How the Peruvians party -

Last Friday we were invited to a surprise 50th birthday party for our bishop, Luis Salazar.  We were told we would be picked up at 8:00 but Roberto and his wife Pilar didn't get to the hotel until 8:30.  The party was held in a rented room about the size of half a small church cultural hall.  We arrived just minutes before the Bishop did and he was totally surprised.  He even got a little teary.

Waiting for the guest of honor to arrive. Note the piñata hanging from the ceiling.

The sign and the cakes waiting for the party to start.

The Bishop with his sombrero and the loud MC with the band.

The first thing they did was give him a huge, Mexican sombrero and then he walked all the way around the hall and shook hands with everyone present while the band played, loudly, "Las Mañanitas", a traditional birthday serenade in Latin America.  Then the leader of the band (which consisted of a keyboard, electronic drums, and electric guitar all hooked up to huge speakers) started announcing the "program".  Actually he yelled into the microphone the entire evening! He had additional speakers for the singers and announcing. The bishop spoke for a few minutes and then introduced his wife and four children who had planned the party.  Each of them said a few words.  Some sisters passed around some juice in very small cups and everyone participated in a toast to the family.

The Bishop and his wife and four children.

Then the band played a waltz and the bishop started dancing with his wife.  After a few minutes all the sisters started taking turns dancing with him and giving him hugs.  Then everyone started dancing--this lasted for maybe 30 minutes.  Those who were not dancing were seated all around the walls of the room.

The first dance went to the Bishop and his wife.

They served dinner about 10:00.  The sisters brought out plates of roast pork, some corn that looked like huge hominy--very plain, no gravy or sauce and some onion salad (finely sliced onions with a vinegar dressing).  I couldn't even begin to eat all the corn but the pork was good.  After everyone had finished eating they brought around plastic cups and we each got a cup of chicha morada, which is a deep red drink made by boiling purple corn and adding sugar to sweeten it.  It is very tasty and is served in all the restaurants (and safe to drink because they have to boil the water for so long.)

The MC hamming it up. As soon as he realized I was taking his picture he posed for us.

By now it is about 11:00 and the band and singers start up again.  It is so loud no one can visit--just like in Guatemala, Mexico and the youth dances.  We cannot figure out why the music has to be soooo loud.  Lots of people danced with the bishop and his wife.  We just sat and watched all the festivities.  We were asked if we could dance (since the young elders and sisters cannot) and we said yes, but that we preferred to watch.

Every party needs a clown!

About 12:00 the guy who had been videoing all of the activities came out dressed as a clown and took over and had some games with long, thin balloons and more dancing with balloons and everyone blowing on whistles.  There was a dance called Hora Loca (the crazy hour) and it did get a little crazy.  Then the bishop broke a piñata and everyone scrambled to get the candy and plastic toys.  We were told later that this part was supposed to be for the kids but there were only about four kids left by this time and the adults loved it.

Let the dancing begin! This is called the "hora loca", the crazy hour.

After the piñata, they finally cut the cakes and served them--not nearly as sweet as our typical cakes but tasty. This was followed by another half hour of dancing--mostly some "típica" music and dance steps.  We finally left the party about 1:00 and we don't know if they continued but our escorts could see that we were past ready to leave.

The Bejaranos, Roberto and Pilar, dancing up a storm. We video taped them but it is too large to add to the blog. They had all the moves.

Finally, the birthday cake(s)!

Miraculously, we were able to find a taxi not far from the party place and got home about 1:30.  It was really very interesting and entertaining but LONG.

We were told that this is more or less the format of parties here in Peru--depending on the event being celebrated and the ages.  They asked us if we celebrated parties the same way and we said no, not generally so elaborate :)