Carnaval 2013

More foam

every set of dancers had a big band
close behind

foam wars above on the bleachers
sometimes I tried to participate but ended up getting creamed

the dances are simple but full of energy

and crazy hats

luckily we sat on the bottoms rows
and could jump over the gate
to snap photos

all ages welcome 

what masks they had

dance parties in the street between groups in the parade

these african descendants living outside
La Paz would take to the street with their
music during lulls.  they told me about
how their ancestors were brought by the
Spaniards long ago, and they love Bolivia
especially on days like Carnaval

the theme is a cultural mix of old Andean and later Catholic cultures, here an angel in front of diabladas (devils, pic above)
it may appear I am happily dancing alongside the lead angel in this troop
instead, I had been sent by some middle aged men who "knew him" to deliver this water as the dancers had miles left
but he just ignored me for a good 15 meters as I failed to complete my task

no south american parade would be
complete without these dashing damas

the truck drivers had a huge
procession in the parade

bugs, furry hugs, and giant bears

Eve of the Parade in Oruro

painting the seat delineations to sell later 

Friday everyone gathers in Oruro to celebrate the Eve of the big Carnaval celebration.  Everyone was preparing for the big parade, and all along the main street they were selling everything: wigs, hot dogs, cell phone covers, jackets, foam spray, sunglasses, the equivalent of Cutco knives here, candies, you name it.  All along the bleachers were people selling seats for the parade, so we bought some ($50 per seat, expensive!).   

It's like a fried empanada and delicious.  The drink is sweetened corn, a mix of yellow and purple corn.
Like most food there, it came out of that large pot sitting on a flame in the middle of the street.

After reserving our seats, we went to see bands play on a big stage set up in the central plaza, and everyone was dancing away.  Not even the rain could stop us!

On Saturday, the parade began at 7 am with the loud drums and cymbals crashing outside the hotel window.  So we rolled over, pulled up the covers, and decided to miss the first few hours.  After all, it goes all day into the night at 3 am, then starts up again on Sunday morning…

Traveling Bolivia

Need I say more?  Sorely
disappointing, and cost
more than $5 / footlong!

Have to enjoy the journey, right?  We started waiting 4 hours in the airport when our flight was delayed (would love to see some data on the average delay here, seeing as no one even lines up to board until the departure time).  Luckily it’s easy to walk in and out of security- shoes on, whatever liquids/laptops in bag, and thus no line!  For dinner I ate at the only Subway in the city, something I have long been craving.

Jackie and I forwent the 10 hour bus ride for the 45 minute flight ($10 vs $50, worth the splurge) to another large Bolivian city, Cochabamba.  We paid a whopping $7 each to stay in this hotel for the locals:

No wonder the lady thought me crazy when I asked if there was internet. Especially as there was only one outlet in the room, attached to that free hanging lightbulb.

We woke up and went straight to the bus terminal, which is more or less a madhouse.  Nonetheless, we found a bus with “full bed” seats for $9 to Oruro, which means we could lay out for the 4-hour bus ride (after that initial 30 minutes spent at a gas station).   Throughout the ride, local people hop on and off selling loaves of bread, icecream, and prepackaged lunches of rice and meat.

Strange Juxtaposition of Logos

We made it safely to Oruro, where we stayed in a hotel for $175 USD each for a 3-night Carnaval package (ie it was a big, expensive ordeal to be in Oruro for Carnaval).  After the 3 days, we returned back to Cochabamba, this time on a "semi bed" bus where the seats didn't lean back as far, but there were seatbelts!  As we pulled out of the station, a local lady climbed on and rode the whole way on the stairs.  We stayed a night in Cochabamba at a hostel, where everyone spoke English and chatted over the free bread/jam breakfast about the best trails to Machu Pichu (the stereotypical conversation here for the backpacking crowd).

A nicer location a bit outside the city.
$10/night, with free access to playground!

We flew out the next day, after a solid 5 day vacation.  Good to be home again in Santa Cruz, but like after any proper South American vacation, now with some gastrointestinal bug...!

Oruro Bound

Jackie and I are heading on a plane to Cochabamba, Bolivia to stay for a night before taking a bus to Oruro for Carnaval.  We took an altitude med, acetazolamide, since we'll be up around 12,000 feet.   There were no meds left in Santa Cruz (a shortage of this drug for 3 weeks) but luckily we had some left over from another trip.  Last time they gave me the pills in a little baggie (prescriptions are basically only needed for narcotics).  Then I realized I had absolutely no idea what dose they were.  I went on one of the "pill finder" applications we use in the US to describe the shape/color/markings, but unfortunately I realized that my pill was a white circle with one line down the center... completely nonspecific.   So much for that.

