Living in Peru : your everyday companion

By Diana P. Olano

February in Peru means one thing: Carnavales. The festival season occurring before lent usually involves street parties, concerts and water fights galore. Cities like Lima see more of the latter, with friends or strangers trying to get you with water balloons every Sunday that month. However, a lesser-known tradition that is spreading in popularity throughout the country is the "Yunsa", also known as "cortamonte".

This tradition, which originated in the Andean region of Peru, features the cutting of a tree that is planted at a particular spot at the party location. Couples, dressed to impress, dance around the tree--which has been specially selected as the tallest and thickest in the town--and are then allowed three strikes at it with an axe or machete. The tree falls to the ground and the partygoers run towards it to try and capture the many gifts that have been previously attached to it. It's like the piñata part of a children's party, multiplied by 100 and for adults only.

Yunsa, also called sacha kúchuy in Ayacucho and unsha in Cajamarca, is celebrated on a small scale, between family and friends in small, rural towns or on a large scale, encompassing an entire city that feature costumes, dances, music by a 30-piece band, food and drinks. The couple who knocks down the tree has the honor and immense duty of organizing next year's Yunsa. The "padrino", the male of the couple, is responsible for acquiring the tree, "dressing" it up with balloons, fruits, and gifts such as shirts or toys. In towns like Jauja, however, organizations like La Libertad take on the task of organizing the celebration for the locals.

When the job to throw the party falls on a larger institution, they usually allow for alcohol and beer to be sold as a way to collect funds not only for the maintenance of said organization and/or town, but also for necessities such as books, sporting equipment and computers for the local schools of the town celebrating.

Since many of Peru's Andean community has emigrated to cities around the country, the tradition of the Yunsa has spread far and wide, taking place in places like Arequipa, Ica, Cusco, Huancayo and, of course, Lima, with celebrations more prominent in the district of Comas, such as El Carmen, La Libertad, Collique and Año Nuevo. Unfortunately, because the tradition comes from a more rural setting, the clash it has with urban Lima is that participants who want to have their on Yunsa in Comas plant their trees in concrete streets, thus damaging city property. It was announced earlier this month that anyone who damaged streets or roads for the purposes of Yunsa would be fined.

Still, many choose to take part in this fun tradition that signifies the beginning of the Carnavale, as well as summer season. So watch out for those water balloons and sharpen your axe. The partying has just begun.