Imagine this but without the colors. Just lound noise.
Most people enjoy fireworks. Not only are they a great example of light traveling faster than sound but they also symbolize fiestas. However, the fuegos artificiales in Cusco are a little different. Rather than being used to signify the beginning of a party, they are instead used to disrupt sleeping patterns. There are few nights that I have gone to bed without hearing the beginnings of what I am certain is a coup d’état.
For some reason, and I have yet to figure it out, people love exploding them at night. It’s kind of like how telemarketers know when you are eating dinner to make their calls; the firecrackers are held in abeyance until it’s bedtime. Then, just as it is time to close your eyes, the revelry begins.
I have a weird relationship with these firecrackers. Part of me hates them. Who in their right mind feels the need to set them off when it’s time for bed? But part of me feels like I will miss them. It’s kind of like the tone deaf performers who walk into the pollerías and scrub seashells together to make a beat. They are terribly annoying and always expect a tip. But I’ll miss them nonetheless.
My trip in Cusco is rapidly coming to an end and I am beginning to feel a certain nostalgia for all things Peru. I know when I am back at school eating a bagel at Collegetown Bagels and a band is performing, I will wish for nothing more than some obnoxious firecrackers and tone deaf singers.
Jonah Brill is currently volunteering as a Field Researcher with Arariwa in Cusco, Peru.
Latest posts by jonahbrill
- Hasta Luego - August 20th, 2010
- The Things I Have Learned - August 13th, 2010
- Day in the Life: Hiking The Colca Canyon - August 6th, 2010
- Being Inspired - July 23rd, 2010
- Los Precios - July 16th, 2010
- I'll Take a Little Potato with My Dirt - July 9th, 2010
- ¿Dónde Está El Baño? - July 2nd, 2010
- Day in the Life: Summertime and the Living is Easy - June 25th, 2010
- Snapshot: Cow Heart and Confusing Conversation in Cusco - June 18th, 2010
- Day in the Life: Morning Commute - June 11th, 2010
