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Happy (Dead) Leoncio Prado Day
This morning, I woke up to find the park outside our house occupied by about 150 armed troops. It was not a coup. The guys in camo and cadet uniforms and 19th-century calvalry getups were members of the Peruvian military taking part in a tribute to Colonel Leoncio Prado, a hero/martyr in the War of the Pacific (1879–1883). Today marks the 125th anniversary of Prado’s death in 1883. The colonel led Peruvian troops in the ill-fated war with Bolivia against Chile, which resulted in both Peru and Bolivia losing valuable land to the victor. Peru has never recovered from the trauma, which lingers like an open wound in the national conciousness. The country still feels oppressed…
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El Chalan on the Street
Today I took Lola for a walk and bumped into this Wong supermarket employee pushing a shopping cart along the street. He was on his way back from bringing a customer’s groceries to her house, a free service that the store offers. Check out the chic Fiestas Patrias outfit: white poncho, red scarf and broad-brimmed straw hat — the traditional gear of the northern Peruvian cowboy. Wong bagboys wear these getups through July 28, Peru’s Independence Day. Maybe supermarkets in the United States could adopt this trend. What kind of “typically American” gear might the checkout people wear for 4th of July? Labor Day?
