The musicians came marching into the courtyard with old, battered instruments, smiling broadly. So proud were they! There was a young drummer and a one-eyed sousaphone player - along with another horn player and a flutist, all playing dreadfully, but wonderfully, off key. Their music was bliss - pure joy filled bliss.

Then the young dancers came, mostly in their teens with a couple children who were no more than six or seven. All the girls were dressed in vibrant pinks and greens and blues and yellows. As they danced, they carried rainbow-colored, alpaca fur streamers twirling them around in the air, like mini pom-poms. I didn’t know if these were ancient celebratory dances, or some extemporaneously choreographed happening for our benefit and it didn’t matter if I knew. The ecstatic look on the faces of these young people as they moved to the music filled my heart with deep gratitude and love.

Skipping all around the girls were the young men, all dressed in white, long sleeved costumes, looking like dancing Andean condors. The tassels on their hand knitted, brightly colored caps bounced against their glistening faces, in sync to the music. They were singing together, twirling together, stomping their feet together with such complete egoless abandon and selfless joy - giving their gift to each other and to all of us.

All around the courtyard the other village waikis sat on the ground, watching this magnificent celebration - of life, of their heritage, their customs, their strength, their passion. They were sharing all of this with us, who sat cheering; our mouths open, our hearts growing wider.

The musicians came into the center of the courtyard as the young dancers went into their final dance. I don’t know what they were doing, but the boys suddenly heaved the girls up onto their backs, (some more easily than others as some of the girls were bigger than the boys) and trotted out of the courtyard. Everyone was laughing and clapping, even the dancers.

We all thought it was all over, but the music continued to play on. The dancers came out, taking each of us by the hand, so we could join them in the dancing. We formed a large circle, perhaps thirty or more of us, around the musicians in the center of the courtyard. Cindy suggested we (the US waikis) weave in and out of the villagers - a terrific idea. As we slalomed together through the dancers, I was soon drenched in sweat. My heart and arms reached up to the sky in joyful surrender to the enchanting experience.