Skin and Skirts: Carnival in Bolivia

Buy Me! Buy Me!

"Is this a market or a festival?" may ask himself a traveler witnessing the Alasitas for the first time. Actually, it is both of them.

The Alasitas are miniatures sold in Bolivian markets, especially in La Paz, beginning at January 24th. There is no need to rush since the festival runs well into the Carnival season.

The festival name is related to an Aymara word meaning "buy me," and it celebrates Ekeko, the abundance and home idol, to whom the miniatures are given as a gift. The locals believe he will reciprocate with similar gifts in the real world. The purchase of the gifts is done publicly – in the markets – while the offerings are private and performed far from the traveler’s eyes.

Typical of Catholic syncretism, the festival was united with the celebration of the La Paz Virgin and the liberation of the city from Tupak Katari's siege. These themes appear in the banners adorning the markets and the miniatures being sold.

Legend

The legend behind the festival tells that many centuries ago, a man called Ekeko lived in the Andean Plateau; he was short, humble and generous, and nor very different from his modern brothers. His arrival at any village brought harmony and happiness. The Apu Qullana Qullo (Aymara for Sacred Father God) gave him special gifts and he was able to change nature itself.

However, the happiness was over once the Awka (Devil) arrived; the devil in Bolivia is usually depicted as a young man having white skin and blue eyes, especially in the customs used during the carnival. The devil ruined whatever Ekeko built, and the last was forced to run away.

One day, the Awka and Ekeko arrived at the same village. To prevent further destruction, Ekeko gave himself to Awka. He was tortured and dismembered and his body parts were buried in different parts of the High Plateau to avoid his reincarnation. Legend says that his body will be recreated at the Winyay Marca (the Divine City) and would announce the emancipation of the Aymara people. The resemblance of the second part of the legend to historical events and figures (dismembering was a typical punishment of the Spaniards towards indigenous leaders) is not casual; encasing history into festivals and legends is a favorite way to preserve the past among denizens.

Reaching the Festival

In La Paz, Alasitas is celebrated at La Paz Municipal Park; to reach it from the obelisk in downtown advance through Camacho Avenue until the site is reached. Public transport operates, but it cannot access the market area.

Challas

As in any Bolivian festival, "challas" are seen everywhere; the blessing of (and sharing with) the earth takes the strange form of spilling some beer of every glass on the ground. That accounts for the strong beer smell in the whole market.

The Stalls

The Municipal Park paths and entrances fill up with stalls which are covered with plastic sheets, a proven protection against water-filled balloons. People wearing plastic ponchos check out the miniatures.

The festival gives free hand to people's creativity; tiny - but otherwise real - newspapers are specially issued for the occasion by the regular publishers. Stalls marked as "Bank of Bolivia" sell miniature notes of euros and dollars; a thousand fake dollars can be purchased for a dime. Credit cards are largely ignored; more than half of the Bolivian population doesn’t have a bank account and credit cards are a rarity.

Houses and cars exist in a myriad of designs and special trays - a take-away offering to the gods - are aggressively advertised. A sign of the times are miniature passports of a variety of countries featuring the necessary visas needed to access the accompanying miniature airplane. Mobile phones of the latest models, but in miniature are sold next to computers, mp4 players and all kind of fake high-tech gadgets.

Such a festival cannot exist without food stalls fueling the visiting hordes; but even those have been adapted for the occasion and most of them sell miniatures of popular Bolivian pastries by the dozen. These are the only functional miniatures in the whole market.

Carrying a much promise of change, this festival may be the most hopeful event of the year for many Bolivians living far below the poverty line.

La Paz celebrates since 1939 the "Festividad Del Señor Del Gran Poder" (Festival of the Lord of the Great Power). The festivity is centered on a cult to an image of Jesus anonymously painted in the 17th century. Much later, in 1842, a young lady called Genoveva Carrión joined a Catholic monastery (Monasterio de la Purísima Concepción) and gave the picture to it. In 1904, the monastery was reduced in size and the picture began wandering around. In 1932, a chapel aimed to keep it was constructed and the local bishop asked of two painters to erase the faces on Jesus' sides. After erasing the two faces, one of the painters wanted to improve Jesus' eyes, but the story says the paint moved his eyes away.

In 1939, the chapel was declared a church, "Iglesia Parroquial del Gran Poder," and a new festival was added to La Paz repertoire. Since then it became the biggest festivity of the year.

With dancing groups arriving from the whole department, the festival reminds very much of the Bolivian Carnival; however, the dances variety is wider and accurately shows the human richness of the department. During no other festivity – not even All Saints - the role of the Catholic Church in the local culture is so evident as in the Gran Poder.

