Peru, Christmas eve is when all the excitement happens. The Plaza de Armas is the location for a huge market. Like the Jamaican grand market of yester-year, vendors arrive from the country the previous day and sleep in the square with their children to be the first with their stalls ready for the local and foreign shoppers. The diversity of merchandise and the hordes of people are overwhelming. On sale were souvenirs, house wares, various herbs and incenses, clay ceramics of the baby Jesus and family and an assortment of Paneton. For me, the most intriguing parts of the market were the food stalls serving up sticks of grilled cow heart and potatoes (anticuchos), plates of fried guinea pig (cuy) served with fried corn bread, seaweed and a string of fish eggs, giant boiled corn (choclo), fried pork (chicharron) and noodles (tallarines). A strong fear of another bout of traveller's diarrhoea prevented me from experimenting but I was fascinated nevertheless. On Christmas eve night, families come together to eat Paneton and open gifts.
MERRY MIDNIGHT FEAST
Our volunteer group had Christmas eve to ourselves. Vicky offered the use of her apartment for a merry midnight feast where each of us cooked something. Jamaican cuisine was well represented by my curried chicken, rice and fried plantain, which is eaten as much in Peru as it is in Jamaica. Other dishes conjured up by the group were scalloped potatoes, kofta (spicy Middle Eastern meatballs), roast chicken, cake, sweet rum balls and mulled wine, a hot, spiced red wine. With our overflowing plastic plates in front of us we sat around the table in the small apartment to give thanks and felt like a real family. Rounds of second and third helpings were followed by a raucous game of charades. When we hugged and kissed goodbye at 3:00 a.m. we were filled with warm feelings and relieved we'd had a great Christmas, even though we were all far from home.
Christmas day is slower and mellower, reserved for visiting friends and family. For us it was a similar affair, a few of us got together to play scrabble at a coffee shop and in the evening we decided to abandon all attempts at fiscal discipline by dining in a private room at the one of the more expensive restaurants in Cusco.
All in all, I had a great Christmas weekend, marred somewhat by the near-freezing temperatures caused by Cusco's high altitude. Although I missed my family and our traditions, I enjoyed the experience of sharing the season with new friends and observing the practices of the Peruvian culture. I have no regrets about my Christmas in Cusco.
