ok so we thought carnaval was only on monday and tuesday as i had mentioned in our previous entry. but we were informed that no, carnaval goes until today, Sunday. so our dear friend amalia asked if we wanted to go and see the parade. we looked at her and said, "are we gonna get wet?" she assured us we would get a little wet but we thought, "why not this will totally be worth it because we heard the costumes and dancers would be unbelievable." so yesterday afternoon we headed out. and the next part really is just a blur. but first let me back up.... as you may remember the belief here is that water symbolizes fertility thus causing boys to throw water balloons at any young woman. ok so back to the blur. so we get to the bridge that leads into the plaza of the city where the parade is taking place. and we look ahead to see all these boys with BAGS and BAGS and BAGS of water balloons about the size a baseball, water guns, and buckets. and not only are we looking at them but they are most certainly looking at us, like we are the next kill in the hunt for young white woman. we kept walking and we don't know how to describe it except for maybe like a war zone. within about 30 seconds we were soaked from head to toe and had about 15 welts all over our backs and faces, because nowhere in this belief does it say that you must throw the water balloons gently. in the middle of the bridge i looked back and couldn't find joni. later i found out someone had thrown a water balloon so hard that it caused her shades to go flying. so there she was like a sitting duck in the middle of a war zone on almost all fours looking for her shades. when she finally found them she realized one of the lenses was gone. she thought i need to get out of here and decided to leave the missing lens behind. but a good samaritan found her lens and came running to her with it. i think that might have been the only good samaritan there was. :)
so we made it over the bridge and in my mind i thought, holy smokes at least thats over. but little did we know it would continue our whole walk down the plaza, which was about an eight to nine block walk. it was a blur of being hit by water balloons from head to toe, being sprayed with white foam from head to toe and trying to keep track of each other in what was the biggest mob of people i have ever seen. at one point my face was completely covered with white foam that a gentleman had so kindly sprayed on me and i went to wipe my face with my hand only to discover they both were covered. so i moved on to my shirt only that was covered as well. i looked ahead and saw that joni's shirt was pretty clean, wet but clean. so i went to grab her shirt to wipe my face but she assumed i was some crazy man trying to feel her up. so took a swat at me. good thing i had one clean eye that i saw her hand with. finally after what seemed like hours we reached a spot where we could see the parade and also i had a good view of incoming balloons so i could at least prepare us for the incoming bomb shells. and let me tell this parade, once we got to see it, really was cool. there are groups that come from all over bolivia and dress up in amazing costumes and do a native dance. the parade is non-stop starting around 9:00 am, and we still heard them last night when we went to bed around 11:00 pm.
but soon our wet clothes started to chill our bodies. so we decided to make the journey home. luckily we only had to walk about two blocks out of the plaza and catch a taxi. once safely in the taxi we were able to see all the craziness clearer. its indescribable. they must go through a million balloons every hour, i swear. the ground is just covered. after a small traffic jam we finally found ourselves at home. soaked and cultured for sure, but laughing about every moment. its a day we won't forget for a long time. joni had taken her small camera and wrapped it about 7 times in a plastic bag so here are some of the images she grabbed! hope you enjoy!!!!!!!
this was a common costume style for the ladies. and check out those high heels - crazy ladies but at least they are dry
some of the men's costumes were really elaborate - costing up to $1,000
a boy still trying to get us wetter while we were inside the taxi
this was the first war zone - the bridge
and give it up for the carnaval survivors!
3 comments:
Ok, I'm literally spinning in my chair LOL!!! Sorry to laugh at your expense, but it's just too funny! Imagining Joni swatting at you as you try to wipe off your face...man I'm giggling as I'm typing!
Glad you survived the bombing! Oh, my. Seriously...praying for you guys and so glad to hear you got rid of those nasty "friends" as well. God Bless!
Oh man I feel awful. I didn't warn you about carnival. I think i might have permanently blocked the lovely memory out of my head. But it was crazy because i never got hit by a balloon. But there were so many water balloons. We witnesses this crazy event were a person threw a balloon at a bus, broke the window, the bus stopped and driver was angry! it was crazy. its something to do with lent right? like the last horrah before giving us bad things for lent? it seems like that was how they explained it to me. its over now though right? hopefully, it seems like this spirited event lasts forever.
Wow! You are such strong women! I feel bad that you had to go through that. But like Carey, I did chuckle when I read that Joni swatted at you... : ) Glad to see you survived! Much love and prayers for ya!
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