CUY FOR ME: Breaking rules, breaking hearts

Three weeks into site, and I’ve already broken my one and only rule. I told myself that I would not turn down any requests from people in my town for at least a month; I planned on being open to every new experience and opportunity, no holds bar. From my newly acquired familiarity with things, however, I now advise against this plan of attack. Trust me; it can get out of hand, especially in this town, where everybody wants a piece of the gringa. I have accepted appeals to sit on just about every committee formed by just about every organization in this town, from the “Municipality Council Town-Planning through the Year 2021 Committee,” to the “San Miguel Festival Planning Committee.” Although they can be rip-your-hair-out frustrating sometimes, I rather enjoy most meetings here. Once you understand the basics:

1. The meeting will begin 1 to 2 hours after the scheduled time. No ifs, ands or buts about it.

2. No matter how late the meeting begins, people will continue to enter for another hour. In the U.S., one would try to arrive without making a scene. Here, oh no. One must “saludar,” or greet, every person in the room with a hand-shake or a kiss. The Mayor himself is the worst culprit of this cultural-annoyance.

3. Cell phones will go off; people will answer them. It is not unusual for the person giving the meeting to do so as well.

4. Snacks are an absolute must. This is my favorite rule of the bunch, naturally. I have yet to attend a meeting, no matter how official or casual, where I did not receive a pack of crackers/cookies and a cup of Inca Kola (the beverage of choice here… I would equate it to adding 12 tablespoons of sugar to Mountain Dew. Delicious!).

I’m not really sure why I’m invited to participate in all of these meetings; I really haven’t added much to the conversations. I do my fair share of smiling and nodding in agreement, but other than that, it’s hard to add much when I still know nearly nothing about the town itself. When it comes down to it, I think my presence is their present… makes the meeting seem more important, heaven knows why.

Speaking of heaven, my presence was also summonsed by God himself (okay, okay not God… but the Catholic Church), to participate in Mass this week. Again, they are all fully aware that I am not Catholic, yet I had the specific privilege of reading the Apostle Paul’s letter to Timothy 3: 14-16 in front of the devout masses of San Miguel. Palabra de Dios… I was rather nervous about it, but I ran into a Nun at the hardware store the next day, and she complimented me on my excellent performance. I’m just racking up karma points left and right! Obviously, this was something I agreed to before officially severing ties with my rule.

The proverbial final straw, however, came when I was asked to be the “Queen” in the upcoming town festival. Being Peruvian in nationality, this festival is no small fry. It is two weeks of planned activities, including parades, ceremonies, bands, bull fights, etc. etc. etc. The Queen takes on a pageant-esque role, complete with crown, scepter and lots of makeup. She will also have to compete with Queens from all of the surrounding towns to be the Queen Bee, or something like that. It was here that I was forced to decline, as genteelly as possible, for the first time. Although following my rule lead to some memorable experiences, I’m happy to retire it. I still plan on accepting most invitations, but sometimes it’s nice to be the spectator, instead of the spectacle.

Now, instead of boring you all with more verse, I'll let my photo-journalism skills (ha!) do the talking for awhile, and show you a little bit of San Miguel, lately:

The car to/from Cajamarca... last time we piled 11 people in here and three sacks of cuyes