Semana Santa

Thursday April 9, 2009 9:30ish
Comfort Hotel, Guancayo, Perú

Another spur of the moment trip! Lucia from ISA invited us to go with her to the sierra, or mountains, for Semana Santa (Holy Week) since Pascua (Easter) is this Sunday. Six Multisas, two semester students, and Lucia’s friend all agreed to go and next thing you know we are boarding the 7 am train from Lima to Guancayo. The railroad was in the late 1800’s, mostly by Chinese immigrants, and was (up until recently) the highest passenger rail car (still the second highest/highest in the Americas though; its highest station is over 14,000 ft above sea level). The ride was a substantial 13 hours, although it probably could have been a lot shorter if the train didn’t feel like it was moving at walking pace. It trundled up and down mountains, back and forth switchbacks, and wobbled from left to right along the track. All in all, there was a lot of movement and not a lot of speed. To pass the time, I mostly slept in awkward positions sprawled across the table four of us shared or up against the straight-backed seats. I have to say, they did do a good job with giving us stuff to do, they came around with cards and games for us and at one point we played bingo. The breakfast and lunch they served was pretty tasty too. At one stop we got out to stretch our legs and it was snowing slightly! I couldn’t believe it. The passage is famous for being really beautiful as it winds through mountain valleys, and it lived up to the reputation. Nevertheless, we were more than ready to get off the train when it arrived in Guancayo.

We got situated in our hotel and headed out to the main plaza, which was bustling with Semana Santa activities. Many people were lined up to get inside the church while others peddled either their intricate creations with palms or guagua (sounds like wawa) bread. We bought a little to try and it tasted like cinnamon sweet bread with some sprinkled jelly candies. After that, we wandered around trying more street foods, including a dish that came with carne dorado (meat with a special seasoning), boiled potatoes, and choclo (corn on the cob, but in Peru the kernels are really meaty and remind me more of potato). We also tried this delicious warm drink that reminded me of arroz con leche (dessert made with rice, kind of like a sweet pudding) and a scrumptious turkey sandwich with onion and lemon juice and spices. We then went to a restaurant with traditional dance performances and tried more anticuchos (cow heart) and cow stomach. We spent a little bit at a discoteca with some of the train workers (Lucia’s friends, she used to work on it) but turned in earlish for the next day.

La Merced (forest), here we come! Coli