Yunza

A tradition across the Peruvian sierra, most commonly done during carnavales or town fiesta, is the yunza. A yunza usually takes the form of a tree, which the sponsoring family cuts down, ties a whole lot of small gifts/items onto, and then re-plants in the middle of a street or plaza. On the day of the final yunza celebration, participants take turns hacking at the tree with a machete until it falls and the gifts are shared among everyone. The person whose machete chop finally fells the tree is then the sponsor for the next year's yunza. 

Traveling back from the farm last week, I got to see a slightly different kind of yunza. One of the small towns along our route was having its annual fiesta, and we were passing through just as the yunza parade went by. Each yunza was attached to a pair of bulls, with additional parts being carried along on sticks by children:

One of the decorated bull yunzas

The gifts on these yunzas were sodas, fruits, empanadas, and other random food items

In more developed communities, yunzas often have gifts like tupperware, pots, children's toys, and other store-bought goods. It was interesting to see the stark difference in this small rural community, where the yunzas were composed entirely of simple food items. But people give what they have, and still have an excellent time celebrating. That day, there were four separate yunzas (each from a different neighborhood or group), each with its pair of bulls, decorations, and supporters dancing along behind.

And then there was this final yunza, where the group couldn't find a pair of bulls but improvised anyway