CARNIVAL 2010

Claudia and I have always enjoyed fairs. From the Minnesota State fair to all the little County fairs we've lived near, you could count on us to be there. For me, the attraction was almost certainly the rides. And lucky for me, when C began losing interest in carnival rides, our daughter Kristen was happy to take over her place. She even got me on the roller coaster at New York, New York in Las Vegas a few years ago. Whew! That one might be my last. But I was wishing she were here in La Paz last week during Carnival.











The big attraction ride was the one in this photo. Since I couldn't get the whole thing into a decent picture, you'll just have to imagine.......... a very sturdy base (yellow) probably fifty feet tall, supporting the center of a ninety foot long boom, which had a "car" at each end with seats for four suck, uh, people. It didn't have to spin around many times to give folks quite a ride!


And just to show that the Mexicans do have a sense of humor, check out the life sized statue . I'd have gone on this with Kristen anyway.



I've been trying to come up with a one word description of Carnival, but it's not easily done. First of all, it runs for the six days before Ash Wednesday, which I believe begins the 40 days of lent. So it comes from religion, but it certainly doesn't seem religious.



It's also BIG. They close down about a mile and a half of the main drag through La Paz, which runs along the Malecon. Remember, the Malecon is the wide ornate ceramic and concrete sidewalk
that borders the water in a coastal Mexican city.
In La Paz, it's about 6 or 7 miles long, with palm trees and benches and sculptures, a wonderful place where families and young people hang out. Anyway, then they fill all this space with booths and rolling carts and walking vendors and sound stages. Hats, shoes, food of every variety, beer, blankets, Mickey Mouse ears, masks, jewelry, and the usual carnival junk and games of chance, and music.







Then there are the parades. Actually, one parade, done three times. The first day it runs from South to North. They leave the floats and stuff somewhere, and then the next evening the parade comes back South. And the next evening the whole thing moves back North. And each parade attracts a huge crowd to watch and cheer.








The mood is electric. Everyone is partying as though it's their last chance - actually, for many, it is, for forty days at least.




As the night moves along, the crowds keep growing. For us, about 10:30 is pretty late, and we still have a 20 minute walk back to the boat. It actually gets so crowded that in many places you can only move with the crowd. Too close for sure. And the headline music hasn't even begun yet!!





Which brings us to my final thought on the one word description. Try to imagine walking through this. On your right, a booth is selling pirated CD's and playing them through a sound system that would support a local band. LOUD. And it sounds pretty good - good old American rock and roll. Then, as you move along, you begin to hear the Mariachi band playing to your left on a sound stage and Peruvian pipes being broadcast from the next booth on your right. You just keep moving through this sea of sound for as long as you're there.

When one sound is dominant, it sounds pretty good. Otherwise, the word that comes to mind is cacophony. Pretty much just good old noise.

And even when we're back on Sojourner it isn't over because the main stage lights up with the headline group at 11:00. We are quite a distance away, but sound travels well over water - some sounds at least. We can here clearly the bass, boom boom boom. And if we wake up before 3:00 AM we can still hear it.

Then there are the girls of Carnival..........