Last Minute (12:45 pm Tuesday August 2, 2011)

12:45 pm Tuesday August 2, 2011

 

It’s really difficult to change bad habits. In the past 4 years, since its “founding,” the Huanuco Jewish community has suffered from the lack of ability to read Hebrew and therefore, the habituation of essentially praying with many mispronounced and wrong words based on the fonetica (Hebrew writtern in Spanish transliteration) in their siddurim.  Today, I was singing Adon Olam with Rolo, and I noticed just how much of an issue it is. And he knows how to read Hebrew. It’s just that he and the others are accustomed to singing what they think are the words and are often lazy to change their habits of the past. So I sat down with Rolo and it took him 7 minutes to read through Adon Olam correctly. I could occasionally tell that he was trying (and failing) at cheating and remembering how they usually sing it (full of mispronunciations.) I stopped him several times and told him to stop remembering the pronunciation of the past, and utilize his ability to read the Hebrew to improve the pronunciation.  I know its tough but I hope that in the future, they continue to improve in this area

 

In classic Latin American fashion (the necessity to leave things to the last minute), when Juan went to purchase my ticket for the overnight bus from Huanuco to Lima, they were all sold out. I guess that’s what happens when you try to buy a long distance ticket just a day before its departure.  What this means is that I sadly have get to spend one fewer day in Lima.   Now, in my 27 hours in Lima, I’ll try to squeeze in Pachacamac (famous ruins), and 3 museums into a day.  Then Friday at 10am I fly an hour to Cusco, where I’ll be on my own for 2 weeks.

The end of the World aka Huanuco Pampa (11:30pm Sunday July 31, 2011)

Today was definitely an absurd day. It started with me getting 2 hours of sleep and catching a 3:30am car service from Huanuco to a small town 4 hours away with 2 friends from the Jewish community.  We were 8 people squished in a 5 person car–not particularly safe. There were 3 in the front area, 3 in the back seats, and 2 in the trunk. Oh, and I forgot to mention that from my experience Peruvian cars don’t do the whole seatbelt thing.  Even better are the occasional checkpoints on the highway, in which a policeman opens the cars trunk to make sure you’re not smuggling drugs, but then doesn’t seem to care that there are an illegal number of people in the car.

Shanti, Miguel, and I arrive to La Union, a small village in the mountains 11,500 above sea level, and are greeted by the coldest I’ve ever been in Peru. That’s not saying much, but for a day in July, wearing a ski cap, long pants, long sleeves, and a jacket seems pretty insane.  Both Miguel and Shanti were great companions for this journey; Miguel has specialized in tourism in university and has been a guide in the past, and Shanti is the leader of numerous Indigenous Andean organizations and lives somewhat of a dual life of Judaism and Incan traditions. Shanti made some really interesting ritual offering to Pachamama (Mother Earth) that included some leaves of coca and playing a flute before visiting the important site of Huanuco Pampa.

Knowing that the last bus back to Huanuco was at 2pm, we didn’t have much time to waste. After having walked 20 kilometers through prairie with sharp prickly pieces of giant weed that somehow made it into our shoes and socks, we made a group offering to Pachamama in the site of Huanuco Pampa, which basically involved shaking lulav (but with the coca leaves), we saw the highlights of the ruins–the tremendous Ushnu, Kallanka, and Collcas (if you’re interested in this, have no idea what I’m talking about, and you’re a Penn student, take Dr. Clark Erickson’s Archeology of the Incas course.)   I was awed by the Incan stone, so perfectly carved before the wheel and serious metal tools made it to the New World. The multi-ton bricks are so perpendicular, tremendous, and mysterious (Modern anthropologists still aren’t sure how the Incas built these structures.

 

 

The Ushnu of Huanuco Pampa

It’s really a pity to see how the Peruvian tourist industry isn’t taking advantage of arguably the 2^nd most famous surviving Incan ruin.  It’s not well maintained. It’s a pain in the butt to get to (4 hours of serpentine 1 lane highway through the mountains with no direct rides to the ruins themselves). And there’s no tourist shop or restaurant within 40 minutes drive.

Arriving back in La Unión in time for our 2pm bus, we find out that we’d been lied to and today there just was no bus. Upset we check the car service companies back to Huanuco, but they all tell us they are sold out until the next day. Our only option is to hitchhike or stay the night in La Union, but clearly we opt to hitchhike. The next 4 hours involve a lot of waiting, 50 cars passing and not picking us up, the temperature in the mountains dropping to near freezing, me getting a migraine and a fever, and us nearly giving up and staying in a roadside hostel for the night.  Finally as the sun was setting at 6:30pm, we hopped in a van and arrived home in Huanuco at 10pm.

The town of 200 people where we waited 4 hours for a hitchhike.

I’ve never been so happy to see Huanuco in my life.

