carnaval en moro moro

just got back from the market and almost got taken out by a power line. oh no it wasn't an accident, the power company was there taking lines down. only they just don't block the section of the street off or have a sign up or anything. going to buy fruit shouldn't be so exciting :P

wish this was my view everyday
what happens when you refuse a beer at 10am during carnaval

so feb. 15&16 we had off for the holiday of carnaval. things get pretty crazy in santa cruz with people throwing water balloons, paint, car grease, rocks, etc and public drunkenness everywhere, so we ( allyn, adrienne, and I) decided to head to the mountains and visit the MCC workers in Moro Moro, an 8 hour bus ride away. carnaval was still going on up there, but on a way lower level on the crazy scale.

he was so cute we refilled his water gun and let him shoot us

we had a great time and our hosts, andy and cassie. they build water systems with the people of moro moro and live the slower paced rural life. they took us on motorcycle rides on the side of the mountain (ahhh!), on hikes all over, and to a carnaval parade around the town plaza. the parade was made up of different groups who had their own live music, coordinated party shirts, and dancing. my favorite was the group for the elderly cuz man they could dance.

we also went to a morning celebration of the completion of a cow barn. people in moro moro usually just let their cows wander free, but then it can take a day or two to find the cow again and they don't really benefit from the milk. so that combined with carnaval made for quite the party. we showed up at 9:30in the AM and instantly were pressed to start drinking with them. so we just kind of held cups in our hand and poured it onto the ground for pachamama's (mother earth) blessing. and we danced to the live band of accordion and guitars. then we watched the dedicating ceremony to pachamama which entailed digging a hole with a machete and soup ladle, putting in food, drink and coca leaves and dancing over it. kind of strange to watch the combination of native andean culture and catholocism. i couldn't tell if they were hard core believers in pachamama or just perpetuated a traditional ceremony of their ancestors that's thousands of years old. but it was really interesting to watch, especially after reading and studying so much about cultural practices. we had a good time and i even ended up getting a free hat out of it!

and now wyatt comes in 5 days!!! huzzah!