Happy New Year!

My sixth week in site started off exciting and unpredictable as usual. Saturday night as I sat on the couch watching my new bootleg copy of Sleeping Beauty the neighbor came over to inform us that she had just seen two men dressed all in black jump over the wall from her backyard into ours. Luckily my host dad had just gotten home and locked the back door because I had previously been home alone. Before I knew it the whole neighborhood had gathered outside our house including my extended host family who had been partying down the street. My host sister's husband entered shortly with his shotgun loaded and headed for the backyard. Luckily the intruders had left because the last thing I wanted was a shootout in my yard. After he came back in, all the little girls who had shown up to witness the action came in and demanded that I start the movie back up. Nothing calms the nerves like a good Disney princess movie. About twenty minutes later the whole crowd who had gathered outside my house took off yelling after the thieves who they had seen exit the neighbor's house empty handed. They didn't catch up to them but this is probably a good thing because violent vigilante justice is totally accepted here and I wasn't really in the mood to see anyone knifed. That would have ruined my holiday season.
The next night I got to attend my first Peruvian hair cutting ceremony. This is a tradition where everyone participates in giving a young child their first haircut.. Each guest presents the child with a small amount of money and is then allowed to cut a chunk of hair. This ceremony, in true Peruvian form, involves heavy drinking and multiple meals. The parties here are never simply dinner parties, they all last long enough to necessitate more than one meal being served. After eating a large amount of rice and duck (straight from the pen in the backyard-local and sustainable just the way I like it), we started passing the glass around and shortly thereafter the dancing begun. Everyone was very eager to see me dance so I humored them with a cross of my "raising the roof" move and my attempt at cumbia. As you can see, I take my community integration and cultural exchange very seriously.
I spent Monday at Starbucks taking a day to catch up on emails and skyping and, most importantly, download a couple of episodes of Gossip Girl since I recently finished season 3 of the West Wing that I had brought with me on DVD. Sometimes a long day of wireless internet and overpriced beverages is the best way to decompress after intense sessions of cultural exchange and home intrusions.
This week came to an end as we rang in 2010 in true Peruvian fashion. In fact, I shouldn't even be writing in the past tense because as I sit here typing, I hear the parties still going all around me and it is 2:30 pm New Years Day. The tradition here is to make a doll out of old clothes stuffed with straw and firecrackers and then burn it at midnight. It is supposed to represent burning away the negative of the old year and starting over. Our doll just happened to be wearing the Mets hat which my host cousins had received as a gift. I explained to them that we were burning away the failure of last season and giving the Mets a chance to start over in 2010 as well. After burning the doll, we ate dinner and started the party complete with dancing, the passing of the beer glass, and Peruvian moonshine. I was determined to stay until the sun came up because I failed to do so on Christmas. I got home a little after 6 AM feeling proud that I had survived Peruvian New Years. All this is not to say I came away completely unscathed. I busted my lip and bled a good amount after my host sister tried to teach me to open a beer bottle with my teeth. She made it look so easy and she is about a foot shorter than me and is usually quite reserved. I should know by now that people here are a lot tougher than me even if they don't appear that way. I'm just lucky I didn't mess up my expensive orthodontia. My parents would not have been pleased.
This morning I woke up after only 2 hours of sleep to my host sister and her husband starting a party upstairs. I decided to stay occupied by making guacamole and mango juice (it is avocado and mango season and we can't eat either fast enough). After completing my tasks, I went to the store to buy crackers so I could take the guacamole up to the party and I was accosted by lots of drunk people in the streets. I should know by now that going out alone on holidays, even if it is 9 AM is asking for trouble. After running the gauntlet of creepy old guys that had been drinking since 8 pm the day before, I finally got the guacamole and crackers to my very appreciative family and friends. At this point there was no choice but to join in the fun so I continued to ring in 2010 by dancing and passing the glass with my family. I only lasted for about half an hour but my appearance was greatly appreciated and did a lot for my host family integration. I am planning on spending the rest of the day in my room because I really don't think I can dance any more and I surely don't want anymore beer.