Carnaval

You learn a lot of new things living in a different culture. Being here in Bolivia has taught me all of the Catholic holidays and the great importance of those days. Here in Bolivia, Carnaval is a very big deal. For those US readers, Carnaval coincides with Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday. It marks the day before Ash Wednesday, which is the beginning of the Catholic period of fasting and mourning before Easter. Here, it is celebrated really for about 2 weeks before hand - sometimes the whole month of Feb. 2 Thursdays before Carnaval, they celebrate Dia de Compadres - Guy's Night Out. The Thursday before is Dia de Commadres - Girl's Night Out. Unfortunately, these are usually nights for partying and getting drunk - our church plans to put a healthier slant on them. The whole season is a time for fun and games - specifically water fights. It's a great time to make a dime on the street. There's all kinds of people who sit around making and selling water balloons on every corner. Everyone, especially the youth, go around with water balloons and water guns in hand, ready to pelt the best targets. This year, they actually had to call the police on a gang of about 30 teenage boys who were terrorizing the main street in town. But usually, it's all done in good fun. The day of Carnaval the water hoses and buckets come out and people drive around in pickups just trying to douse whoever. And the Monday and Tuesday of Carnaval are national holidays. There is a huge cultural parade in Oruro with elaborate costumes and dancing. It is really a very syncronistic holiday for those who are familiar with the word. Some churches refuse to have any part of it. We, on the other hand, have chosen to bring out the good involved in the holiday. As such, it has now become tradition to have a water fight for the 'young at heart' here at our place. This year to tell you the truth, we kind of forgot to plan it, until the youth approached us a couple days beforehand. So it was kind of thrown together, but I think everyone had fun. We had about 20 people out Sunday after church, roasted hotdogs, played water balloon volleyball with sheets and capture the flag with water balloons, and a devo following. It was fun (and Michaela really discovered what Carnaval is all about - espcially with Daddy's new toy - a water gun) - although I completely lost my voice afterward due to a bad cold and such a long day. I didn't get a whole lot of great pictures of the water fights - to tell you the truth, I feared for my camara - but I hope you enjoy what you see.