Dancers in unison;
Carnaval estas tu.
La Virgen and cars;
Offerings for new year;
Carnaval estas tu.
Charque for sale;
Ponchillos, ponchillos;
Carnaval estas tu.
Where are you from?
How long have you been here?
Carnaval estas tu.
Foam in my hair;
Water guns at my back;
Carnaval estas tu.
These words cannot even begin to convey the experience of Carnaval. The smells and sounds varying from the pleasant to the vulgur are all a part of the wonder of this celebration.
As it turns out, Carnaval is not only celebrated in Oruro but this is the city to experience the bolivian Carnaval as it is the biggest and most well-known event. A parade with thousands of participants come down a main street lined with bleachers where observers purchase their spot for the two-day parade. Costumes of various forms walk, dance, jump, down the street, most groups accompanied by their own marching band. Side-streets are lined with food stalls as well as vendors selling umbrellas, ponchos, sunglasses, "espume" which are cans of foam that are used to spray foam into each others' faces, especially if one is a foreigner...
La Paz also holds a parade down one of the main avenidas but my experience of it this past Sunday has it coming in below the parade in Oruro. I can only guess that this one has more school-aged participants and isn't as organized/has a different purpose than the one in Oruro. The one thing that La Paz upped on Oruro was the amount of foam spraying and water attacks. In La Paz, participants step it up a notch with water guns making way for water balloons and water bottles. The other thing that Pacenos (those who live in La Paz) also do is attack people from their cars - as was my experience Sunday morning on my way home from breakfast. From a passing car, a little girl of maybe 4 years of age spray foamed me in the face. She had wicked aim for a wee one her age.
In any case, Carnaval, you are a 4-day festival that I will not soon forget. I still don't understand all of the symbolism; perhaps one day though...
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