barrio flores

All over Bolivia, Carnaval is in full swing. The most famous of festivities take place in the old mining town of Oruro, where during the weeks around Carnaval, the city comes alive. I’ve only experienced Carnaval in Oruro and Cochabamba, because of the similarity of dates. The Corso de Corsos in Cochabamba is such a let-down after seeing the excitement in Oruro, although the weather is nicer in Cochabamba. I hear Tarija’s party is pretty sweet. A lot of my friends have favorite pueblitos where Carnaval is a more intimate party, without a lot of the commercialization seen in the larger cities.

My first Carnaval in Oruro was in 2001 when I tagged along with my cousin’s co-ed fraternidad. He dances with Caporales San Simon, one of the most well-known groups in the country. These fraternidades dance a typical Bolivian dance such as Morenada, Tinku or Caporales (just to name a few). With their elaborately designed costumes, costing up to $200, the Caporales are often one of the most anticipated groups to dance in the entrada. Stands line the street, while beer and food are consumed at an astonishing rate. On my first trip to Carnaval, I had no idea what to expect.

Since all of the 60+ people who came with us from Cochabamba, would be dancing during that time, I had no other choice than to help out as a limonero. Basically I would act as the waterboy/bodyguard. Hardly anyone drank water during the break in the action, even though it’s tough physical exertion to dance in the high altitude of Oruro. My job would be to buy beers from the vendors at 3 X 10 Bs. ($1.25) for the dancers, and often they would insist that I share one with them.

As the night raged on, the number of drunks increased, so did their courage of the spectators to try and sweet talk the girls in the group. Sometimes they would walk onto the street, put their arm around them and try to steal a kiss. I had to be prepared and would often need to pry them off of the young lady. It never escalated into anything dramatic, as a simple courteous plea would often be more than enough. Sometimes it would be as simple as saying “salud” (cheers) with the beer in our hands, and soon their mind would be off of whatever they were trying to do. They were too jolly to push the envelope, not to mention that I was probably considerably taller and bigger than most typical Bolivians.

Bolivia.com has a summary of the festivities in Oruro, Santa Cruz, La Paz and Cochabamba.