Candelaria Continued.

Waiting.


I hate waiting.


I think that if I go to hell for dancing for the Virgin in an idolatrous fashion, it will consist of waiting for eternity (Probably in Macey's 10 items or less line behind some illiterate lady with 7 kids and 8,000 coupons, paying with a check and food stamps).

Waiting is just part of life here in Peru, maybe that's why the concept of an organized line is seldom executed successfully. For example, last week, when we were waiting for the costumes we needed to dance in, we were told to be at the Graveyard in Puno at 7:00 am sharp. Although I knew that it was foolish, Malu was worried (rightly so) about getting a size of shoe that wouldn't work for her, so we went at the appointed time. Along with 3 other suckers, we waited two hours before the guy (Fabio) who was in charge of the costumes for our group showed up. Then, we had to wait another 2 hours for the President of our group to show up. Finally, we had to wait for the people who were actually handing out the suits to decide that they wanted to hand them over and this occurred around 12:30 pm. 5 and a half hours alternately freezing in the shade or burning in the sun. That street was boring and there wasn't even anything cool to look at. Or food. Typical of dealing with things in Peru.
If you want to check out your phone bill or something of that nature, you get a number at one building in a city of over a million people. And then you wait. For some reason (I blame the Spanish colonizers) , the people here like things centered in one place without the comfort of multiple branches in various places (I'm speaking of major services like power, water, phone, etc.) So, when you need to find out why your cell phone is a piece, you have to wait at least an hour. Places where you will wait and hate life: Claro (cell phone), Telefonica (cable, internet, phone), Serpost (never have anyone send you a package), Sedapar (water bill), Sagafabella (any time you want to see a movie on a Tuesday- cheap day).
Anywho, when it comes to dancing, waiting is always part of it. We also waited during that same week 4 hours to start the general practice for everyone in our group (Lima, Tacna, Cuzco, Puno, and us). I could elaborate on all the places I have wasted tons of time, but I think I've made my point.