The Invitation: Camila's Next Big Adventure

Everyone in Tacna uses the bus from high-up businessmen, to frail abuelitas, to awkward teenagers. You pack all passengers in as tightly as possible, sardines in a can, and inexplicably, in spite of so many bodies, the bus ride can often becomes a game of Graveyard, everyone staying as quiet as they can. Of course there’s always the rogue passenger who decides it’s their turn to blast their Youtube video from their phone at full volume, but for the most part, buses are a moment in which we stop talking for a little while, and just sit. This human silence may seem especially jarring in a city where there is always noise, when there is always an old vehicle rumbling by or a child crying. But the act of sitting together opens the door for something new, something intimate that we have little access to in the busy-ness of the city. In these moments of quiet, I take a moment to look around at the people around me. It’s a wonderful opportunity to unashamedly people-watch; a strange mix ...

This special day only comes around once a year. Every August, school comes to a halt for almost an entire week. There’s at least one parade or concert every evening with well-known bands like Grupo 5 headlining at stadium venues. Bougainvillea flowers can be spotted in every nook and cranny and Peruvian flags of all shapes and sizes hang in the windows and wave in the breeze. The big day comes and the president of Peru himself walks down one of the main streets of town, waving calmly and with a smile even as people shout “cierre el congreso!” (Close the congress!), calling out the corrupt nature of Peru’s government. You might think it’s Peru’s independence day but that’s celebrated on the 28th of July. Then what has Tacneños so worked up?  It’s Día de Tacna. August 28th, 1926 was the official date in which Tacna was reincorporated as Peruvian territory. Before that, the region of Tacna had been under the control of Chile. During the Guerra del Pacifico , or the War of t...