Thanksgiving Day

I was going to write about our trip to the mega-supermarket this afternoon. It’s a 20 minute walk and they have 500 attendants, one on every aisle to sell you everything they have. Except for the cranberry sauce that we were looking for. Apparently it is very scarce in Peru. So I can’t resist the topic of traffic instead. This photo is from the pedestrian bridge we cross to the mall. And it doesn’t begin to show what it’s like. Notice how there don’t really seem to be any lanes. And imagine the cacophony that accompanies this. The background roar of engines, dozens of angry horns honking, all the bus drivers out in the street yelling, trying to get you to take their bus. “ Five soles” one shouted as he shoved five fingers in my face when I came down the stairs. Glad I was walking to my destination. Several times today on the van to Los Martincitos, if you stuck one knuckle’s worth of your finger out the window, you could touch the vehicle next to us. I won’t miss the traffic.

Since Thanksgiving is not exactly a Peruvian holiday, I wasn’t expecting any celebration. But several years ago, they started having a special lunch for the abuelos at Los Martincitos since there are so many American volunteers. They don’t quite understand the reason, but they are always happy for a celebration and another free meal.

So today half the group did home visits and my half was assigned to decorate the dining room for the event. Henrique, the CCS program director, came up with four pumpkins and some brown paper. We requested that Tony, the Los Martincitos director take us to the market to shop. This makes them nervous because the Villa El Salvador market is not really a good place for gringos. But we love it there. You can buy everything from shoes to herbs to whole slaughtered pigs in this outdoor market. We bought colored paper, metallic garlands, fruit and vegetables to decorate. It was especially challenging since none of our escorts spoke English and none of us speak Spanish.

The abuelos arrived in a festive spirit and seemed to appreciate the decorations. And of course, they loved the gigantic turkey meal cooked by a combination of the Los Martincitos and CCS cooks. They had enough on their plates to take home and feed them for several days. Many hugs and kisses sent us on our way at the end of the celebration.