Last Shabbes and Cool Torah (10pm Saturday July 30, 2011)

10pm Saturday July 30, 2011

On Friday we were finally able to open up the Aron Kodesh (Holy Ark), as the key to the lock had been lost and we  just decided to break the lock.  I found two Torah scrolls in addition to Juan’s 1870 Lithuanian family Torah Scroll. At first I was confused because it didn’t make sense for the Huanuco community to have three Torah scrolls. I picked one up and placed it on the bima, taking it out of its casing. As I looked at the Torah with a grin, Juan explained to me that this was a complete photocopied Torah. As I rolled it to the portion that Rolo will read for his Bar Mitzvah, Juan told me that he had spent a whole night several months ago with his Kosher Torah scroll at a friends house. He made two full size reproductions on large white paper and taped them together so they look just like a Torah; they even have Etz Haims (the two wooden pieces that hold the parchment.)  The reason for the photocopy was so that the community could become familiar with a Torah scroll that wasn’t his personal family heirloom.

(photo)

My last Shabbes with the community before I head to South Peru for 2 weeks was helpful for comparative purposes.  A random 30 year old non-Jew man from Lima who is potentially interested in converting happened to be in Huanuco for Shabbes, and came over for services. I saw that the let’s-tell-dirty-jokes-Friday-night thing isn’t just limited to Huanuco.  This guy from Lima was tearing the audience apart with his jokes at the Friday night table. As usual, I tried to laugh in order to seem polite, but he caught on and out of nowhere decided to tell an English joke he had once heard about G. W. Bush and Moses, because he felt bad that I wasn’t catching onto the Peruvian humor.  His joke was cute: I smiled and then explained that I’m a tough audience in any language.

Saturday also was a first for me–my first Christian wedding (it’s a mitzvah to m’sameakh chatan v’kala, right?). I decided I couldn’t leave Huanuco without going to a Church service because my Huanuqueñan Jewish “foster mother” sings professionally in the choir that sings at every special mass  (whether for a wedding, funeral, or holiday). Saturday, after our Jewish community had its first Saturday morning service with me, and after our lunch/Kiddush, I walked to the San Cristobal Church in my Shabbes clothes with a baseball cap. There have been times in Peru were I’ve seriously felt like an outsider, but I think the prize for 1^st place in outsiderness goes to this experience. I took off my cap and kippah, because it’s considered offensive to have a head covering in many Churchs. I’m sitting there, and the choir starts singing. I really enjoyed their repertoire- that classic wedding song, some excerpts of Handel’s Mesiah and Judas Maccabaeus, a Peruvian folksong El Condor Pasa (made famous by Simon and Garfunkel), and some other Christian hymns.  Then the whole kneeling and saying amen to stuff with Jesus and I felt really uncomfortable. People stared at me like never before; they were probably thinking, “What is that redhead Gringo doing in our Church if he’s not even participating in mass?”  Good question.

 

The Church where the wedding took place

The copied Torah

The real Torah from 1870

Two Amazing Days (10pm Thursday July 28, 2011)

10pm Thursday July 28, 2011

¡Feliz Día de Patría! Today was Peruvian Independence day. What does that mean? Constant parties and fireworks for the last week; not the nice colorful fireworks, but rather the fireworks that are loud and annoying when you’re trying to teach a Hebrew class in the evening and you keep getting interrupted.

The last two days were particularly adventurous and active.  Yesterday (Wednesday) I along with Miguel, a member of the community, one of his friends, and 6 random French and Belgian women decided to hike up to the peak of Sierra San Cristobal, where a chapel and giant white cross stand.  On the Day of Virgin Mary, there is a Huanuqueñan tradition to make a pilgrimage to this particular peak.  At the peak they light candles for the Virgin Mary and have all sorts of festivities at the peak including dances, festive food, and food sacrifices to Pachamama.

It was much more strenuous than the hike I had done alone, because when I had hiked alone, I didn’t want to do anything too risky. But with 8 people, we had enough water, food and phones in case of an emergency. Nonetheless, it wasn’t particularly reassuring to see several tombs of pilgrims who had died hiking on the way up.  It took 2.5 hours on the way up, and 1.5 on the way down. I’m not sure my feet have ever been this callused. I also applied sunscreen every half hour, and somehow was able to get badly sunburned. Nonetheless, the views from the top and the photo op with the cross were just spectacular. 

 

The Chapel and Cross of San Cristobal on the mountain peak

 

Me on an altar on the peak

Self Explanatory
 

Today (Thursday), Rolo, Carmen and I traveled 3 hours north into the forest to the National Park of Tingo Maria. Until today I had never been inside a cave, but the main attraction in Tingo Maria is the Cueva de la Lechuza (Cave of the Owl), so today made it my first.  Bats, owls, giant harmless spiders, and tourists could all be found inside the cave.  We also visited the Cave of the Turkey and a dilapidated zoo that had awkward cages for the animals that didn’t even attempt to simulate their own habitat.  I couldn’t help but crack up upon seeing the leopard sitting on a wooden table eating meat, with a wooden chair on the left.

