As the guest of honor in Catache

Last weekend I was invited to the community of Catache (a two-hour car ride from Cajamarca) to join in the celebration of the village’s patron saint. I left Cajamarca on Saturday morning meaning to return the same afternoon, but as it turned out that I was the guest of honor, I could not leave before late on Sunday afternoon.

The festivities began on Saturday (the eve of the feast) with a mass and a procession in honor of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, a virtually unknown Italian saint who is, for some reason, the patron and protector of Catache. In the afternoon there was time for the secondary school teachers to show me the school premises and the fruits of a recent research project: a booklet containing some twenty local legends, passed on as oral tradition and now for the first time collected and written down.

After nightfall it was time for what many considered the highlight of the feast: a dance featuring a band that played popular Andean tunes, huaynos and cumbia. The band brought its own motor-run sound system and a floodlight, which was very exciting for the catachinos, since their small town lacks electricity. I had a great time dancing the night away to the now-familiar tunes of Andean music. The locals were more than pleased to see I liked their music, and the dancing gringuita was the attraction of the night. Fireworks, castillos and vacas locas crowned the night. A castillo is a towering, wooden structure made up of several layers of fireworks which are fired off one at a time. A vaca loca is a framework of fireworks strapped on the back of a volunteer that runs around like crazy, sprouting shooting stars in all directions.




After a plateful of soup for breakfast, we gathered around the main square early on Sunday morning. The VIPs (to which I apparently belonged) got front-row seats on the platform. First the school children paraded around the square wearing their uniforms and carrying the national flag.




Thereafter, we sang the national anthem in Quechua, and as the guest of honor, I got to raise the flag. Then followed a whole lot of speeches, the second of which (to my surprise) I was expected to give ex tempore in front of the entire village. Thankfully I have already learnt what the expected content of Peruvian speeches is: an extremely voluble expression of the immense gratitude one feels for having experienced over-flowing kindness and hospitality, and admiration of the beauty of the town and goodness of its inhabitants. That was more or less what I said, in as many words as possible.

When the speeches ended, the ladies of Catache presented a selection of typical dishes, the most delicious of which I was to select. A difficult decision, but I finally chose cherry tomato marmalade and sweet roasted corn. I also got to give out the prizes.






A small fair exhibited Catachean literature, medicinal herbs and handicrafts. At midday we all crowded into the small village chapel for another festive mass and the baptism of six children.




After mass, the statue of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino was carried around the village. Then the organizers invited all the villagers to a lunch of roasted pork.

Once again, I got to experience immeasurable hospitality and attention. I felt like I did nothing but eat from dawn to dusk, since everyone wanted me to taste their best delicacies. I was given such importance throughout the feast that it bordered on absurd and surreal. The master of ceremonies kept repeating how grateful Catache was for the presence of such a venerable, educated person, and how the honorable guest gave the modest feast significance and solemnity. It was so ridiculous that I had to do my best not to laugh and act the part, since it obviously was no joke. Instead, I tried my best to boost the locals’ self-esteem by paying compliments to everything they had prepared. Maybe they appreciate their own culture more when they see the guest of honor does too…