Anyways, more to come, but I just wanted to post this nice picture!

Jackie and my masks.  We pained our nails to match and bought those streamers as well.
Actually no one really wears masks like this in Bolivia, but doesn't mean we can't!

Doctors on Strike!

Strikes are extremely common here, often including all outpatient physicians (inpatient doctors always continue attending).  Before we arrived in August, there had been over 50 days of strikes in 2012!  Many of these days were due to the fact that the Santa Cruz government had not paid the doctors in several months.  Topics range from internal politics (according to our nurse, a politician of Evo Morales's socialist party basically imposed himself above the hospital director, so now a politician of the moment runs the hospital instead of a doctor) to matters beyond health care (ie striking in solidarity with a miner’s strike against nationalizing a quarry).  

Me enjoying some down time at the main plaza during a
hospital strike day. I was watching an ant run around a tile
 trying frantically to get out of it without crossing the grout.
It was actually utterly fascinating

It’s quite interesting, and makes you appreciate working in a more secure, predictable environment.  For now, it makes it incredibly difficult to collect patients.  The other day during a strike I went to find "healthy" hospital comers.  In the large entrance, the majority of the people were cameramen!  Needless to say I've been in the background of local news multiple times.  One poor man was quoted in the newspaper, "I haven't peed for 2 days and need to see a doctor."  Someone direct that man to the ER...!

Get Ready for Carnaval

Carnaval 2013!  It's the festive season before Lent, and a huge celebration down here in Bolivia, who get the Monday and Tuesday (our "Fat Tuesday") off to celebrate, yet end up celebrating the whole week prior and after.  The last 4 weekends have had events every Saturday and Sunday in anticipation.  Fashion shows, parades of various sorts, and general cheer.

the costumes had a lot of cultural
significance (one of the ladies was
the hottest and skimpiest dressed
cotton candy vendor I've seen)

More traditional dance in the parade

packing in the alley alongside the church to see the parade

Us with some typical dancers of the region

One of the "reinas" or "queens" from
the kids parade

During these parades, the kids carry around cans of spray foam and water guns and fight amongst themselves.  Santa Cruz has seemed to take this a little further, and for the weekend of Carnaval (Feb 8-12) the adults run around with paint-filled balloons and squirt guns of ink.  A lot of people warned us it could be "dirty, dangerous, and full of drunks", and the ink will stain faces and hair for weeks.  Many take refuge in their homes or flee the city.  So Jackie and I decided to travel to Oruro, a mining town which throws a huge cultural festival and parade, dedicated as a UNESCO heritage masterpiece.  More on that to come, but for now, enjoy the Santa Cruz spirit of Carnaval!

Even the little ones are armed with
a can of foam

Blurry shot of some girl getting wrecked

The best $1.50 spent today was getting some foam for myself.  What a thrill!  I went around shooting unsuspecting kids, often the ones who were already armed but unprepared, or busy shooting someone else.  My favorite were two boys barely 5, who were standing off, staring each other down en guard and ready to shoot.  Neither saw it coming when I nailed them both, at which point they found a common enemy and followed me shooting their water guns.  I ended trying to take a picture of my final target, but got this video:

Lessons in Cooking- Chuño

Walking through the market with Jeong and Dr. Vasquez (visiting cardiologist from Peru), we were going through all sorts of herbs, grains, and pasta.  We arrived at large bags of seeds, flours, and little nuggets that looked honestly like dried terds.

"Chuño!", exclaimed Dr. Vasquez.  He explained the freeze-dried potatoes, used by the ancient Incan civilization of the Andean Plateau (aka altiplano) at around ~12,000 feet.  Per Wikipedia, it is a five-day process, obtained by exposing a frost-resistant variety of potatoes to the very low night temperatures of the Andean Altiplano, freezing them, and subsequently exposing them to the intense sunlight of the day.

So of course I bought half a kilogram at $0.75, having no earthly idea what to do with them.  "Soak them in regular water" said Dr. Vasquez.  "They will expand into a potato, like the size of a fist."  Impressive!

     

Chuño before, next to a dried lime

 

Chuño after a 24-hour soak

Needless to say, after a day of soaking I was not impressed.  Silly me- I had been afraid the glass might break if it expanded too much!  Anyways, Omar's mother said to soak, skin, then boil the potatoes, so maybe that will be a cooking adventure for next week...