Cueva de la Lechuza (Cave of the Owl)

 Rolo and I in  the  Cueva de la Lechuza (Cave of the Owl)

National Forest of Tingo Maria

Shacharit- 3 siddurim, 8 people, oy vey! (9am Monday July 25, 2011)

Today was the 2^nd straight day with morning services.  With 1 Artscroll siddur (Nusakh Sefarad) and 2 siddurs with Spanish, Hebrew, and transliterated Hebrew (1 hard copy and 1 computerized version), we somehow figured out how to hold services for 8 people. It involved me running back and forth and finding the correct pages, because each siddur was published by a different company and had different pagination.  It also involved people taking turns putting on tefillin. In a community that has 30 tallits and somehow belongs to both the Reform and Renewal Jewish movements, I decided for egalitarian and pedagogical purposes today to show the 2 women how to put on a tallit. And due to lack of siddur resources, everyone had to sit close together to share. The donning of the tallit on the women this morning, created some frustration from the community leader, who explained to me that women don’t count in their minyan and therefore shouldn’t wear the tallit.  Women also usually sit in the back during the Huanuco Friday night services.  It is later explained to me that this “male chauvinism” is probably not derived from Judaism, but is rather a cultural custom of Huanuco  Apparently at parties in Huanuco, men and women shmooze separately, and thus this male-female separation is ingrained in the people Huanuco. Carmen suspects that this male-female separation was another cultural concept that the Jews brought to Huanuco several hundred years ago (like the haircut at 3 years old), but I have my qualms with these assumptions as there’s no actual proof for the correlation of these claims.

The difficulty for me is that I view everything in terms of the Jewish communities that we have in America. It’s interesting that here in Huanuco, the way I practice and preach have to be completely different. Sometimes this cognitive dissonance is difficult and I’d never feel alright teaching something in America like I’m doing here in Peru, but here the circumstances are so different here. At the end of the day, I respect the community’s desire to be a semi-egalitarian Reform/Renewal Jewish community and I’m here to help them be the best of what they want to be.

Peruvian Ruins: Kotosh (11pm Sunday July 24, 2011)

I saw my first in a series of many ancient Peruvian ruins today.  Kotosh was the first temple in the Americas, dating back to 1800 BCE. All that is left are a few short parts of walls that together made up the temple.  To the layman, it  basically looks like any other ruined ancient stone wall.  After seeing the few ruins, Willie, Rolo, and I set off to scale the mountain overlooking Kotosh, in search for caves in which the people who lived in the times of Kotosh had inhabited.  We climbed halfway up the mountain, but we decided to turn back because of the immense midday heat.

I’m planning on visiting important Incan ruins over the next month, which will be much more close to my heart than Kotosh.  In my Archeology of the Incas course, we focused on the Incan period (1200-1532), rather than more ancient Peruvian archeology like Kotosh. I’ll actually understand more of the context for the archeology and architecture of the forthcoming ruins.

1) Huanuco Pampa, the well-known Incan administrative enclave (a 4 hour drive from Huanuco)

2) Pachacamac, ruins of a sacred city and holy place of pilgrimage (near Lima)

3) Machu Picchu, no comment

4) Saksaywamán, a sexy women, JK. It’s actually another Cusco Incan holy site.

5) Coricancha, the Temple of the Sun in Cusco that the Spaniards decided to convert into a Church. Thanks Spaniards.

Interesting Shabbes Customs (11pm Saturday July 23, 2011)

11pm Saturday July 23, 2011

This Shabbes, we almost had a minyan for Friday night services. Had we counted women, 12 year old boys, and men who haven’t yet converted, we would have had 10.  Friday night dinners are very interesting compared to what I’m used to in the US, both in terms of food and conversation.  Here in Huanuco, lunch is a giant meal, so for dinner we eat “lonche,” a light dinner.  Friday night is usually tasty crème of asparagus soup with bread rolls.  More interesting is the minhag (tradition) at the Friday night table, essentially based around crude jokes.  Instead of the zemiros and divrei torah that I’m accustomed to, the community leader Juan says it’s their way of Oneg Shabbes. I don't complain; I sit at the table smiling at my quasi understanding of the jokes, while the rest of the community is cracking up. Citing that there aren’t enough pictures of the community doing Jewish things, this Shabbes turned into a photo shoot. I explained to them that I don’t use cameras during Shabbes, but they could do whatever they felt necessary.

 I found out about a peculiar tradition that many non-Jews in the Huanuco area follow.  Kids don’t get their hair cut for their first few years.  At the age of 3, there is a special ceremony where the parents cut their hair.   Irwin explains to me that when the first Jews came to Peru in the 16^th  and 17^th century, they brought this tradition, and somehow it caught on until this day.