Peruvian Music and the Trip Ahead

So that YouTube stuff is pretty cool… Yeh, I’m behind the curve — I never said I was a technogeek, just a lowly English professor. I’ve known about YouTube for a while, but finally had occasion to visit the site because, of all things, my son’s Spanish teacher gave the kids an assignment to go on-line and watch some videos with Peruvian music and dance. They are taking a fieldtrip this Friday to see some Peruivian and Flamenco music and dance in Cambridge, Mass. Their maestra wants them to get the most out of the experience, so the children need to prepare. Fun homework!

I was struck, in listening to the Andean music with my son, at how prominent the flute is. I wonder if there is a practical reason for this…like, for example, flutes can be hand-made and are very portable. I’ll have to look into this more. In any case, my son loved the music and got a real kick out of the colorful clothing of the Peruvians in the videos. He was even more intrigued by the pictures of Lake Titicaca (which he just likes saying the name of!) and the Nazca lines (loved the monkey the best of all).

I understand from the leader of the group I am joining for the January trek to Peru, that I will be in the team that is going to the most remote Andean villages with the most interesting clothing and traditional culture, etc. In fact, some of these villages have never been visited by a North American. Of course, the Amerindians in these remote villages are also known to be extremely shy, so I expect I will not be meeting many of these villagers up close and personal. I was told that in the past when the teams have come into towns like this, the women take to the hills. And I was told that it will make no difference that I am a woman. I am American first and foremost. They will not approach me. The children, however…. They cannot hold back their curiosity more than a few minutes.

YouTube has a lot of great videos of Peruvian music. Here’s one I enjoyed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoaO42Kbaj4

I don’t yet know how to get the video to actually appear on the site, but the link appears to work.

Adios!