My Peru diary, day 10

Peru diary (Dec. 14, 2014)

Am now in the little town of el Carmen, in the southern coastal area of Peru.  To get here, you take a bus to Chincha and then a taxi from Chincha to el Carmen.  It´s important to take a secure taxi...many of the taxis here are not secure, so you need to get the name of a taxi before you start your trip.

The town is abut 5 blocks long by 7 blocks deep.  Many houses have murals painted on them.

El Carmen is a predominantly Afro-Peruvian town in which they carry on a centuries old tradition called the "hatajo de negritos."  The "hatajos" are groups of dancers - all men except for one which is exclusively women - who perform special dances on the occasion of Christmas, the celebration of the Virgin of Carmen, and 12th Night.  The dances are always done in front of an image or altar to baby Jesus.  Often, the Virgin of Carmen is also on the altar.

I am staying in a beautiful "hotel" - a big, airy house with 2 acres of grounds planted in avocado trees, fruit, bananas, etc..  The proprietor, Edith Maldonado,  is a woman instrumental in seeing to the production of the first documentary about the "hatajos." This was back in 2007.  A newer, excellent, one was filmed in 2012 by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture.

Edith Maldonado on the veranda of the main building of the "hotel."

Since there are already two documentaries about the "hatajos," I filmed only a tiny portion of one of the rehearsals.  It is really wonderful stuff, and a fascinating story.

People here are loath to sign documents, an important consideration for me since I need release forms signed.  And drama, drama!  One of the places I was to film cancelled their rehearsal in part because, after I set up my camera, I explained I´d need a signature.  But I got plenty enough footage in the other place to use for what I´m working on.

Inside the house of Margarita Cordoba, where I filmed.  The altar to baby Jesus is in the background.

Another small drama:  I was told the place where I´m staying could accept payment by debit-credit card.  On arriving, I discovered this is not correct.  El Carmen does not have a bank, so later today, I'll go in a tiny, overcrowded van into Chincha to search for an ATM machine and hope a) it will give me the money I need and b) it won´t eat my card.

Tomorrow afternoon, I leave el Carmen to go to San Luis de Canñte (which I just discovered is a different place from Canñte...good that I found out because I was planning to go to Cañete) where I´ll hopefully hook up with Lalo Izquierdo, visit his cultural association, and film him giving children a lesson in cajon.

The church is much grander than any of the houses in town.

Then, back to Lima.
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I am in Peru for reasons related to our documentary, A Zest for Life, and other work about Afro-Peruvians.

(For more photos, go to the Facebook page of Palomino Productions, A Zest for Life Afro-Peruvian, and Eve A. Ma.)