Tarde.

I've gotten so behind in my blogging. We've been so busy!  Last week was the last week of class, and we learned how to do quantitative analysis, basically different ways to manipulate data.  I enjoyed making connections in an organized way, although a lot of the reasoning behind the methods was over my head haha. But that kept us really busy.  And then last weekend was Gran Poder, this huge festival kinda like Mardi Gras, except no floats.  Its a celebration of a saint that is highly venerated in El Alto.  There were 40,000 dancers this year.  They're all organized by syndicates, and they all have specific symbols and costumes that somehow represent their group.  Very much a manifestation of the collective sentiment that exists here. They start all the way up the mountain and dance all the way down for miles and miles, from 7 am until 2 am the next day, wearing heavy costumes and high heels and drinking lots and lots of alcohol.  Some people say they go into a trancelike state while dancing, probably due to a combination of the alcohol, exhaustion, and altitude.  Those can do funny things to your brain.  Anyway, we went down to the Prado and watched the dancing for awhile on Saturday.  We were sitting in the front row, so we got interviewed by news stations a couple times haha.  One of the dancers pulled Anastasia up and got her to dance with him haha. It was lots of fun.


Yesterday morning, we got up at 3:00 am and took a van to Tiwanaku, a town that is the site of pre-Inca ruins.  Yesterday was the celebration of Aymara New Year. It occurs on the solstice, because that is the only day of the year on which the sun will rise and hit La Puerta del Sol.  We greeted the sun as it rose up over the mountain, and saw Evo and company fly off in his private helicopter. Tiwanaku itself is beautiful, wide open but surrounded by mountains in the distance.  A large percentage of the ruins is still un-excavated. Who knows what's underneath the centuries of vegetation that has grown over the stone?  Even though we were there for a giant party, the town still gave off a sense of antiquity and cultural importance.  I guess thousands of people gathering in Times Square to watch the ball drop is along the same lines, but somehow it seemed different.  Maybe because the ceremony they were performing is centuries of years old.  Also, although everyone in attendance had been drinking for hours, everyone quieted as the sun began to rise over the mountains and held up their hands, palms facing the sun to welcome it.  The solstice celebration is not just a party, its an expression of an ancient culture whose practices are still significant today.

On Sunday, Emily, Anastasia and I fly to Cusco, Peru. We'll spend two days there, then take a train to Machu Picchu.  After a night there, we're going to return to Cusco, and then begin our travels to Quito, Ecuador.  That involves taking a bus from Cusco to Lima, because the only direct bus from Peru to Quito leaves from Lima.  However, we don't know if that bus runs every day. If not, we're going to have to take a bus to the border, and then transfer buses to get to Quito.  Either way, we'll be busing for about two and a half days total. Gonna be an experience!