New Year’s in Iquitos

I had a great time ringing in the New Year in Iquitos. I met some really cool guys who work at my hostal. We’ve been having fun cooking and eating some meals together and exchanging language lessons. One of them, Ivan, even took me over the river to the tiny Cocama town of Santa Tomas where he is from. After saying hello to his grandfather and sister, we walked through the forest by Santa Tomas to a nice stream. On New Year’s Eve, Ivan and I started out the night y havin some drinks in a random, dusty part of town that I had never been to before. Then we went back to his family´s house where we drank Iquiteña and danced salsa, merengue, and cumbia with his aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and friends until 5am. Then sometime around 2am, Ivan and his cousin opened up a bag of yucca flour and emptied it on everyone, shouting, "Carnaval!" (this is apparently what they do during Carnaval, a crazy mud-hurling, flour-throwing, drinking-all-day fiesta in Peru). Everyone just kept right on dancing, their hair and clothes powdered with dusty white flour. I couldn’t believe how much energy everyone there had! Normally I am the last to leave the dance floor, but around 5am I had to leave because I was just so exhausted. Everyone else – including his grandparents – was still dancing up a storm when I left! The next day, I joked with Ivan that I wouldn´t be surprised if they were still at it. Completely serious, he told me that yes, they do normally dance and party for the entire day after as well! All in all it was a really cool night. It was nice to see how the local people celebrate New Year´s and was also interesting to see everyone burning their muñecos (dolls) out on the streets. Ivan explained that people do this to symbolize letting go of the past year and embracing the new one. So far, this new year seems to be working out pretty well for me!