Christmas Day

 Hello all!

It's been too long since my last blog! After the Encuentro de Turismo Rural event and the trip to Lima on Thanksgiving, I definitely took a rest ad spent some time in Arequipa translating my second panel text from English to Spanish, and then sending it off to the Quechua translator.  I also took advantage of my contact with the Quechua professor and took an introductory class, just to get some basics down. Allin p'uchay! (Good morning!) is a real triumph for me!


I als had one of the best weeks spent in Tuti ever!
First, by pure coincidence, the day I arrived was a Saturday, and the husband of the senora in whose hostal  I stay was in town.  While talking, he asked what places I had visited in the outskirts (ruins in particular) and I lamented that I hadn't been able to find a guide who would have time in Tuti to take me. Luckily he offered to take me up to a site called Naupallakta the very next morning! So, at 5 am, this out-of-shape American began following her 60 year old guide up the mountans across the highway from Tuti and up into the sierra. I tell you, I have not been more embarrassed by my lack of trekking skills ever. This gentleman was climbing like a 15 year old, rarely stopping, while I was panting along behind! (Does it count that I hadn't adjusted to the 3,780 masl altitude yet? or is that just my ecxuse?)

Round Collagua house in Naupallakta (front). Compare to the
 rectangular house see in the background.

Regardless of the hard climb, it was well worth it. After about two hours of hiking through misty mountain slopes and vacant fields, we reached Naupallakta, the earlier site of Tuti. Before the Spanish came in the 16th century, the inhabitants of this region (the Collaguas), lived in different settlements spread out in the eastern half of the valley. When Viceroy Francisco Toledo, i n the 1570s, decided that he didn't want the indigenous population to live so dispersed, he decided to set up reducciones, basically settlements where Collaguas from different sites were resettled. Naupallakta was one of those sites. It was later abandoned and the Tutenos moved down closer to the Colca River in the 18th century. (I've heard different accounts of why: one oral legend claims problems with local fauna, especially rabbits, eating the thatched roofs, motivated the move. I also read there was an earthquake and subsequently the local priests decided to find a new location for the town. I'm still unsure what the true reason is...)
Regardless of the reason, there is still a wide spread of buildings in Naupallakta  in various degrees of preservation. What is interesting is that their are examples of Collagua and Spanish architecture at the site. The major difference between the two is that Collagua houses were traditionally rounded and had narrow doors with no or few windows while the Spanish in ths region built rectangular houses with inclined roofs (just as the Inka had), and included notches in the upper part of the interior walls which functioned as altars for saints. (See the pictures below).

View from inside the Catholic church in
Naupallta. Notice the arched entrance an
the niches in the walls on either side.

A carved stone column, found inside the ruins
of the church. It was only carved on one side,
not i the round, and is in the Doric tyle.

Sign announcing one's arrival at Naupallakta.
Note the altitude: 4,080 meters ablove sea level.
Sign reads: Naupallakta. "Kollawa [Collagua]
town and the acient site of Espinar de Tuti
[original name of Tuti]."

A stone-lined road in Naupallakta.

A view of the misty morning.  The edge of Naupallakta and the surrounding moutains are visible. Breath-taking.

One of the rectangular, Spanish-influenced houses.

A human bone (parietal? but don't quote me) found along the
trail leading back from Naupallakta. My guide told me there
had been a previous excavation at that site and these were
the human remains they decided not to take with them.

We arrived back in Tuti about 9am, after 4 hours of trekking and sight-seeing.  I took a nap, but by 1pm the festvities were in motion in the Plaza!  Tuti celebrates the Virgen de la Concepcion between December 12-14.  The celebration begins when the priest, who arrives from Chivay (he usually come once a week, on Saturday nights, for mass) to lead the procession of statue of the Virgen of the Conception through the erected altareros (the raised poles and their decorations).  The altareros have red velvet or cloth bands hung between them on which hang silver or aluminum serving dishes (giving them a more brilliant appearance) and various stuffed animals and baby dolls. A little kitsch, but very neat.

There are two altareros erected in opposing corners of the plaza, one to the left of the church erected by the urinsaya and the one to the right and farther from the church erected by the anansaya. The urinsaya (lower half) and anansaya (upper half) were the two parcialidades, or sections/halves, of traditional Andean society.  If I'm not mistaken, their are a certain number of townsmen (regidores) elected from each of the parcialidades.

The priest leads the Virgen statue, held up by several men and decorated with fruits, one time around the Plaza Principal before entering the church again. 

An altarero in Chivay,which celebrated its
winter festival days before the festival in Tuti.

The altarero in Tuti, erected by the urinsaya. The
priest leads the Virgen statue and the assembly around
the plaza in front of the church.

Close-up of the Virgen statue.  You can see men
holding up the wooden suppor from underneath.
You can just see the tower of the church to the
left of the Virgen.

