Parade. Even with light rain.
I went out fr a walk to re-acquaint myself with the area of Cochabamba near Plaza Colon. The day was bright and warm, with wispy little clouds, I took my camera, a bit of water, my ebook and a rain jacket.
I sat down in the Plaza in some shade and read for a bit. At one point a young man sat down on the other end of the bench and played a few tunes on his charango. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charango) A pleasant sounding instrument, though not very loud. He tried talking to me in Spanish, I tried talking to him in English. Fun but frustrating.
I continued my walk, heading North on Av de Bolivar. and as it started to rain, just a few drops coming down, a Mexican Cafe was opening up, so I sat down for some food. Almost as soon as I finished ordering, a group of four traffic police went by shortly followed by a marching band and dancers.
For well over an hour, there were small and large groups of bands and dancers going past, one or two with the music played by speakers, but most with drums and brass horns. The drums were being beaten on rather firmly, and they were as much felt as herd.
I did not take a lot of pictures, but here is a sample of the ones I got.
There are far worse ways to spend a Saturday afternoon, and the rain did not seem to dampen the participants mood at all.
There are many reasons for traveling. New experiences in one form or another top the list.
Food is usually part of it, and a large part of it for me.
Another part for me is music. And the spanish influence in the music here is very much front and centre. But in addition to the local music, there are a large number of travelers who play music as well.
For some unknown reason, they seem to form in clusters. Last week there were no people lugging guitars through the hostel, and today there are four different people in this 16 room hostel.
Last week at the restaurant Spices, a young lady treated the guests to her voice and guitar. The hard walls gave a great acoustic space for her voice to work, and it was one of the best evenings I have spent listening to some one with a very special voice. I have absolutely no doubt that even though I never got to hear her name, I will be hearing her voice again somewhere and should she wish it, there is a world wide audience for her singing.
There have been times I have been going past local churches at times of worship and heard hymns sung with great enthusiasm and vigour, and absolutely no other redeeming features. I have walked past street performers who did not catch my attention, and others who held me rooted in place until they chose to stop.
Here in Pisac, every Sunday, the church bells ring pleasantly, they ring out for about two minutes, weaving a call that is far less strident than most bells, and this time around somehow they are blending into the guitar and voice of the duo practicing on the roof.
Music plays a part of every human culture, and the variety of the sounds and rhythms at times can raise us above our selves, join us together or annoy and send one trying to get out of earshot. Today, it has given me pause and made me glad to be in this place, at this time.
There is a lot that is the same in Pisac on New Year's Eve as the places in Guatemala where I have spent that time of year, and even in Canada.
Fireworks, firecrackers, music, drinking and all of that. The amount of fireworks etc was far less than in Guatemala, but they have a number of traditions that other places do not.
One of their traditions involves new clothing. Depending on what you are hoping for in the new year, you wear different colours of new clothing. Bright yellow means you are hoping for good luck, and it seems to be the most popular, though not necessarily the most visible, because new yellow undies were on sale everywhere for about 4 days before New Year's. Other colours included green for money, red for romance and white for health. Those colours were also echoed by candles burned wishing for the best in the New Year.
A bit of research on line also lead to slipping dried beans into your pocket at midnight, to encourage more money coming your way, and eating twelve grapes at midnight for luck in the coming year. I had no idea about these traditions, but I had noted that many of the green grocers had grapes displayed prominently.
In addition to the fireworks and firecrackers, there was a whole lot of yellow confetti scattered around, and it will be a while before that bit of evidence of the celebration is completely gone. It seemed amongst the young adults and teens that trying to get rid of the confetti from your hair was not the thing to do. I have not asked, but I assume the longer the confetti is stuck to you, the longer the good luck lasts,
On the whole, the evening was quite fun and all seemed to be having a great time. I hate to inflict flash photography on others, so I did not take any photos, but stayed on the edges enjoying the scene.
Take care all, and have a great 2018!
