Somehow my random walk has landed me in La Paz with immaculate timing. After a couple of days of rest, I have found myself right in the middle of the La Paz Carnaval. Yesterday seemed to be mostly about the children, but today was much different, but first the picture.
The day started out fairly calmly; I went to a free tour for tips that started at 10 a.m. No one showed up; not even a guide, so I went to another free tour company that started at 11 a.m. Fortunately, this one was a go with two guides and eight people, so we split up into a Spanish speaking and English speaking group. An Australian named Jack was leading the English group and was quite knowledgeable about the city that he had only lived in for two years. The tour started at the very interesting San Pedro prison where the guards only patrol the perimeter. Everything inside is run by prisoners, and the prisoners’ families sometimes live with them. We visited many of the interesting sites in downtown La Paz on both sides of the river and learned a little bit about the city and the country of Bolivia.
After the tour, Jessie from England and I decided to go watch the imminent parade. But let me back up for a second because on the tour, we were several times subjected to water guns or foam spray from wandering youths. Mostly they wanted to hit the red shirt and cap of the guide. I decided to get a can of foam to defend against other attacks which became more and more frequent as time went on. Anyway, Jessie and I rented chairs right on the parade route and basically people watched for a while until it became clear that the front row seats are also perfect targets for anyone with a water gun or foam spray. Luckily I had my can and it lasted a very long time.
The parade is slightly complicated to explain because it isn’t a normal parade that you might see in Canada. First of all, the entire street is lined with plastic chairs and stands that are rented out by whoever owns the chairs. Our seats were 25 bs. each which is about CAN$4. Second, the main flow of the parade (which goes in both directions) were groups of teenagers armed with spray foam cans, water guns, water balloons, and really big smiles. I did not see one person who was not enjoying themselves. There were also many police standing on the sidelines and mostly confiscating “batons” which are soft, but people use them to hit each other, and I think the police were interested in a violence free Carnaval, at least going by the promo posters around the city. So, picture thousands of teenagers streaming in either direction, mostly spraying each other and the audience. They preferred spraying Jessie, maybe because she was wearing a yellow rain poncho and had blond hair, but I sprayed them back, and by the end was doused in foam and water (but not as bad as Jessie). Once in a while, there would be an actual marching band or group of dancers, and they were also subjected to dousing and didn’t seem to mind.
The picture in this post is actually quite early on, but I have several pictures from later on, mostly of other people (which is why they aren’t posted here). You’ll just have to come to the slideshow when I return.
After Jessie left to join up with her adventure tour group, I got some supper, then went back to the festivities and enjoyed watching all the fun. I would say it was the most fun I have ever witnessed all at once. I then returned to my hotel room and am currently enjoying the music being played by live bands outside (playing traditional music). The sun has just set and the sky is darkening. The lights of the city are popping out and the music plays on with the occasional firework.
This morning I was missing a sock. I looked high and I looked low, I unpacked and repacked my suitcase, checked under and behind everything and could not find it. I even stripped the bed and shook out the blankets and sheets. It was not to be found, and there was no possible place I didn’t look. I thought maybe the maid had accidentally taken it the day before. Every time I leave my hotel room, I generally pack everything up and lock up the suitcase. This morning before I left, I placed the partner of the missing sock on top of my suitcase just in case the maid had found the missing one in the laundry and didn’t know where it belonged. Well, when I returned later, the room had been done up and there was a pair of socks on my suitcase, so the missing one had returned! My theory is that it had gone with the sheets and towels into the laundry. What do you think?