Ayahuma

Alex's family insisted on dressing us up in their ceremonial clothing. How could the honors keep coming to us?

In particular, I dressed as a local spirit called the diabluna or ayahuma. The word ayahuma means "spirit head" and represents a central character in the local festival of Inti Raymi, dedicated to the sun near the summer solstice. The ayahuma has two faces so that he never turns away from the sun, and he has twelve horns representing the twelve months of the year.

After dressing up, we went out to the street and danced while Alex played guitar. Passersby stopped to laugh and enjoy our festive spirit.