Carnaval!

Goofy picture of me and... this guy
foam fights!
That little armadillo he´s holding is a noisemaker that they all spin around in unison

The BOOM of the marching band drums makes me really appreciate the fact that my flu and the accompanying headaches are long gone. Like my little bit of flu that I had in Banos in Ecuador, the chills and sweats and aches all passed in one night. Unfortunately they seemed to have passed on my my travel buddy Ida. She started feeling very ill at some point in night before our bus trip, and despite much rest yesterday she is still feeling very weak and immodium doesn´t seem to be doing anything for stomach trouble. Right now I am blogging as part of the carnaval parade passes by the narrow street directly outside of the internet business so that Ida can sit in a chair in the doorway and watch without getting too tormented by water balloons and the foam spray that is so popular for carnaval. It smells lemony fresh, but isn´t very much fun when you get a face-full.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnaval_de_Oruro

Carnaval is the longest parade procession I may ever see in my life. It started before I woke up this morning and is supposed to go on for about 20 hours. I don´t even know how to begin to describe the elaborate costumes and variety of costumes in the procession. I think this may motivate me to finally put up a bunch of pictures instead. When I was in La Paz I went to a museum of folklore and there was a great display of the different types of masks and descriptions of their history. The descriptions were in Spanish so I only got bits and pieces of these histories. I was mostly wondering why so many of the masks seem to be the faces of black men, but with grotesquely exaggerated representations of common stereotypes. I reallly had to take a step back, accept that I found this offensive and then try to accept carnaval for all that it is at the same time.

I have been watching from side streets although I think the best place to see carnaval is from the main plaza which is completely packed. I have been going back and forth watching the parade and checking in on Ida. We both lived on coca-cola and water yesterday and I am hoping she will feel up to eating something today, but I have to admit after the flu the street food that I usually enjoy looks less enticing and more like another potential bout of tummy ache. I have however not lost my taste for saltenas, delicious pastries with a veggie and meat type stew inside (now I know why these are Margo´s favorite food in Bolivia, Margo by the way is the best college roommate ever and my first Bolivian friend... and is now engaged, Go Margo!).

Now that I am feeling well I am enjoying the water wars and can´t help but laugh out loud as I run, duck and dodge in an effort to escape the water balloons. I haven´t stocked up on any ammunition though. I have discovered some of the best ways to avoid an attack which are:

1. Walk close to the stands where the little old ladies are selling food, souveniers, decorations or miscilanious stuff from china. These tough grannies put up such a fuss at a drop of water getting on their merchandise that people don´t risk it.

2. Carry food. Surprisingly the kids toting squirt guns and water balloons didn´t attack while I was carrying my saltena and corn in full view in front of my body. I kind of did it as a test, and my potential attackers seemed quite disapointed.

3. If you have to move across the street or up the street walk will the dancers or just as they pass... those brief spaces between performers are an all out brawl with bleachers full of people pegging everyone with water balloons, and hard.

Time to go out and re-join the festivities!!!