Independence Day Party!

So, yesterday was our last day with the kids. Boo. But! It also happened to be the day before Peruvian Independence Day, so we had a big party, and that eased the sadness a little bit.

On Thursday, GeGe and Hilda went to the big market to buy lots of meat, and then we went to the market here to buy 36 kilos of potatoes (which is a lot) and rice and oil and purple corn and everything else we needed to make an amazing meal! A meal of what, you ask? Why, a meal of puca picante, of course!!!!! Puca picante and chicharron (fried piggy) and chicha (that yummy purple corn drink), to be exact.

Hilda got the chicha started on Thursday, boiling the corn in one of the giant pots we bought, but the majority of the preparation began Friday morning. Rosa is one of the staff members at the school, and she and her mother make the puca every year for this celebration. So, they came over early Friday to start boiling potatoes. Then, we had to peel all of the potatoes! With our hands! I got pretty good at it by the end. Here's a picture of the rest of the ladies working, and you can see one of our tubs of potatoes there.

Then, we had to cut the potatoes into little pieces for the puca. At the same time, other people were grating beets and slicing onions and garlic and peeling carrots, and it was just a busy scene! After that, Mom and I weren't really so useful anymore because us white girls don't know how to cook puca, or really anything over a fire, so we got out of the kitchen. Here's  a picture of some of the food cooking

Not too long after we finished with the potatoes, the kids started to show up. GeGe had set up a few games and put out beach balls and jump ropes, plus coloring activities inside, so there was lots for them to do, and they very quickly got to playing. I took a few turns spinning the jump rope, and that was fun for me, plus it kept me a little removed from the mass chaos that is 120 children at play.

After an hour or so of playing, it was time for lunch! So, we got all of the kids lined up, had them wash their hands, and got them into seats. Then, we started the assembly line process of loading up plates and delivering them to the children.. That took quite awhile because there were a ton of people, but the ground is also super uneven in the backyard and the plates were not the sturdiest, and they were very full of food, so you could really only carry two at a time. But! It went pretty fast, and eventually everyone (including me!) was settled down to eat. Mom and I sat with the 5th/6th graders- pretty cool kids (and look at how good my plate looks)

After we finished eating, it was time for kids to get seconds if they wanted! Now, those plates were really full, and I was good after one, but there were first graders going back for seconds. I was impressed. Many of these kids often don't get enough to eat, and the majority certainly doesn't have the opportunity to eat in excess, so more free, warm food would be hard to turn down. Here's my little buddy Abrahan in line for seconds!

Anyway, after everybody went through for seconds, we started getting ready to pass out chicha. Drinking is often done after eating here, which is weird to me, but it made organization a little easier in this instance. We had the giant tub of chicha out in the yard, and the teachers brought pitchers from that to pour into cups. I was in charge of refilling the pitchers. It felt pretty important. Then, we did refills of chicha too. And then! Play time! Back to chaos! Here's little Shmom playing with one of her favorites- Jhonatan.

Professor Aydee also set up this fun game where the kids had to feed each other this oatmealish stuff while blindfolded, very entertaining, with lots of oatmeal hair as one result. So good!

 Then, it was time to wrap things up. So, GeGe gathered all of the kids outside and they talked about what the celebration was for (independence day) and got cookies, and then they thanked the cooks, and then they all thanked us, and it was really nice, and shmom cried. Here's a picture of the whole group from up on the stairs (I had to go and grab goodbye candy! Also, sorry for the sunshiney and it really doesn't look like as many people this way, huh?)

Then, time for goodbyes. So sad. We gave out candy and got hugs and kisses at the door. I'm going to miss all of those precious little faces. They're pretty much the best kids around. Here's me and one of my new best buddies who glued herself to me come the end of the day. I'm really gonna miss all of the kid love...

Then, after all of the kids left, it was time to say goodbye to all of the teachers. Wilbur, the door guard and a general kid organizer at the school made me and mom each a bracelet, which was so sweet. And we got lots of hugs and kisses and good wishes. Here's mom with Professor Aydee and her daughter Karol, good people right there!

After all of those goodbyes, we settled in for the night with our piles of extra puca and rice, and a bucket of chicha. Rough life. We went to bed real early because it had been a pretty tiring sort of day.

This morning, we went into town for a bit to see what there was of actual independence day celebrations, do some last minute shopping, and buy plane snacks. Now, we're back at home, there's a wedding happening across the street, and a wind storm is just wrapping up.

According to GeGe, there are two seasons in Ayacucho, not rainy and dry, but rather mud and dust. The latter season is now upon us, as was clear with the billowy clouds of dust rising up throughout the valley. We just have to hope that the weather is clear enough for our plane to take off Monday morning...