Wedding of Rudolfo Churo's niece, held just after
the procession of the Virgen of the Conception.

Just after the procession, a wedding was held in the church. (Surely taking advantage of the priest's presence to perform the ceremony, as well as the three days of festivities.  It seems that weddings are celebrated for three days, just as the festival of the Virgen is).

In the night, there was live music in the plaza in front of the church and a bonfire made by burning bushes.

One of many musicians playing the first night
of the festival.

The second day, beginning in early afternoon,women of all ages dressed up in their expensive, highly embroidered pollera skirts.  The formed pairs and danced in lines that wove under the erected altareros.  Unfortunately I haven't yet digitalized the audio, but there was live music and the dancers marched forward and, when the baritones dropped out and the trumpets took over, the dancers would begin to swing: half circle, half circle, full circle, and march again.

The wedding couple stayed in the middle of the dancing area, drinking and accepting cash, which they would tuck in the brims of their hats.  For the past two decades Tuti has been a dry town, but the dry law was raised for the three days of wedding and town celebrations. You can see some men and women carry beer bottles in hand as they dance. 

The wititi dance is also known as the "Dance of Love." I forget the exact story, but I'm sure that prohibited love between two opposing families is involved.  The men's traditional wititi outfit mimicks the women's; the men wear polleras,  and long sleeved shirts, but their shirts are not embroidered.  Also, instead of wearing embroidered vests like the women do, they take two large cloths, called llikllas, fold them up, and criss-cross them across their chest.  The men also have their own wititi-specific hat, from whose brim hang several strings which almost obstruct their vision.  Many men dancing carried the hat in their hands or under their arm.

Dancers performing the wititi below the altarero. Notice
all the women wear their traditional polleras.

Two girls dancing the wititi. Many wore pants
underneath their polleras, since it was cloudy and cold. (Although this is Peruvian summer,
it is also the rainy season and is colder and wetter
in the higher altitudes).

A couple performing the wititi.  Notice that to dance wititi, men wear the pollera skirts, a white long-sleeved shirt, and criss-cross bands of colored cloth.  They may also wear a hat, not seen here.




Even children particpate in the wititi dance, with more or less
instruction.





Man and woman dancing wititi, from the anasaya side.

Another couple dancing wititi. Notice that the gentlema in front,
as well as a young woman in the back left, dance with beer bottles
in hand.



Couples dance wititi in a circle.  Women often dress traditionally,
men less so.  Notice the teenage boy dancing the traditional dance
wearing modern clothing.



As I hope you can see, the week was full of new sights, sounds and activities: an ethnographer's dream.  Although there were several vendors visiting from Chivay, selling hot food and churros in the street, there were few foreign visitors.   I saw one couple who were obviously out-of-towners.  The woman, wearing cargo pants and a fleece vest, was generously invited to dance along with the traditionally-dressed Tutenas.

As an added bonus, my next-to-last day in Tuti, I was able to corner the mayor and get him to sign the paperwork I will need to register the archaeological pieces with Peru's National Institute of Culture.  Unfortunately, that is about the last I will be able to do for the project until mid-January.  Until the new mayor comes in, we (me and Senora Narcisa, who is in charge of tourim) can't go forward with new plans on promoting touism and the museum.  Also, because of the holidays, the archaeologist in the Colca Valley who will help identify the pieces won't be available for another month.  So I...  hurry up and wait.




My husband, working hard crushing up peanuts.  So sweet.

 In the meantime, I have taken advantage of being in Arequipa to begin interviewing some local tourism agencies.  These are just short interviews to get a sense of what the difference is between tours on the popular route (leading westward to the Condor Outlook) and the eastward route leading up through Tuti.  I've also talked to a friend who is graduating with a bachelor's in tourism, and I will (fingers-crossed) be meeting her in the next week or so to get an idea of what future tourism professionals are being taught regarding which areas are interesting to tourists and how the Colca Valley fits into that scheme.  Also, I have been visiting Arequipa museums, talking with the director (usually an archaeologist) when available or reading literature, to get  sense of how urban museums are set up and what collections are used.  I hope to compare this to my experience in Tuti, and (once  I speak with the archaeologist in Yanque) the experiene of the Yanque Museum.

Caramel apples, covered with caramel-like
manjar and nuts. To die for!

That's a Merry Christmas! grin! Yummy!



Phew, well I hope this blog has made up for in info and images the long month I took to write it! Above, I'll leave you with some scenes from our Christmas (well, a few days before).  My first gift, received, was caramel apples.  My husband bought manjar, basically caramelized/boiled creme, which is pretty close to our caramel.  We warmed it up on our little one-burner electric stove, dipped a few apples in, and covered the apples in crushed peanuts. IT WAS DELICIOUS! I'm still working on eating all of them! :)



My first present to him was BBQ ribs, but we ate those as soon as they were made. No photos exist! 

Merry Christmas, everyone, and a Happy New Year!