Oruro Carnaval 2012 – February 18, 2012

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Oruro Carnaval 2012 (92 photos)
Up at 2:30 a.m. today; home at 11:00 p.m. Ernie Diller, Margaret Richards, Danny Richards, Karen Taylor, Jorge Luis Bartos, and I traveled via a Bolivian Carnaval bus to Oruro for the day to attend the Oruro Carnaval 2012. Thanks go to Karen Taylor and her fantastic zoom for all the closeups! A fun day was had by all! Here’s a link for more photos:
http://www.emirates247.com/news-in-images/viva-la-carnival-it-s-party-time-in-bolivia-2012-02-19-1.443785
Next year when we go, we won’t travel by Bolivian bus! The trip down was the most uncomfortable bus ride ever–the windows wouldn’t close (Brrrrrrr–did not have enough clothes to keep warm) and the seats are NOT made for North American knees. The trip back was on a different bus. The windows wouldn’t close again and the seats were even tighter–way too uncomfortable for a 4-hour ride. We’ll check out going by van and staying overnight so we won’t have to get up at 2:30 a.m. Too long of a recovery time the next day. All that said, we had a GREAT time. We paid $125 each to sit in a special seating area up and away from the crowds in a nicely shaded reviewing stand. Our $125 fee gave us the nice seating and not one, but two ponchos, to cover our clothes from the foam spray and the water balloons. Fortunately, we were up too high to catch any of the water balloon activity. Yeah! The foam wasn’t so bad after all, as it dried pretty quickly in the high altitude. Next year we’ll hope for a hotel room with a balcony and a real bathroom.

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BJ, Ernie, and Ria’s great 7-hour adventure to the Alasitas Festival in La Paz.

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Alasitas is a 3-week long fair that, in La Paz, takes place beginning on the 24th of January and in Santa Cruz takes place in September. Everything is in miniature! This festival originally took place in September throughout the country when it’s spring time in Bolivia and farmers prayed for a good crop so their harvest would be bountiful. Alasitas is an Aymara festival Bolivia celebrates in reverence of the indigenous “god of bounty” or “abundance” called the Ekkekko. Therefore, Alasitas has been called the Festival of Abundance. It takes place at the Parque Urbano in La Paz and the 5th Ring between Tres Pasos al Frente and Cumavi in Santa Cruz. As it grows each year, its location is sometimes moved. http://www.boliviabella.com/alasitas.html

Alasitas is a Bolivian tradition. At this fair, everything is a miniature!

www.boliviabella.com

Alasitas is one of the oldest Bolivian holidays and traditions. It’s a fair where you buy a miniature of everything you want the god Ekkekko to give you during the year! Festival of Abundanance

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