Climate Considerations

La Paz altitude dictates a harsh climate. In late May or early June, when the festival takes place, the climate is substantially different than during Carnival; the temperatures drop close to the freezing point and it is so dry that most metallic surfaces are loaded with static electricity. Worsening the situation, Bolivian structures are not connected to ground. Thus bringing adequate clothing and avoiding the water balloons thrown by local children is recommended.

Africa and Potosi

Much of the folklore represented in this festival originates in the black slaves brought from Africa to work in the silver mines of Potosi. The few survivors settled down in the Yungas, the northern part of the province on the limit with the Amazonian Basin, where is hotter and lower than in La Paz.

As with the Carnival, each dancing group usually represents a given group of union workers or communities. The flag they carry states the exact union they represent (all the flags are the same, only the union’s name changes). The dancers belong to that union and had paid a significant amount of their income in order to participate; participation is considered prestigious.

"La Morenada" music and dance has a distinctive African rhythm and includes the presence of a Black King, especially elected for the event; nowadays, indigenous Aymaras usually cast all the roles of the elaborate dance. Masks with huge, bulging eyes represent the slaves, which were unaccustomed to the altitude and unable to work in the mines for prolonged periods of time.

Other roles include "María Antonieta," a woman slave that rebelled against her European owner using her voluptuousness to seduce the "Caporal." The last was a special slave in charge of the slaves; they were famous for their violence. "Caporales" is the name of a related dance that puts emphasis on the role of these slave-bosses. They are enacted with heavy dresses and whips to represent their power; the dresses are so heavy - looking like a wedding-cake - that the dancers are hardly able to move and resemble trees moving in the wind. Bells are attached to the legs, but there is no chance to hear them.

"La Saya" is a percussive music based on drums and the "reje reje," a bamboo stick with incisions that reminds a ratchet; both can be seen amidst the more popular brass instruments.

Watching the Event

As with the Carnival, the event is best seen at El Prado - the main avenue spanning the downtown center or at the vicinity of the General Cemetery - a main landmark in the city and a proper warning for those worshipping the "Diablada."

All the main streets connecting these two landmarks are in the path of the dancing groups. However, the processions of the Gran Poder are larger and can be seen also in other parts of the city.

The strangest festival in this journal, the Day of the Dead is a syncretism between an ancient local festival honoring the dead and the Christian day of All Saints.

Access

The main activities of the festival are located in the General Cemetery of La Paz, a main landmark that is readily accessible, though the arrival with public transport is difficult in those days due to the crowds.

After acclimatizing to the altitude, a walk from El Prado - La Paz main avenue – to the cemetery should take around twenty minutes.

Dining with Ñatitas

Originally, the locals used to take their dead out of their graves and share a day with them.

The gruesome part is that in the past the dead used to be dug out of their graves; nowadays only the skulls are used. Obviously lacking a nose, the skulls are affectionately called "ñatitas" (short nosed). If a skull is not available, a family's member dresses up as the dead and enacts him during the day, talking with the family about the last year and giving counseling.

Mastak'u - All Saints Table

The Mastak'u (All Saints Table) is where the syncretism between Catholic Christianity and local beliefs is evident. The All Saints Table is set at the meeting point of the family and features different offering to the spirits, according to their tastes in life.

Typical offering include food, drinks and miniature replicas of objects (see the Alasitas entry in this journal, the items used are identical) that belonged to the dead in life. In such a way, the arrival of the spirit is assured for a day during the first three or seven years after the death (traditions vary).

The table is arranged according to the world’s picture of the Aymara, Quechua and Uru people (all of them native of the Andean High Plateau and the high valleys surrounding it). It is arranged in three levels named Alaxpacha (heaven), Ak’apacha (earth), Mank’apacha (hell). The Heaven includes nowadays a cross, representing Christianity.

In the underworld, where the dead are according to the native beliefs, everything goes backwards and old people slowly turn young again. At the end of the dry season the dead return for a day to get supplies for the next year. On the first of November, Bolivian families begin to prepare a small feast to their dead that supposedly would arrive to the cemetery the next day.

The offering is arranged on a cloth covering a table called (mastak'u). The cloth is white if the dead were a kid or black if he was an adult. Next to the skull or to the dead photograph, candles, food, candies shaped as animals, dried fruits, pastries, "tantawawa" bread shaped as kids and symbolizing sacrificed children, coca leaves, chicha (corn beer), and cigarettes are placed in generous quantities. The skulls are extravagantly adorned, with many flower garlands, sunglasses, cigarettes and whatever the family fancies.

"Tantawawa" means "bread-children" in Aymara and refers to bread shaped and painted as babies. The bread is given to real children that in exchange pray for the dead of the family giving the bread.

Small ladders are placed on the table if the dead were adult, so that he or she would be able to climb to Heaven and small wings if the dead were a child. If the offering is suitable, then the spirits arrive at noon and leave at noon next day.

