Not really, but it is called a “pasa montañas” or ‘mountain passer’ but to me it is a funny one of a kind tourist item for sale at this alpaca store in Arequipa Peru. That is me wearing it and I regret not buying it since it was relatively cheap. I still don’t really know why it makes me laugh. If you are considering holding up your local cornerstore or yoga studio, I advise you do it in style and wear this mask. That white thin handlebar mustache pattern and rainbow head should allow you to get away with anything.
At any central market and in many corner stores in Lima and around Peru, you can now find superstitious lucky soap product, Jabon Ruda. It claims the soap is derived from a secret preparation formula from the “Palacio del Imperio” (Imperial Palace) and that Ruda has been used by pharaohs and Inca kings that attributed magical conquering powers.
Accorgding to Wikipedia, Ruda, or Common Rue, is a plant with some acknowledged medicinal properties from digestive aid to arthritis relief but also used as an abortifacient to horses and humans. It is also said that cats dislike the smell of it and has been used to deter them. But no mention of any esoteric belief attached to it. Ok.
Originally I bought this soap to put on my wall menagerie (I have a menagerie? whoa) since I think its a cool little foreign trinket, but upon opening the box when I got home from Peru last night I realized this soap actually smells damn good. So I have decided to use it and in the meantime report any blatant luck may occur during the lifetime of the soap. To be fully fair to this experiment I will declare an open mind to the product and just report the facts.
I will post updates.
Alpaca’s experiencing post Ruda bliss?
UPDATE 4/14/09:
By some conventional definitions of getting lucky It would be fair to suggest I got lucky the first day I used the soap. I will update if more blatant luck persists.
First of all this movie’s official English title translation, Milk of Sorrow, is NOT correct. La Teta Asustada actually translates to ‘the scared tit.’ Those crazy anglos strike again. I finally had a chance to watch this award winning film that also caused some controversy within Peru cultural constituents.
This movie was directed by directed and writen by Claudia Llosa, who is also the niece of recognized Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa. She beautifully portrays the story of Fausta, played by Magaly Solier, who suffers from ‘la teta asustada,’ a psychological condition suffered by children born during the terrorist years who lactated from the ’scared milk’ of the mothers who survived that era. Fausta herself is an attractive but timid and paranoid character who constantly lives in fear of men due to graphic rape stories told by her late mother. She goes as far as putting a potato in her vagina to prevent rape, but this causes more emotional and physical trauma as the plot develops.
YES, you read that last part, this movie has very strong plot elements. In short, the story takes place in a poverty striken and post-terrorist province of Lima. After Fausta’s mother passes away, besides the emotional pain, she struggles to save enough money for her mother burial which is expensive. At the same time, her cousin is preparing for a lavish wedding which juxtaposes the irony of a poor province stuck in old ridiculous dowry habits. Fausta is forced to take a job as a maid for a rich white woman, which portrays another characteristic of Peruvian diversity, culture and class division.
As a Peruvian who was raised in the United States, and also a lover of film, my opinion of this movie is high. The director’s cinematic elements are slow in rhythm but beautiful in imagery and full of feeling. I praise Magaly Solier for her acting as Fausta, she is able to make the directors vision come alive well. I think she captures the idiosyncracies of that Peruvian province in a charming way. Some have called this movie the Slumdog Millionaire of Peru because it of its portrayal of a poor peruvian province, but I disagree this plot is richer in feeling and compassion from a different place in the heart. Its plot does not strive for towards the hopes of wealth and prosperity, it observes the resolution of a very complex psychological reality and experience of the protagonist. This movie stands on its own and it brings Peruvian film quality to a whole new level. I recommend La Teta Asustada to any true lover of cinema with feeling.
During my visit to Peru, I could not help a quick chuckle when my grandmother offered me some tea and slapped a box of Hornimans on the table. She kept asking why it was funny to me which is something you don’t want to explain to your cute little Peruvian grandmother.
Could this be one source of Peru’s obsession with sex and machismo? Besides those little Guacos de Mochica which are very revealing that is.
Walter Goyburu is considered one of the local masters of Peruvian criolle music but from his respected neighborhood of Callao, Lima. Do not mistake this music to what they call creole music from New Orleans.
Goyburu’s version of the classic valz song Cenizas, originally by Emilio Visosa, was recently featured in the all star album La Gran Reunion, Los Guardianes de la Musica Criolla (’the great reunion, the guardians of creolle music’) which features 19 respected criolle music artists. This album has been coined the Buena Vista Social Club of Peruvian criolle music, may be so.
Understanding Spanish would help the appreciation factor because the lyrics are stunningly beautiful, but its beautiful rhythm and melodies will captivate any music lover until the end of a song. If you feel this, I was even able to find the lyrics for you:
I met William at a stoplight in San Isidro as he was breakdancing for money. He was literally turning on his head to earn a living. This is an example of a great Peruvian guy earning a fair buck with his talents. Support the street arts worldwide. Give William some love at bboy257@hotmail
First of all this movie’s official English title translation, Milk of Sorrow, is NOT correct. La Teta Asustada actually translates to ‘the scared tit.’ Those crazy anglos strike again. I finally had a chance to watch this award winning film that also caused some controversy within Peru cultural constituents.
