A LOT. Here we go...
I didn't quiet understand why I went to the community of Huama on Wednesday the 13.7.2011. No one bothered to explain me. Only at the end did I understand what the fuss and organization was about. The official 50th anniversary. The whole morning was put into planning the event, where most of the residents of Huama, a few hundreds, were supposed to attend. The space where the celebration took place was the main square; a large open space outside, surrounded by houses and a few shops. As I went with Richard, the principle of the school, I saw the celebration from their point of view. A free day from school. All the children wore their best school-uniforms, cleaned and tidied themselves. The community of Huama is a lot more organized than Chumpe Poques, with the help of a church, built right next to the school. Most of the grown-ups speak both Quechua and Spanish, all the children have school-uniforms and are a lot cleaner. The community has microphones, loud-speakers, street-lights, musical instruments, chairs and many other things.
Huamian school children slowly gathering to to go together to the celebration.
A secondary class-room
A picture of some of the houses. The school is just behind and the celebration just up the road.
Colorful flags decorating the streets.
The main square. You can see Richard on the left, with his back to us. The house in the background, with all the chairs, is the center of the celebration.
School girls enjoying their freedom.
Getting ready......
Some birds are resting, getting ready to party...
Marking marching lines
Going back to the school:
more and more students are gathering, getting ready to go.
Happy day of Huama
I don't think I have ever seen so many Monopolies. Richard said the children never play; 1. The game lasts for days on end. 2. The streets are American, the money, dollars. They don't feel as if this is their game.
Carol also helps this school when there are money problems- computer room.
This little house is the kitchen. One of the secondary teachers is helping her students with their hair.
The band is getting ready to play
The whole school lining up, getting ready to go. The band is at the very front, wearing white t-shirts.
The students marching on the white lines.
Even though all of Huama was supposed to attend, less than half did...
There is a clear difference between the weaving in Huama and the weaving in Chumpe Poques. In Huama they can allow themselves to buy factory-made wool, with artificial colours- brighter. In Chumpe Poques they have red, blue, green, but not as bright as this...
Students watching the celebration from above.
For me, this was the best part of the celebration.
It was a very religious one. The priest from Lamay came and preached for hours. Everyone had to stand, the lucky ones sat, in the boiling sun. The priest preached in Spanish and from time to time switched to Quechua. His Quechua was terrible. Even I can say that. He read everything out of a book and when he and his Huamain helper sang in Quechua, each one trying to sing louder than the other on the microphone. The priest sometimes got stuck on the words, they are VERY long, so everyone, the music and helper, had to stop, wait for him to say the word and continue.
So when they FINALLY finished, this group of six men, dressed in traditional Huamian clothes did a little dace. The person in the dress- is a man. He was hilarious. He did silly dancing which was perfect for this very heavy, boring ceremony. He and the other man above him, with the gray jacket, did a little show together, the man-dressed-as-a-lady dominating it. At the end, the man in the dress picked up 'her husband' and walked out of the center.
Standing in the boiling sun, the band played surprisingly little, and any kind of organization in Huama did a proud 'victory lap', marching very seriously.
Richard said that not many people attended because the community is split into two. The other part of the community, the one without the church, celebrates their own anniversary in September.
On the road, the turning point between Poques and Huama- on opposite mountains.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario