the party is not over... due to computer problemas

The party has barely just begun- and had a break due to computer problems-

 This was very weird. EXTREMELY tall pieces of wood were held by individual men. Each 'branch' was decorated with different colours and had either an Italian or a Peruvian flag.  At the very tip, the people place small wooden baskets.




 WHY?!

MORE branches. The carriers- all men- would bring the stick down, not REALLY realizing there are people all around. Then these round women would fill them up with flower petals and other small things. The carriers would bring the stick up, and pure the content on top of the plank- at the very very top.

               There was a drinking dance- this guy was drinking coca cola :)

This was my favourite dance.  These young boys had a wooden stick and a wooden book. There were dressed like devils and in the rhythm they would knock two time on the book, turn around and again and again. They had an incredible amount of energy.

 I was watching them, as they passed and a new dance came. These three men, each had scarier mask than the other, came up to me with a microphone and something that looked like a cardboard camera- the one on the left is holding it. They started asking me questions about the party- one had SUCH A BIG NOISE  Ö. Then they took me into the dance...

                                            Who has a bigger smile? 

                                                      URUBAMBA

This was a gown-up devil dance. (The younger ones were much better...)

This guy kept on having to fix his noise from falling down- it was about a meter long!

 There were maybe 25 dancers- at this point it was hard to say whether they were men or women- they all had empty pumpkin shells and bottles, tied to their back and waist. They would click click click.

 

This very very young dancer is taking a break 

 This boy is the son of Empe' sister. (She kept on poiting out family members.) She would try to talk to him, but he was so much into the dancing and music, he would go away.

                                                        COLOURS

                                                         FEATHERS
 

                                            COLOURS & FEATHERS

   The gorillas dance. Only until now did I notice how the gorilla/ bear looks like he is going to eat the officers face... 

                                                Colourful pantalones

These dancers had HUGE bells on their shoes- they didn't make THAT much
                                                    noise though...

 


This girl was just standing there- on 20 cm of heels- and watching the parade. Why she didn't join, I don't know.




Her hat was very small though....

 There are many streams going down from up the mountains- melted snow. You can see them while walking down the street in every town/ pueblo in the Sacred Valley, in and around ruins, while driving in buses and cars and while walking down a dirt road. One might think that this is the best water to drink-
                       but no. The are filled with bacteria.
Up in the mountains, where the water starts to melt and forms into streams and gushing rivers, llamas and alpakas live. That's the best place for them to go to the toilet. In their body- in some at least- there is a bacteria- I forgot the name- which is very dangerous and causes terrible sicknesses. For some weird reason, the natives are able to drink it. But for tourists and people who live down in the Valley, this is dangerous. This water is used for watering farms, washing and drank only after being boiled.

There were hundreds of huddled ladies busy making food- just like Empe's mom.

                                                  GORILLA

A gorilla- in this case a female one and a girl- all taking a break.

                                                         COLOURS           

                                                           BALONIM

 
There were all these women- now outside the parade- selling these heaps of grass.
Most people in Peru- not so much in Lima though- grow a lot of animals at home.
 But the grass is sold especially for their cuys- guinea pigs. In Urubamba the cuys have a cage. Up in the mountains, they run around the house, catching food falling on the floor as they go.

                                       This man was not ringing the bells....

                                          A dancer, gorilla and a boy.

                                           All around the city.

 Trying to get a view of the party. Did they forget that Christmas was more than half a year ago?

 Empe, her husband  (who name I always forget) Damaso- he works for Carol too, me and their son, Aleks, on their roof. Behind Empe is the cuy cage.

                               One of the main streets of Urubamba.

                    There were SOOO many different kinds of masks...

                              
                   

         
                                       would you also like hundreds of people
                                       to celebrate you birthday for days on end?