Friday was jam packed. We drove almost an hour to reach "La Tarumba" - a circus of sorts founded by "Pa Amador" who is a famous Afro-Peruvian musician and who comes from a long line of musicians in Peru. It's gated, and we were met outside by a little lady who greeted us warmly and led us inside. She gave us a tour - it's a large converted house. They have space for tumbling, acrobatics, music, and other things you would see in something like cirque du soliel. They started the circus to build kids' self-esteem. To give them a productive outlet after school and provide them with something to focus on and dedicate their lives too, much like the Y.

She eventually led us to the music room to wait for Amador. The walls were covered in hanging instruments. There was a piano and cajones - drum boxes - on the floor. There was a window overlooking the tumbling space. While we waited, Nehemiah sat at the piano and started playing. We were all enjoying it when Amador walked in. Nehemiah turned bright red and stopped, but Amador said he wanted to play with him. Nehemiah protested until he couldn't anymore, and he started to play. Amador gave Nehemiah a a cajon to sit on, set up a cajon next to the piano, and followed Nehemiah's lead with percussion.

After they finished, Amador started to tell us his story. He said his dad was like a big tree and his mom lived in the shadow most of her life. It was as though she was crippled and he would just ask if food was ready and she always said yes. She raised him and his brothers. Amador didn't want to be a big beautiful tree but he liked walking behind his dad in his footsteps. He looked like his father as a child. When he was a teen he realized he had different hands and was a different person - not like his dad. His mom was always helpful and got help from other people of all races. People gave their family clothes and other people made fun of them.

He left when he was 19 and became a man. He studied accounting because he didn't want to be like the rest of his family - artists. He sold jeans for a while as a model and bought his first desk with his earnings. He started being different when he was alone. He couldn't stop his imagination and in his loneliness one night he burnt his food. He started listening to music. He heard his grandmother singing and cooking. He started crying and decided to go back - not as the prodigal son, but as Amador who had left a space behind to better understand it. He didn't ask for forgiveness. He simply accepted his culture as it was. He realized all of his knowledge and knew he should become a teacher. He knew he should teach with his cajon, his body, dance and music. He was gone for 4 years.

His father's death was a celebration. His mother became visible. He always saw her and looked up to her, and now others did too. She started being chic and beautiful as an Afro-Peruvian woman. His brothers were teachers. His sisters were dancers. His dad used to say "We don't have tired blood. Not because we are emancipated, but because we came from a place in Africa. Our race is special because our ancestors sheered sheep." They married among each other and married within the clan. That clan remained together until the early 1900s. Relationships are reciprocal and transcendental. If a family remains closed - it will explode.

The problem starts with the parents. They teach discrimination, lying, stealing. Then that child grows up and that's why we have to help them. When we moved into this space we only had one cajon. This space has survived very much.

He wrote a book called "el Amador". He also produced several albums with his family and solo. He finished by telling us a made up story about animals that taught a lesson - a parable he made up on the spot.