On the catwalk...

It is supposed to be the end of rainy season. It is 8a.m. in the morning and it has been raining for about fourteen hours now. I can only imagine how the roads are. I have volunteered (haha) to help out an artisan association set up their exposition in the plaza in “downtown” San Marcos. However, like I said, it’s raining. Hmm…

Ok, I decided to go and this entails a muddy stroll down to the IDESI office. I get there and the office doors are closed (knock, knock, knock) the door to Roxana’s kitchen is closed (knock, knock, knock) and the door to Roxana’s room is closed (knock, knock, knock). Great, it’s raining, I’m wet. Someone could of at least left me a note.

I go to the Rinconada. It’s a hotel in town that Roxana seems to eat at a lot. I’m not sure why. So, I trek over there, in the rain. I find Juan, a professor from IDESI. This is good! I decided not to leave his side. He’s eating breakfast and says, “Roxana is in the office or her room.” Thank you, Sir. No she is not. I’m not leaving here without you by the way, because I’m afraid of losing the one IDESI contact that I have right now. So, I ask to chill with him while he eats breakfast. I don’t order anything (just ate breakfast) but he looks at me weird and says, “Not even a café o té?” Ok, fine. I ask for a coffee from the waitress. After a while she brings me an entire breakfast, which I have to send back because first, I’m not hungry, and second, as it turns out, I have no money on me. Great, I get to have an awkward conversation to ask Juan to pay for my little cafecito. Sigh.

Juan and stroll down to the office. There are a lot of people in the now open office. I’m not sure how 20 people could have arrived in this tiny little space of time or how they all found Roxana when I didn’t.

It’s now 9:30am. Still raining. Hmm…

At around 10:30am, the rain stopped! Who knew? They decided to have the exposition and start taking out tables and benches and setting up their goods. I help a little. Well, I am a woman, so apparently this prohibits me from taking a table two blocks down the street to the plaza.

The izamiento starts around 11:00am. I would tell you what that means but I’m not really sure. I do know that it involves the entire municipality, the raising of the flag, playing of the national anthem, and a lot of thanking. After the izamiento, there is a, um, fashion show. No joke. Artisan association put on a fashion show to show off their wares. So, I and about nine other men, women, and children got to do a little “vueltita” in the San Marcos plaza. Oh goodness…

Then we went to the office for the classic Peruvian snack of soda (Inca Kola!) and “cookies” of some sort (sometimes this means “soda cookies” – soda crackers, in this case, it was wafers, good choice…). Four men and one woman individually come up to me and ask to have their picture taken with me. Oh, to be the gringa.