| Pilgrimage to Paita |
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| There are several pilgrimages in Peru. Many Catholics make these pilgrimages to where miracles have occured. According to one of my friends, a statue of the Virgin of Carmen was obtained from Spain a few centuries ago for the church in Paita, a port city about 40 miles from Piura, where I am. When pirates invaded and burned the city, they were unable to burn the church, so they took the statue with them. They were unable to destroy the statue, their ship sank, they all died and the statue floated back to Paita. The people found it and returned it to the church. Some people walk from the farthest reaches of the country to get to Paita, probably at least 1200 miles much of it through the moutains. People usually make a "promise" to God. Sometimes this promise involves a request for the something such as the health of a sick loved one and sometimes this promise is just to express thanks for the gifts God has given. |
| Since Paita is only 40 miles from Piura, many Piurans walk the entire 40 miles over the night of Sept. 23rd to arrive for the festival on the 24th. So 5 of us from the church packed our backpacks for a 40 mile walked and headed out that evening. |
| This is what it looked like most of the night, periodically we would pass a group or a group would pass us. I had no idea how many people were on the road until the sun cam up. When it did, I could see a line of people stretched out to each horizon! |
| There were rest stops along the way where local had set up shelters and sold food and drinks. Most of these rest stops had people sleeping on the ground. |
| The festival of the Virgin of Carmen at the church on Sept. 24th. |
| Once I arrived at the church in Paita, I gave my camera to my friend Darwin and asked him to get pictures of the festival while I collapsed in the dirt to take a nap. After 40 miles, I was exhausted with blisters on my feet, leg muscles throbbing and I hadn�t slept in about 30 hours. I think the last 10 miles was harder than finishing my first marathon. |