El Senor de Los Milagros

Every year in October (and here we are half way through November! I can't believe how behind I am!) things in Lima start to turn purple. Purple? Yes you read that right, purple. October is known as Mes Morado here in Lima as people celebrate El Senor de Los Milagros or Lord of Miracles. Purple and white balloons are out over stores and houses, the Lima soccer team even changes their jersey from a blue and white to a purple and white for the month of October. Several times throughout the month the streets of Lima are filled with Limenos dressed in purple to watch the painting being carried for all to see.

The paining in the procession is a replica of the original painting, since the original is actually a wall.




"El Señor de Los Milagros is an image of Jesus Christ painted during the 17th century. The artist is an unnamed African taken from Angola to Peru as a slave. Christ is shown enduring the pain of crucifixion. Above the cross is the Holy Spirit and God the Father. Below and to the right of Jesus is his mother, the Virgin Mary with her heart pierced by a metaphorical sword of sorrow and to her right at the foot of the cross is St. Mary Magdalene. Its name originated in a massive earthquake in the 18th century, which destroyed most of the city leaving only that mural standing. This is considered a miraculous occurrence by many living there." (Description taken from a website that I can't remember right now!)

Courtesy of www.deperu.com

Every few feet a new group of men take their place at the foot of the statue to continue the honor of carrying the gorgeous painting. At every stopping place there are beautifully handmade drawings filled in with flower petals that are made only to be destroyed minutes later by the procession. The amount of work put into them is amazing to watch and we stood by and watched one from start to finish as the procession slowly progressed closer and closer to our location. More than once we thought that there was no way they were going to get done in time, but they did and there was another beautiful picture on the ground to signify the stopping point.

Outlining the chalk drawing in coffee grounds

Beginning to add the colored flower petals

Half way there

Finishing Touches

All done and time to move on to the next

We quickly moved along after the last flower petal was laid. Earlier in the day we decided to catch up to the procession and join the crowd to watch it walk by. That may have been a mistake. As the procession continued past our location the mob of people standing by to watch it quickly followed and we were caught in a stampede of people aiming for another glimpse of the painting. We inched along looking for anywhere to break free of the crowd. (you can see in the photos below that the lady behind was neither thrilled to be caught in the crowd or thrilled to be in our selfie!)

Angry moving mob

While it was a bit overwhelming being trapped in a moving mob of people, it was quite an experience to be part of the largest procession in the world for this holiday. It takes place 3 or 4 times during the month of October and into November 1. After this one experience we made sure not to get caught in it again, as beautiful as it was. 

Until next time. 

-Monica

Where to start?!

I can't believe it has been OVER a month since the last time I have updated you on anything going on. Needless to say we have been REALLY busy.

First I have switched internship sites. We had an incident and I really should't disclose the details over the internet (ask me about it when I return home!) but it ended in me saying good bye to Instituto Mundo Libre and moving on to another internship placement site.

I am now working with a great NGO called Building Dignity. They are headquartered in St. Paul MN and have their Center for Development with Dignity (CEDED) here in Villa El Salvador in Lima. It is an amazing organization working to help the people in the community of La Encantada. Currently I am working with them developing lesson plans, tutoring and developing a University Readiness program for their youth group. The staff and volunteers are wonderful and I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to work with such a wonderful organization. It was a bit of work to get everything organized and together but I am happily settled in until the end of the month.

Villa El Salvador

We spent our Halloween with the youth in La Encantada supervising a party put on by the older youth in our group, It was such a great time and we were beat afterwards.

CEDED Volunteers before the kids arrived

We also have done a ton of other fun stuff like observe the biggest Catholic procession,eating street food, Oktoberfest and exploring other parts of Lima. I will have posts coming up soon telling you all about the fun and exciting things we have been up to. Keep an eye out!