Santa Rosa de Quives

Week of Santa Rose de Quives. Last Wednesday was a national holiday in honor of Santa Rosa de Quives, patron saint of Lima. I will describe our celebration, but first this fellow standing in front of his truck filled with trash. Last Friday on my "Friday fun day of field work" regarding the water project, Carmen took me to a town in the district of Santa Rosa. When we crossed the bridge, this blue truck pulled up, a couple dudes hopped out, and started collecting trash from a public trash barrel. Walking down to the edge of the Rio Chillon, we could see the difference of having a trash collecting system. My past research has been in the district of Carabayllo, which does not have trash collection. In Carabayllo the river and the subsidiaries are all filled with trash. So what will it take for Carabayllo to get a trash collection system that does not require burning it or throwing it in the river? Probably months or years of bureaucratic nonsensical reports that might lead to a trash collecting system. Maybe I am being too pessimistic. It was really interesting though to see a town with a clean river edge and clean paved irrigation canals running through the chakra (Quechua for field). Just down the river is the town of Chocas, where the irrigation canals are filled with trash and the river is considered very contaminated. Chocas is the town where we spent our Dia de Santa Rosa.

There are a couple different ways to celebrate Santa Rosa, as I have collected. For some people I talked to in the office the day after, they took it as a relaxing day off in the middle of the week. Cooked (they work all day with long commutes leaving little time for cooking I imagine), spent time with their family, and relaxed. Another coworker told me she went with her mother to the big church in central Lima for a procession and mass. We joined the masses of people from the outskirts of the city and some from the city on the long trip to the small town of Santa Rosa de Quives. We took a few buses over hills (I were told they were hills, we couldn't see anything) on windy roads that have recently been paved. The town was set up for an all night party. Carnaval rides, stands of food, a huge dancing area, live band, and restaurants. Everywhere we looked there were tents squeezed in between trees. The chapel of Santa Rosa and the big party supposedly started the next day. Everyone wanted to be there for it. People write their wishes (and are encouraged to be specific) on letters addressed to the Saint who is told to make any miracle come true. We stayed til the sun was just starting to come up, then took a bus back to our coworker's house in Chocas. We slept for a couple hours, then she started to cook us a lunch of baby goat. Fortunately I got out of eating it, but poor Carlos and Collin (my fellow volunteers) both got sick the next day. It was lovely to spend the morning walking around the corn fields around her house. The sun rarely shows through the clouds in the city.

Thanks again to everyone who helped me get here. I greatly appreciate all the emotional support and contributions. The work here can sometimes get really frustrating, but when I take a step back I realize I am doing what I have always wanted to do.