We just got home from Carlos and Araceli's wedding. They are a young couple, without much money, so this evening was a small civil ceremony at the municipality building, followed by a reception with maybe 20 people in the building where Carlos works as an English teacher. It always facinates us the manner than Peruvians "party". People generally dress nice; men wear suits and ties, women wear pant-suits. The bride wore a long wool coat, almost touching the ground, completely covering her nice dress.. she wore it the whole time. Her hair was definitely done up all fancy though. The civil ceremony was typical and short, with the coordinator asking the bride and groom more than once if they are SURE that they want to be married. Then following it up by saying if there is anyone in the room that has any reason why they shouldn't marry, now is your chance to say something. Well, no one did.
Then we left for the reception. We loaded our van full of the bride's family, so they didn't have to take a taxi. Then we all went inside and sat down and waited.. and waited.. and waited while everything was still being set up. When it finally started, Carlos and Araceli danced the typical "waltz" and then called up every family member (and us included) to dance with them. But in general Peruvians are very quiet. They sit around the room, not talking or laughing. They just sit there. At least there were fireworks out the window. Today, Oct 24th, is day celebrating Señor de los Temblores (Lord of the Earthquakes). He is the saint of Cusco. I will explain the story in another post. Finally the food was served. The dinner was the most interesting part.
Imagine a room full of nicely dressed people eating a greasy chunk of pork. But this pork is nothing like what is served in the States. It's a young pig, called Lechon. Roasted whole, then cut into large pieces. It is mostly skin and fat. My piece still had hair attached. I picked through the fat and got only a few bites of actual meat. And then they brought us more... and more.. I was done after the first round.. but we ate everything we could. I am astonished every time I see the Peruvians eating Lechon, because they will eat it all, even the skin. Hands get all greasy as they pick everything off the bones. Napkins are not served. Drinks are not served. No salad. Just pig and a tamale. At 10pm. 
Needless to say, Isabella didn't eat anything, not even cake. We offered, but she only drank 3 glasses of juice (which was not a good thing because she has been sick for the last 3 days... it went right through her). She was a trooper and had fun playing with her friend Abram. She calls for him and says, Abram, Ven! (Come here!). It's cute and everyone says they are pololos (boyfriend and girlfriend). We finally left after the cake was served and when Isa was just too tired to stay in a good mood.
1 comment:
I laughed all the way throught this one, yuk, all that fat!! Back in the day our neighbors who had pigs rendered out the fat and used it for all kinds of things, like for making soap and lard for pie crust. But you wouldn't eat that tough, hairy skin nor the thick layer of fat beneath the skin! So many differences from one culture to another! Gotta love 'em!
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