Chiclayo

After Trujillo, Arturo meet us in Chiclayo. His dad is from there (actually a little village outside of the city) and that entire side of the family is there. We were celebrating many thing...not only had Christian come back, but it was the first time that Arturo and his family went there for Christmas.

Of course, a visit is never complete without doing a bit of touristy stuff. We went to the famous Museo Tumbas Reales de Sipán. This is an incredible museum which documents the incredible history of the area. The name comes from Lord Sipán, a lord who - although famous in his time - is now internationally known because of his tomb.

Sipán was a Señor of top rank and was buried accordingly by the Moche civilization which existed from 1 AD to 700 AD (centuries before the Incans). First, el Señor Sipán was buried with a plethora of jewelry and ornaments. Included in the over 400 jewels found in the tomb was a beaded necklace of gold and silver shaped into maní, or peanut kernels to represent the earth. To me, however more impressive (and shocking) is the other people in the tomb. He was buried with a woman who was apparently his wife and two other women, most likely concubines, a military commander, a watchman, a banner holder and a child. Oh, and also a dog. Some of the people´s legs were cut off so that they could not run from him - either in the transfer from one life to the next, or when they arrive to the next life.

(Yes, this story may sound familiar because I wrote about this a year ago when we went for the travel guide work...but it's so interesting I wrote about it again...)

We also visited the Mercado Monsefu Artesanias. We had fun trying on various crazy hats (I bought one - but not the 'lampshade' on my head in the picture) and then continued to tour around in the car, stopping for a delicious ceviche.

However, the big day during the trip was Christmas. Here, the holiday is celebrated on Christmas Eve with food and drink...but the food doesn't come until midnight when it's officially Christmas (and I'm so starving that I am looking at the plastic tree wondering how it tastes).

What follows is a series of pictures from the holiday. It included many photos, many drinks, much food, and many old family stories...