Sunday 26: Dancing in the Streets

Sunday was pretty laid back. Watched a movie with Kelsey, did some homework, talked with my host dad, and cleaned my room….the basics. Sunday night though, might be one of my favorite memories yet. The Festival del Cruce was going on all weekend in Ricardo Palma. That’s the neighborhood next to mine and the explanation for the dancing firework man. So Sunday night Kelsey, Jeff, Jon, Faith and I walked around the town to see the end of the festival. There were two brass bands playing by the shrine with the cross of Ricardo Palma, so we stayed to watch. All of the sudden the two bands just picked up and started parading through the streets. Then the crowd formed these big circles that rotated and moved down the streets in between the two bands. We all held hands and just danced in circles around and around the town square and then up and down some streets until the bands got to the next place that wanted to stop and play. And at any point a person could decide to dance into the middle of the circle, pulling everyone with them. It was amazing!