When the month of July arrives in Peru, the celebrations begin. It starts slow, with more and more Peruvian flags flying (it is obligatory for every building to fly the flag during July, and this rule is observed more consistently as the month goes on), and ends big, with massive parades and fireworks.
The military parade is still to come, and we may or may not actually see it. We've heard it's not all that great. But last week the largest parade related to Fiestas Patrias happened. And it happened right outside our door, with the parade beginning on the same intersection as our apartment building. We went out our front door and experienced the festivities. There were nearly 40 floats, most of them advertising some product, but all cool in some way or other. There were also a ton of high school bands competing against each other for the best of parade. Dozens of dance troupes performed traditional dances from all around Peru. Miss Peru was in attendance, as were a handful of other celebrities, including an apparently famous four-wheeler driver who did loops all over the street, apparently nearly capsizing many times. There were representatives from several civic groups, the fire brigade, the police, and on and on. It was easily the biggest parade I have every witnessed in person. It went on for more than four hours, and we had serious parade fatigue by the time it ended. I'm including a lot of pictures from the parade below.
But that was just the beginning. Today pisco (that's about 80 proof if you're interested) is flowing freely in the main plaza fountain. People bring their own containers and fill up. We will not be attending that, as I can imagine what that turns into as time goes along. The military parade is still to come. The president's state of the nation speech. A fireworks display on Tuesday night. A massive free concert. Free museum days. And best of all, our neighborhood is practically deserted because all people in Lima try to escape the city for travel this week. Which means things are much more quiet than normal, which is a very nice way to spend our last week.
We are looking forward to returning home. But there are certainly things we will miss in Lima. The beautiful views of the ocean. The great restaurants. The LL's school. And one of our favorite things this past week was related to her school. They had a morning long Fiestas Patrias celebration. Each of the classes in the school was in charge of one of the main regions of Peru. The kids all brought food from the region. Some of them dressed in traditional clothing from the region. (You'll see a picture of the LL in sierra dress below.) They decorated their rooms with pictures and other art related to their region. It was great fun, and a way to connect to Peruvian culture that would never happen without having a child in school. So that was a lot of fun. Now for the pictures:
Great pictures...the best is of the LL!!!!
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