Corpus Christi (not the one in Texas) by Lawrs

It's safe to say that June is party-month in Cusco.  There are at least three major holidays, the last of which is Cusco Day, on the 24th -- the same day our Isabel entered the world half a world away in Ann Arbor in 1998.

The June fiestas kick off with a variety of pilgrimages and processions of saints celebrating the Holy Trinity of The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit.  In Colloriti, a four hour drive to the East, hundreds of delegations dance at what was once the toe of the Colloriti glacier.  As equatorial glaciers shrink at a rapid pace, the celebration now takes place at the abandoned terminal moraine and no longer includes carrying hundred pound chunks of glacial ice to Cusco on the three day pilgrimage.    

Here in Cusco the prelude to the fiesta includes many "devils" guarding the images of their saints with bull whips.  Masked invaders ceremoniously attempt to break through the guards to get at the saint and are whipped on their feet and legs as they pass by.  The guards are not pulling their punches and the snap of the whips on the intruders' legs is so loud that we all wince and rub our own legs each time we hear it. 

The devil-guards also have a bit of Keystone Cop flair to them.  There is a lot of  slapstick and one of the stars of the show is a "woman" (actually a man in drag) with her face obscured by a black scarf.  She is the representation of a housewife who can't cook, can't clean, can't take care of the kids or her husband.  She is taunted and disparaged by the crowd but takes her revenge on the guardians with a bullwhip of her own, dropping her critics to their knees with merciless blows.  

There is music, music, music everywhere.  Brass bands are cranking all over the place, fueled by copious quantities of beer.  It's a bit of a competition really -- who can play louder, better, longer?

The most impressive musician of the afternoon was this man playing his percussion instrument with his comb.  He was in a bit of a trance and appeared to have been walking for a very, very long time.

I was tempted to try a little street barbecue (Anticuchos) as we walked home, but thought better of it.  There were barbecue and beer vendors everywhere.  

Tomorrow morning the saints will begin to enter the cathedral through these gargantuan doors. That's Sophia providing a sense of scale to the entrance. 

On the way back home this was our view from our front door.  The weather continues to dry out and the views of the mountains ringing the city are getting clearer and clearer.  It's a good time of year for a party.