Sitting around the offerings table the family receives guests during the whole night and musical groups play relevant themes. The arrival of Mariachi groups in recent years that move from one family group to another marks the main deviation of old traditions. It is not rare to see a heavily adorned skull placed on one of the cemetery benches with the family standing around it, while a musical group plays a serenade to the dry bones.

Flowers are put over the tomb, if there is one. In La Paz most dead are kept in niches for a few years and then taken away from the cemetery thus most families bring their skulls with them (they are stored in their homes).

Next day, by noon, a farewell ceremony accompanied by an abundant meal is performed.

The first time I arrived at La Paz it was just a few days before the Carnival. I was not aware of that until then; it was serendipity at its best: travel around until something worthwhile appears. As soon as I dropped my luggage, I was told that the cities of Oruro and La Paz offer the best versions of the Carnival in the whole country and I ran to take my first look at the event.

Unplanned again, I found myself again in La Paz during the occasion. Anyone familiar with the surroundings would wonder before seeing it how such an event would look like. Four kilometers above the Pacific Ocean, the Andean Plateau at February is a harsh place. Whenever it is not raining, the sun burns and the shadows freeze; wild hailstones are common. Oxygen is a rare luxury. The local culture is conservative and shy; decent people seldom expose more than their faces and hands. What kind of Carnival can such conditions create? Certainly not the version provided by Rio de Janeiro.

Yet, it is considered on of the main events in the Bolivian calendar. The telling signs begin appearing one by one weeks before the event. In the crowded streets, kids armed with water guns and water-filled balloons attack pedestrians and cars without discrimination. Traditional masks decorate public places. Little groups practicing their dances sporadically block main streets. Beer and urine foul the air. However, heavily organized in unions, Bolivians treat the event in an organized fashion that if implemented into their regular life would catapult this poor country into one of the richest.

Moving Around

Most of La Paz center is blocked during the event. Special corridors are habilitated along the Carnival’s path that allows crossing the avenues and streets, but the access is regulated by policemen and opened only during breaks between the different dancing groups. Public transport is restricted to peripheral areas, thus the best way of moving around is by foot, and even that is very slow.

Safety

Even for the complete newcomer there can no be mistake: danger is in the air. The streets are overcrowded, and Bolivians think nothing of touching (even pushing) complete foreigners. Under such conditions recognizing the ever present thieves is impossible.

Moreover, for a few days most people on the streets consume mainly alcohol; quarrels among drunkards abound. This is the only city where I have witnessed open knives fights on the streets, and actually a few meters from a police officer that made obvious efforts to ignore the event. The most dangerous events are the gangs of youngsters running the streets; luckily, they can be recognized and avoided from far away.

A point that seems innocent at first is the water games. Children move around with water pistols and attack bystanders randomly. Harder to see are the balloons filled with water that are thrown from far away on innocent people. Sometimes they are filled with solid ice.

Watching the Event

In La Paz, the event is best seen at El Prado - the main avenue spanning the downtown center or at the vicinity of the General Cemetery - a main landmark in the city and a proper warning for those worshipping the "Diablada." All the main streets connecting these two landmarks are in the path of the dancing groups.

Music and Dances

In Catholic societies, Carnival is celebrated before Lent and is seen as an opportunity to celebrate with parades and masquerading, while disposing of the rich food and drink before the Lent period. Usually, a syncretism with ancient rites and customs can be seen in the parades. Bolivia is not different; its parades show residues of ancient cults and of events related to colonial times’ slavery.

Each dancing group usually represents a given group of union workers. The flag they carry states the exact union they represent (all the flags are the same, only the union’s name changes). The dancers belong to that union and had paid a significant amount of their income in order to participate; participation is considered prestigious.

All the groups enact the same dances: mainly "Diabladas" (Devilish) or "Morenadas" (Darkish). The "Diablada" is part of a Devil's cult, while the Morenada tells the story of the black slaves brought from Africa to work in the Potosi's silver mines during the colonial era.

The slaves' masks have bulging eyes - a sophisticated way to show the difficulties caused by the altitude. In reality, most of them died within a few months of their arrival at the mines. Other participants are dressed up as angels, demons, devils, Incas, native garments, and Spanish conquerors. Accompanying the men's masks are heavy dresses with many bells attached to them, which allow the dancers only slow, pendulum-like moves.

Dancing women use peculiar customs: hats belonging to 19th century London, long-sleeved, colored blouses, high-heeled boots often reaching well above the knees and skirts that seem to end before they begin.

The music is monotonous and is produced with noisy brass instruments; since all the groups perform the same dances, it is wise to reach a good watching place for a while and then to perform a strategic retreat into a good, isolated coffee shop.

