In my last post I described my workplace with a bit more detail. I am still very happy working at the Plataforma; keeping busy with art classes, music classes, and photo classes. In between, I am helping in the kitchen and helping with the lunch for the kids in preschool. I've also found a special someone called Roly and am very, very happy.
Here's a music suggestion (Ben Harper is amazing. I love his music.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQqDI-aOkhQ
Since it's been a month since I wrote, there is a lot that has happened.
1. Cochabamba and Carnival
Carnival in Bolivia is a big deal. In the US, not many people celebrate it; in Germany there is a similar hype about the holiday as in Bolivia.
Many people advised me to get out and away from Santa Cruz during carnival because here the tradition is to throw water, foam, mud, and especially paint at people. As I didn't like the idea of getting my hair permanently died a mix of green, blue, and red, I asked around to see if any of my friends were going to travel.
Happens that one of my Bolivian friends, Peter, was going to visit his family in Cochabamba and that I could come with him.
That´s how I found my way to Cochabamba, or better said, a town 30 minutes away from Cocha called Punata.
When we arrived, a big lunch awaited us. I already have learned that the Bolivian eat a lot of meat, rice, and few veggies, but in Cocha a bowl full of rice, meat, potato, yuca, and a bit of Salad awaited me. It was really delicious, especially the yuca which I love, but it was so much that I hardly ate half of my plate without having eaten breakfast. I know very well that it is impolite to leave food on the plate, but it was absolutely impossible for me to eat more.
Later, we went to the Peach farm of Peter´s family. I have never seen so many peach trees in my life. Can´t remember if I´ve ever seen a peach tree in my life before. And so many cows that the family all milk themselves!! From Peter´s granny I learned how to milk a cow, and even though she seemed a bit reluctant to let me milk her cow (according to my family in SCZ that´s part of the very closed culture in the Highlands of Bolivia....and I did note a difference in the behavior of the people.) Nevertheless I enjoyed learning and kind of got the hang of milking a cow.
In the afternoon Peter´s family took us to the Peach Fair in
Punata and later to another fair a bit further away. Even though I first
thought that a Peach Fair would be quite boring, it was a lot of fun to listen
to the live music and explore the town. The second fair we went to was
relatively big and we went for the music more than anything else. By the time
we got to the fair, the temperature had dropped and I regretted not having
taken a warmer sweater. Nevertheless. The music that the bank played was
Cumbia, which is not my type of music I will admit. The evening was still fun
and I enjoyed joking around with Peter.
That evening, there was a storm, as I was told the next
morning. I had slept so deeply that night, that I hadn't heard a thing.
The second day in Cocha the weather was rather gray and
dull. Peter and I ate breakfast, watched TV for a while, and later went to the
market with his cousins. For me it was
very weird and new that in the streets there were almost only
"Cholitas" the women from the Highlands. Clearly that's obvious
because Cocha is in the highlands, but it was strange to me.
In the afternoon, Peter and I went to Cocha to visit his
aunt in the big market. She sows polleras, the typical skirts that the "highlander's"
wear. Later Peter and me gathered all of our strength to climb up to the
Cristo. Now, under normal circumstances, that would not be too hard, there were
stairs that lead up the hill and the distance was not too far, either. What we
did not calculate was the altitude. After about 10 steps, we were both dead.
"Maldita alturaaaaaaaaaa". Nevertheless, we reached the Cristo after
about half an hour of extreme exercise. ( I might be exaggerating juuuuust a
bit jejejeej).
Peter had told me about a carnival parade in one of the
little towns further away from Cocha, where men dressed up like women and the
other way around. I thought this really funny and wanted to see the parade.
Happened that the parade was the afternoon that we climbed the Cristo and Peter
figured we would not have enough time to see the comparsa. Luckily for us, we
arrived just in time to still see the dressed up men. I had a great time; it
was incredibly funny to see all these middle aged,
I-have-no-idea-what-I-am-doing-here-but-there's-Chicha men hopping around, singing
and clapping. **Chicha is a typical drink in the highlands made of corn I think...I've
both heard that it contains alcohol and that it doesn't....It's not mine; the
taste is very sour kinda like apple juice gone bad**
The second surprise awaited us in the parade that we went to in the afternoon. This parade was more serious than the last and all the girls dressed up like cholitas. Immediately after Peter and I arrived, the men invited us to drink beer and chicha with the and persuaded me to dance in the parade. Now, just like the other parade, you can't really say that it was a parade. It was more like a bunch of people dancing and running through a small town with dirt roads. After a bit of hesitation, I realized that I would miss out on something big if I didn't participate...
I dressed up like a cholita, braided my hair, painted my lips red, got little pieces of paper thrown on my head, and paper necklesses put around my neck. Then I danced and ran through the town at Peter's side along with about 20 other men and women.
At the beginning I really enjoyed myself. But, as the custom is to trow water balloons, foam, and buckets full of water (not the buckets but the water, obviously hahaha) at the cholitas, I was wet to my skin once we reached the middle of our tour. I befriended a little girl and helped her throw water balloons at the audience. She was super cute.
The other half of the journey (another 2-3 km, a bit more than a mile) was painful because my pollera (skirt) was soaked and heavy. It was also getting dark and super cold.
When we got to the house of Peter's uncle (I think the whole town is somehow related to him!!!) we were served hot tea and I borrowed a warm sweater. All in all the day was super fun and full of good memories even though it was cold and wet :)
One of those days we also went to the river close to the house. An absolutely stunning little part of nature.
The last day we spent in the market of Cochabamba celebrating Carnival there. The amount of foam and smoke in the closed market was unbelievable. in front of every little 'tienda' (store) the owners lit a special offering made up of a cracker house and other things. The experience was pretty, but I was very tired and ready to go home at the end of the day.
Make sure to check out the Photos a bit further down!!!!!
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