Laura's Experience: Carnaval Huanchaquero or how I learned to apply body glitter

I’ve never been one for the spotlight. I’m a terrible dancer and a panicky public speaker/performer. So, why did I agree to parade around in front of hundreds of people? Maybe it was the resurfacing of my distant go-go dancer dreams; maybe it was my weakness for paper mache and glitter. Perhaps, the enchanting gravity of the Huanchaco waves fashioned a tide in my heart. I still find myself trying to figure out what possessed me to take a flying leap out of my comfort zone and into a set of bedazzled lingerie. I imagine this will remain a great mystery to me, similar to the construction of Machu Picchu.
Carnival, like almost every modern celebration, is rooted deep in the tenants of religion. The tradition of Carnival came to South America from Europe; it was originally a forty day stint of fasting and prayer before Lent. Somewhere in the transmission of Carnival from Europe to Peru the tradition became infused with utter revelry. In Huanchaco, entire month of February and even a week into March, Huanchaqueros celebrate with coronations of queens, street parties, paint parties (everyone throwing paint on each other and climbing oil slicked poles for prizes) and parades. Although each of these events is significant in their own right, the Carnival parade (for adults) is the event of which all other events orbit. Inspired by carnival fever, volunteers and the staff (operations manager Najin and assistant manager Diego) of Otra Cosa Network decided to take part in carnival parade to fully immerse ourselves in local tradition (party!) and to celebrate our once in a lifetime madness!
Our Carnival Fever was finally materialized during a routine volunteer lunch after the coronation party in early February. We were all eating a delicious meal and discussing our projects, airing the triumphs and failures of our volunteerism for the week. During a lull in the conversation, Najin’s eyes lit up with the hope that only infancy stages of Carnival planning can bring and said “who wants to volunteer to be the Carnival leaders”? Luckily, Brianna, the young, vibrant firecracker of the group, bravely offered herself as our commander-in-chief, but who will be her lovely assistant? Why, me, of course! I happened to be the only one in the room who made explicit eye contact with Najin and Diego thus earning me my co-captain label. Many days of idea brain-storming followed our volunteer lunch. (I’m still slightly regretful we didn’t go with our “alpacas from space” theme.) Eventually, after the assessment of talent (i.e. Bob and Jimmy the hard working builders turned best friends) and viability of materials, our giant snake idea was born. Consequently, from the birth of our snake, came the classic theme of man vs. nature set in the Peruvian jungle, and from our sweet, fiery, stage-mom, Diego, did the rest of the theatrical pieces fall into place.
Over the course of building our snake, putting together our costumes and rehearsing our dance moves, we developed a cohesive plot to our brigade. The plot: there is a gigantic snake made of chicken wire; its head is made of paper mache, girlish, swirly designs painted around the eyes, with sequins and a tongue made of red lace. She is called Yacumama. Yacumama is terrorizing the village, invading homes at night and snatching children from their own beds, feeding on fishermen who came to work on the river. Two handsome warriors, from another village (Joachim and Mariano), come to kill the serpent without afore knowledge of it being the village deity. Four warrior princes and princesses, (Brianna, Jimmy, Diego and I) equipped with body oil and fabulous make-up, an Asian monkey (Najin) and the cutest sunflower in the world (Jorien), try to defend Yacumama, their snake goddess, and are ultimately killed by the two scantily clad warriors. In the end the snake seeks revenge striking the warriors dead with venomous silly string.
I must take another moment to mention the others who were involved and their roles. We had the beautiful, immensely popular carnival queens, Jess and Heather, bringing theatrics and regal waving. We had the snake boys: Matt, Jan, Brooks, Bob and Rafael providing crowd and inner group entertainment. The Otra Cosa Network street team: Anna Maria, Natasha and Levi. Last but certainly not least, hair/make-up/duct tape woman, Catherine and her amazing cameraman/cheerleader husband, Eric.
I’ve done many things in my life that loomed on the verge of impossible. I survived high school, graduated college, got married, ate nothing but Taco Bell for an entire week; organizing 20 adults to pull off a proper, “Peruvian-standard” Carnival group in two weeks definitely had its moments of doubts followed by the moment of complete clarity when we actually pulled it off (and even placed in the top 3)! And in the process, as with any rich and unique life experience, I learned something. I learned a whole lot of something actually, about myself, my fellow volunteers and Peruvian culture. Peruvian culture is a gracious culture that afforded me the opportunity to simultaneously face a life-long fear, bond with my new, multi-cultural Otra Cosa Network friends and have one of the most memorable experiences of my life.

By Laura A. Hammet from USA (OCN Office from Jan. - March, 2011)