Packed with festivals, the Bolivian calendar offers the opportunity to see at least one to every visitor. Most of them take place in the central El Prado Avenue or in the General Cemetery area and are hence readily accessible as well. The dancing groups are usually related to work unions and not to dance schools as in Brazil; that fact explains the relatively old dancers and their signs. Actually, most dancers pay for their places in the parade.

Carnival: Usually in February, the Carnival in La Paz is celebrated by groups dancing the "Morenada" or the "Diablada" along the main streets. Dressed alike, playing the same music and dancing the same two dances create a rather monotonous sight. The first dance commemorates dances related to the black slaves brought from Africa to work in Potosi’s silver mines, while the second is derived from a local cult to the Devil.

Alasitas: Beginning January 24th, Alasitas is a miniatures shopping festival in honor of the abundance idol called the Ekeko. Locals believe that by offering him miniatures of goods they want in real life, they will get the real versions during the year. Fake money, cars and houses are the most popular items for sale. The festival usually continues well into February and overlaps the Carnival thus offering a true "two for the price of one" opportunity.

Gran Poder: Dating back to the twentieth century, this is the most recent of the festivals surveyed here. In May or June, this festival resembles Carnival, though it offers a wider variety of dances due to the many groups arriving from all over the province. The Gran Poder honors Jesus through a miracle that occurred to a local painting, but the dances performed are mainly related to the slaves brought to Bolivia from Africa.

Dia de los Muertos: The strangest festival in this journal, The Day of the Dead is a syncretism between an ancient local festival and All Saints. The main activities are located in the General Cemetery, a main landmark which is readily accessible. There, the skulls of dead familiars enjoy many offerings of food, drinks and cigarettes, before they return to the underworld for another boring year.

Quick Tips:

The festivities described in this journal look colorful and fun; however, the personal security of the participants and visitors is of real concern. Drunken people attack others, are attacked themselves or pass out in the streets; the scene is dangerous and ugly. To decline invitations to share a drink is recommended. Pills are usually used to drug victims; do not accept any food or drink from the locals.

Thieves thrive and the incredible amount of policemen (more than one percent of the La Paz population are policemen!) provides neither security nor useful help in the case something happens.
Water and foam gangs roam the streets freely and attack mercilessly and indiscriminately; after the eyes are sprayed the victim can be comfortably robbed. Water can be thrown over pedestrians from high windows.

Packs of wild dogs freely roam the streets – especially at night – and keeping a safe distance from them is wise. They do fear stones; usually jut making the movements of picking up a stone is enough to drive them away. If threatened by a dog, do not show him your back – he will feel safe to bite your calf or hand.

Due to the need to acclimatize to the altitude, a relatively long stay in La Paz should be planned. In the first days water should be drank a lot and moderated, controlled walks without climbing any further are recommended. Beware of the strong radiation: wear a hat and sunglasses at all times, even if it is clouded.

As a rule of thumb, the higher you climb off the main avenue – El Prado – the cheaper the meals get; a complete lunch can be purchased for a quarter in certain parts of La Paz. Expensive restaurants (even fast food franchises as Burger King is considered expensive here) occupy El Prado, while tiny, hole-in-the-wall restaurants or "comedores" in the neighborhood markets took over the rest of the city. It could be a paradise for travelers on limited funds if it wasn’t for two common and uninvited guests: Mr. Amoeba and Miss Salmonella. They are so common that the relevant antibiotics are sold over the counter.

Best Way To Get Around:

Traveling inside the city is a very difficult because there is not a mass transport system and the place is very congested; moreover, since the city is divided into many tiny neighborhoods due to its topographical characteristics, finding the right bus demands a considerable effort. Buses have only one door and are dangerous; thieves frequent them and it very difficult to defend yourself in that crowded environment. Minivans are a popular way to move around; however, their windows are blocked with metallic bars, which create a security risk in the case of an accident beyond the already mentioned thieves.

Taxis within the city center cost around sixty cents of a dollar, while to the outskirts could cost anything between two and three dollars. A taxi to the airport costs six dollars, while a shared van – which regularly crosses El Prado – costs less than half-dollar. Downtown La Paz is tiny and easily accessible by foot and the city is so crowded during the day that walking is usually faster than taking a taxi.

The tourists' trips arranged from Sagarnaga Street by the central Franciscan Church provide a good solution for touring the main sights in the city and its surroundings. From the main bus terminal it is possible to buy bus tickets to most of the cities south and east of La Paz. Since there are not good paved roads in the country the trips are long and uncomfortable. The northern part of the country is quite isolated; buses to the Yungas and other northern locations leave from the open terminal at Villa Fatima. According to local regulations it is legal to charge different fees to passengers sitting side by side in the same bus; hence checking around the fees with various companies and talking with other passengers is recommended. At the Central Terminal information booth it is possible to get a leaflet with the maximum and minimum permitted fees to each destination. Inland flights are possible to the main cities at fair fares and all travel agencies offer the same deals.