Playing with Foam
By Brayan Coraza Morveli (translated by David Knowlton)
The joy of Carnival is not only felt on its main days, right before Lent, but goes from when it begins until today, the cacharpari or last day of Carnival, also called the octave of Carnival. With today, carnival ends and the feast comes to a conclusion. Read the rest of this entry
A Mountain of Food, Cuzco’s Thimpu or Puchero
Courtesy of Doña Mercedes Morveli Transcribed by Walter Coraza Morveli and translated by David Knowlton)
During Cuzco’s Carnival it often rains and people have fun spraying foam and tossing buckets of water at each other. They also dance around a tree laden with gifts while chopping it down. This is a time rich with symbolism called in Quechua puqllay, or play. The tensions and oppositions of the world and society come into play and are resolved during this time while potatoes and tubers grow beneath the earth. People also eat this traditional boiled dinner shaped like a mountain, covered in green. Inside it one finds the potatoes and tubers, as well as meat, people hope to have once harvest comes. It is a wonderful metaphor for this rich time of play and abundance. Read the rest of this entry
Watch Out. I’ve Got Foam.
By Brayan Coraza Morveli (translated by David Knowlton)
Carnival is a celebration in which every Cuzqueño and every visitor to the city can have fun dancing, singing, playing, and looking at the allegories put up for Carnival.
The most spectacular attractions of the celebration take place where yunzas, trees have been set up filled with gifts tied to their branches. You can watch people dance around the tree striking at it with an axe. If you pay attention to the pacing of the blows you can join others in running to grab a gift, or maybe just a cold. Read the rest of this entry
A Doll in Representation of a Comadre
By Hebert Edgardo Huamani Jara (translated by David Knowlton)
Four days before the main day of Carnival, the comadres celebrate their day. In Cuzco’s traditional neighborhoods this is a great fiesta in honor of comadres.
The idea of comadres is not one easily translated into English. Yet in much of the Spanish-speaking world, and in Cuzco in particular, the idea is strong. A comadre is a woman with whom one shares a child through god-parenthood. One comadre is the biological parent and the other is the spiritual parent. This relationship of compadrazgo is one of the most important ties people have in contemporary Cuzco. Read the rest of this entry
A Traditional Woman Enjoying a Frutilladas
By Brayan Coraza Morveli (translated by David Knowlton)
February is an exciting month in Cuzco. The city dresses in color and happiness for lots of reasons. This is when we celebrate the days of compadres and comadres, as well as the enjoyable festival of Carnival. Read the rest of this entry
The Mask of a Compadre in San Pedro Market
By Hebert Edgardo Huamani Jara (translated by David Knowlton)
Cuzco celebrates today. Parties will last until late, perhaps dawn, just like every other year on this day, In all the markets, neighborhoods, and streets of our city, bright colors will appear as people make large figurines and celebrate their compadres.
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Respect the Crosswalk
By Hebert Huamani Jara (translation by David Knowlton)
Among the crowds that daily throng in Cuzco’s Avenida Sol, its main artery entering the colonial core, masked figures move, ropes in hand, to snap them on people who do not respect the crosswalks and signal lights. Called maqtillos, these masked men and women form part of an effort by Cuzco’s government to borrow from local custom to discipline its population and teach it about proper street crossing. Read the rest of this entry
Carnival: Dancing Around the Yunza
By Hebert Edgardo Huamani Jara (translated by David Knowlton)
Carnival is a feast filled with color and tradition. People perform typical dances of the region around the yunza tree, with traditional costumes from their various locales that are filled with symbols and colors. There joy and love come together through the dialogue of colored, rolled up streamers opened around the necks and shoulders of dancers like a sharing of happiness. Read the rest of this entry
Doll Representing a Comadre as a Social Type
Text by David Knowlton, Photos by Hebert Edgardo Huamaní Jara and Walter Coraza Morveli
In the lead up to Carnival, Cuzco celebrated yesterday a fascinating event called the Day of the Comadres. This day is dedicated to one of the really important social relationships in the city, that between parents of children and the people who agree to sponsor them as their godparents. In Cuzco these people are called comadres and compadres. But the day is also a time to celebrate stylized images–life sized and larger rag dolls of picturesque figures of Cuzco. Read the rest of this entry
Thimpu/Puchero in Carnival, Cuzco
Abundance and moisture define carnival in the Peruvian highlands. At this time when lightning zigzags with abandon across the jagged landscape accompanying squalls of intense rain, and people with brightly colored serpentine streamers dance in circles and snaking lines, food celebrates water and completeness.
Thimpu, (pronounced team-pooh), also called puchero (pronounced pooh-cháy-row), defines the season. With its combination of meats, starchy vegetables, green vegetables, and fruits all cooked in water, it is the Peruvian dish that brings past and present together in this wet time when the fields are entering full production. Read the rest of this entry
