There, I learned two things about Peruvian fashion:
- Its made up of bright bold colors on skin tight clothing that I could never decently fit into.
- I don’t like Peruvian fashion.
We walked into one store and saw Maju Mantilla. At first I thought she was an unusually pretty American. She had light blond hair and was wearing a ton of makeup.
In 2004, Maju became the only Peruvian to ever win the Miss World competition. We walked by her two more times, trying to appear as though we were casually shopping as we cast subtle glances her way. We were disappointed to find that she was not wearing her sash nor her crown.
Upon leaving Gamarra, we went down a street. The street was quiet. Too quiet.
And suddenly, sure enough, a giant water balloon burst on the pavement just in front of our feet.
“EEEEDEN! It’s carnival! RUN!” yelled Cynthia. We ran and more balloons came from all directions from the apartments above. We tried taking cover in a nearby store.
The people in the store were laughing at us.
A woman worker spoke to us, “You must be careful, this entire street is covered in people wanting to celebrate February’s carnival.”
“Is there a secret door in the back of this shopping center that will get us to a safer street?” I asked hopefully.
Everyone in the store laughed and shook their heads no. The woman worker then looked at one of the male workers and said with a smile, “Jorge, why not escort them through.”
Jorge shrugged, “No way! It won’t make a difference if I am with them or not. I don’t want to get wet too!”
So we ran down the rest of the street, dodging balloons from all directions. We made it out finally, and escaped with nothing more than wet sandals. I was glad that the balloons were not filled with urine, wax, or paint, as they sometimes are in districts as poor as Gamarra.
Below is my favorite image of an entire group of people just before being carnivalled in Lima.
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