Kristin

Easter was spent by this girl in Trujillo, a beautiful city along the coast of Peru. A friend invited me to spend some days with her family, so I got to know some Peruvians from the coast and see how they live. I have to say the coast and the highlands seem like two worlds apart, on the coast they are more up to date, have more knowledge and they are also more wealthy. Well, Patricia showed me the Huacas de la Luna- which is a monument/building of barren (leire) which was built by the Moches, a culture that existed before the Incas. Very impressive- they made a lot of nice ceramics, I will try and bring one object to Norway. We took advantage of the sun and went to Huanchaco afterwards, which is the tourist beach of Trujillo, where there are a lot of “gringos” and they sell a lot of tempting art- bracelets, necklaces and earrings made of sea shells, beads and other things from the nature. And I got to try the “caballitos totoras”, which are fishing boats made from straw! What a pity I cant put out more pictures… The other day she took me to another city- Chiclayo- where we visited the royal tombs of Señor Sipan, who was the leader of another culture called the Chimus. So now I have gotten to know various of the Peruvian ancestors :)

As Peru is very catholic, there was arranged various masses during Easter. Patricia and I went to an unforgettable one at Easter Eve, 9 o’clock in the evening. The people met outside the church, and we turned off all the lights around us, meditating over the fact that Jesus was dead. The ambient was pretty pessimistic. But all of a sudden the bishop lit his big candle, and started to light the candles of the persons around him. After a while all the congregation had their candles lit, and we went into the church together, singing. Jesus had finally risen, and brought life to the people living in shadow. It was a lovely mass, and the church was filled to the very final seat.

I am left with 10 more days in Chota, and it’s a strange feeling. A part of me cant wait to go back to Norway, but at the same time I feel like a part of me is Peruvian by now. For instance, its awkward to think about Peru soon getting a new leader (after the re-elections in the beginning of June), and I wont be a part of it. My heart hopes that their future will be a bright and better one, because they deserve it so much, all the Peruvians I have gotten to know. May 2nd I will take off from Lima, letting go of this country that has become a “partesito” of me. ¡Què extraño serà!