chugurpampa

Chugurpampa is a small town about a 2 hour walk away from Julcán (there are no cars here, so walking or riding a donkey is how we get there). Jason, one of the other volunteers is living and working in Chugurpampa. This town is even more rural and isolated than mine. We accompanied Jason to visit his new community of Chugurpampa for the first time and we experienced one of the most incredible welcomes I think anyone could ever imagine. Let me preface this by explaining that Chugurpampa is a tiny little community with about 100 families, no electricity, and even less contact with the outside world than Julcán. Not much goes on there, people work on the farm, eat, sleep, and spend time with their families. With that said, three gringos showing up in their community is a pretty big deal.

As we approached, fireworks literally started shooting off. A marching band approached us, as well as a group of 10 men, who we found out were the town leaders. The all shook our hands and led us to the front of the band. We were then instructed to start dancing the traditional dance of the area, Huayno (although the three of us were clueless about how to do this). Then, we were led to the school, where a stage was set up with loud speakers. We sat on stage while the band continued to play. A man in a suit started praising us and explaining how wonderful it was to have us in their town. We were then instructed to start dancing on stage. Two women came up to dance with Chris and Jason and a man came to dance with me. While we awkwardly attempted to dance Huayno on stage, the entire town watched us in awe (or confusion). The band played on while the man with a microphone praised the dancing of the three awkward tall white people (“¡Eso Rebequita!” he would say). When the music finally stopped, the entire audience was given a little glass of Inca Cola and everyone made a toast to the arrival of the newcomers. Then, we were handed the microphone and each of us had to introduce ourselves (and show off our broken Spanish with our strong accents) and explain our goals. It was wonderfully uncomfortable, but at the same time, we all felt very welcome. And of course, after the toast, we were instructed to dance in front of everyone on stage again.

The celebration at the school was followed by a town soccer game, a huge meal, and, of course, more dancing. These welcome festivities literally lasted 12 hours until Jason, Chris, and I practically had to beg them to stop the music, as we were exhausted from hours of dancing. I will remember the day probably for the rest of my life, partly for the awkwardness, but mostly for how open and kind these Peruvians were towards us. I have never felt so welcome.

We’ve visited Chugurpampa several times since our initial visit, and are always greeted with a warm welcome. Jason will hopefully be very happy there.